What are some good books about the American civil war?

Question

Thank you all for answering! I am going to leave this question up to the voters however. Thanks again!

Answer 1

Shelby Foote's Civil War Series 3 Vols

Bruce Catton' s Army of the Potomac books
Also his Centennial History of the Civil War . 3 Vols.

The Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant

Memoirs of Gen. William T. Sherman

Battle Cry of Freedom James McPherson

Allan Nevins The War of Union 1850-1865 4 Vols.

Bell Irvin Wiley's Life of Johnny Reb and it's companion book The Life of Billy Yank.

Geoffrey Perret's Ulysses S. Grant.

Sandburg's Lincoln The War Years.

Lord Charnwood's Abraham Lincoln

and Henry Steele Commanger's 2 Vol. The Blue and the Gray

All these are a must for any Civil War Library.

Answer 2

There are many such books

Shelby Foote's 3 - volume 'The Civil War: A Narrative' provides facts but in a style of writing that gives an insight into the soul of the war.

Carl Sandburg's book on Lincoln "The War Years" should be included.

Any of Bruce Canton's books are always a great read.

The Oxford series History of the United States with the book "Battle Cry of Freedom the Civil War Era" by James M. Mcpherson is an excellent history book.

For pure absolute facts you can do no better than “Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men” by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel. This book not only provides solid facts separated into various segments about the war, but also offers solid bibliographical writings and many references to many additional sources.

I suggest that you also do your own research on each writer as to their credibility. For example some will have a decidedly political slant to the publishings. Howard Zinn is one such author.

Answer 3

Battle Cry of Freedom by James M McPherson (Penguin Books, 1990) ISBN-10 0 140 12518 3

Excellent historical account of the American Civil War, its causes and events.

Answer 4

Anything by James McPherson is good. He is really the leading scholar in Civil War studies right now. Shelby Foote is alright for a general, yet detailed, overview of the war but he was not a trained scholar. Read Foote to gain insight into personalities and events if you are unfamiliar but read McPherson and others for scholarly insights into the era. The books I list below deal with the Civil War era, some taking place before the war and some during but each is a good and important read.

"Embattled Courage" by Gerald Linderman
"Apostles of Disunion" by Charles Dew
"The Southern Dream of a Caribbean Empire" by Robert May
"Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution" by James McPherson
"Battle Cry of Freedom" by James McPherson
"For Cause and Comrades" by James McPherson

And for fun:
"Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz

Answer 5

Shelby Foote's books are great. I can also recommend

A People's History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom (A New Press People's History) by David Williams and Howard Zinn

Fields of Fury: The American Civil War by James M. McPherson

A Short History of the Civil War by James L. Stokesbury

Answer 6

Landscape Turned Red , the Battle of Antietam by Stephen W. Sears

The Gettysburg Campaign by Edwin B. Coddington

Eye Witness to the Civil War , The Complete History from Secession to Reconstruction by Neil Kagan and Stephen G. Hyslop in cooperation with National Geographic.
This is excellent, with an abundance of photographs,maps and illustrations.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. If you want to read the book now, here it is.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/rgs/badge-table.html

Answer 7

If you are looking for non-fictional accounts, try Road to Disunion by Bruce Levine or the Big Book of The Civil War by Joanne Mattern. For fiction try Gone With The Wind or Cold Mountain.

Answer 8

For Fiction, my favorite Civil War author is John Jakes. He has written many Revolutionary War and Civil War novels. He is very historically accurate, taking his time in making sure events are as accurate as possible. His underylying stories are also very enjoyable as well.

Answer 9

Uncle Tom Cabin. Not really about Civil War but more about Slavery.

Answer 10

Shelby Foote's 3 - volume 'The Civil War: A Narrative'

Philip Sheridan's - 'Personal Memoirs of P.H. Sheridan'

Peter Cozzen's collection - 'The New Annals of the Civil War'

I have all three. I am currently reading all three. I recommend them all.