The Civil War

By Geoffrey C. Ward, Ric Burns, Ken Burns

Book cover of The Civil War: An Illustrated History

Book description

"The Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things.... It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads: the suffering, the enormous tragedy of the whole thing."- Shelby Foote, from The…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Civil War as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It may seem odd to have a Civil War book on a Civil Rights book recommendation list, but many of the issues faced by the Civil Rights movement, in many respects, were unfinished business from the times preceding and post the Civil War. 

What this book does, aside from touching on the various battles, is to touch on the social, political, and economic scenarios in both the north and south prior to the War, during the War, and afterward during the reconstruction period.

Worth bearing in mind in some cases survivors of the Civil War period were only a couple…

From Derek's list on lesser-known Civil Rights.

Want books like The Civil War?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Civil War.

Browse books like The Civil War

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass?

Abraham Lincoln 103 books