I have always been fascinated by the Civil War and read many books about it for pleasure over the years. Then in 2010 I decided to get serious and undertook a full-length biography of Stonewall Jackson. Four extremely intense years later I published Rebel Yell, and followed it a few years later with Hymns of the Republic, about the war’s final year. So I have spent much of the past decade doing little else but thinking about and writing about the Civil War.
By S.C. Gwynne
The fourth and final year of the Civil War offers one of the era's most compelling narratives and one of history's great turning points. Now, Pulitzer Prize finalist S.C. Gwynne breathes new life into the epic battle between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant; the advent of 180,000 black soldiers in the Union army; William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea; the rise of Clara Barton; the election of 1864 (which Lincoln nearly lost); the wild and violent guerrilla war in Missouri; and the dramatic final events of the war, including Lee's surrender at Appomattox and the murder of Abraham Lincoln.
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By James M. McPherson
This is hands down the best single-volume history of the Civil War. It’s so much more than a “survey” book. I am not quite sure how McPherson does it, but he manages to convey exceptional detail and nuance while sweeping through a gigantic historical landscape. Anyone interested in the Civil War should start with this book.
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By David W. Blight
Blight is one of our best Civil War-era historians and he is at the top of his game here. The book is wonderfully researched and well-told, especially the sections dealing with Douglass’s uneven relationship with Abraham Lincoln. Understanding Douglass’s point of view is key to a full understanding of what the war was about.
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By Peter Cozzens
I discovered this book a few years ago while writing my biography of Jackson. The subject is probably the single most dazzling bit of tactical warfare in American history. Its relatively short duration—March through June, 1882—means that Cozzens can go deep, and go deep he does.
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By Bruce Catton
This book is the reason I originally became obsessed with the Civil War and the reason millions of other Americans discovered it. Catton was one of the first historians to apply lyrical, poetical writing to the grisly events of the war, and it is the writing that makes his books stand out. He won the Pulitzer with it in 1954. The subject is the war as seen from the point of view of Grant and his Army of the Potomac.
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By Michael Shaara
I am normally not a fan of historical fiction (Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall” trilogy excepted), but Shaara’s book is an example of how fiction can convey truth better than nonfiction. The subject here is one of the greatest and most telling in our history: the Battle of Gettysburg. The narrative is generally faithful to conventional histories, but because this is fiction we can see through walls and hear conversations never recorded. It’s a brilliant little book and I do believe it is the “truth” about the battle.
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