Here are 100 books that Gettysburg fans have personally recommended if you like
Gettysburg.
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I grew up near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was fascinated by American history. My initial fascination with the history of the Civil War in the Harrisburg area turned into my first book and the start of my career as a historian of the Underground Railroad and the Civil War. This list reflects my early interest in the lesser-known aspects of the famous Gettysburg Campaign by recommending books that expand our scope beyond the three-day battle.
Confederate soldiers spent much of their brief time in the Keystone State antagonizing Pennsylvania civilians.
I find Wynstra’s book particularly powerful because he shows how senior Confederate generals struggled to rein in their enlisted men’s overwhelming desire for revenge. Furious over what they perceived as Northern abuses on the Southern homefront, rank-and-file Confederates wanted Northern civilians to feel the brunt of the war.
As Wynstra also shows, African American civilians fared far worse than their white counterparts. Confederate soldiers, furious over years of Underground Railroad activity, seized free Blacks and carried them back south into enslavement.
After clearing Virginia's Shenandoah Valley of Federal troops, Gen. Robert E. Lee's bold invasion into the North reached the Maryland shore of the Potomac River on June 15, 1863. A week later, the Confederate infantry crossed into lower Pennsylvania, where they had their first sustained interactions with the civilian population in a solidly pro-Union state. Most of the initial encounters with the people in the lush Cumberland Valley and the neighboring parts of the state involved the men from the Army of Northern Virginia's famed Second Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, who led the way as Lee's…
I grew up near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was fascinated by American history. My initial fascination with the history of the Civil War in the Harrisburg area turned into my first book and the start of my career as a historian of the Underground Railroad and the Civil War. This list reflects my early interest in the lesser-known aspects of the famous Gettysburg Campaign by recommending books that expand our scope beyond the three-day battle.
I have long been a fan of this book, in part because it was among the first books to seriously look beyond the three-day battle of Gettysburg and recount the military actions that erupted in the lead-up to the famous battle.
Mingus writes about Confederate general Jubal Early’s advance through Gettysburg and York and all the way to the Susquehanna River, where Confederates fought with a hodgepodge force of Union militia that managed to prevent a Confederate river-crossing. Simply put, this book is a great choice for Civil War buffs who want to look beyond the histories of the three-day battle or for general readers hoping to expand their knowledge.
The Gettysburg Campaign has been examined in minute detail from nearly every aspect but one; the key role played by Richard Ewell's Second Corps during the final days in June. Scott Mingus's Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Confederate Expedition to the Susquehanna River, June 1863 is the first in-depth study of these crucial summer days that not only shaped the course of the Gettysburg Campaign, but altered the course of our nation's history.
In two powerful columns, Ewell's Corps swept toward the strategically important Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania capital looming beyond. Fear coursed through the local populace while Washington and…
I grew up near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was fascinated by American history. My initial fascination with the history of the Civil War in the Harrisburg area turned into my first book and the start of my career as a historian of the Underground Railroad and the Civil War. This list reflects my early interest in the lesser-known aspects of the famous Gettysburg Campaign by recommending books that expand our scope beyond the three-day battle.
In truth, I could have picked any of the late Harry Pfanz’s excellent books on the Battle of Gettysburg. Pfanz’s detailed tactical histories of the battle remain unrivaled. His account of the fighting on Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill throughout July 2-3, 1863, showcases his signature depth and attention to detail. If you like military history, read Pfanz.
A Gettysburg authority details two critical engagements; Harry Pfanz provides the definitive account of the fighting between the Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill - two of the most critical engagements fought at Gettysburg on 2 and 3 July 1863. He provides detailed tactical accounts of each stage of the contest and explores the interactions between - and decisions made by - generals on both sides. In particular, he illuminates Confederate lieutenant general Richard S. Ewell's controversial decision not to attack Cemetery Hill after the initial Southern victory…
I grew up near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was fascinated by American history. My initial fascination with the history of the Civil War in the Harrisburg area turned into my first book and the start of my career as a historian of the Underground Railroad and the Civil War. This list reflects my early interest in the lesser-known aspects of the famous Gettysburg Campaign by recommending books that expand our scope beyond the three-day battle.
Kent Masterson Brown takes something that is often relegated to an afterthought—that the defeated Confederate army slipped back into Virginia—and reveals how it profoundly shaped the course of the war.
Brown shows us that for defeated General Robert E. Lee, extricating the Confederate army from Pennsylvania was no simple task. The Confederate army may have lost the battle, but after reading Brown’s book, one could argue that it won the retreat.
Brown concludes that even though the battle of Gettysburg was a defeat for the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee's successful retreat maintained the balance of power in the eastern theater and left his army with enough forage, stores, and fresh meat to ensure its continued existence as an effective force.
The writer part should be obvious. I write books under my own name and as a ghostwriter. But also, like any good writer, I am a reader. The earliest books I recall reading, after Dick and Jane, were books on American history, in particular the American Civil War. When I looked to write on my own, this was the first area I looked into. Write what you know. Write what you like to read.
The subtitle of this book is A Microhistory of the Final Attack at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. This puts it well. This is virtually a “real-time” history of one of the most significant battles in American History. It is well documented and the book is very well written. It places the reader in the battle as the fate of the United States hangs in the balance.
I’ve been a history nerd since I first learned to read. My father served in the United States Air Force, and we had an elderly neighbor who served in Korea. Their stories and a lot of time on my hands (I grew up on a small farm) led to an early love of reading. Most of the books on this list helped that love grow into ultimately writing fiction and getting a Ph.D. in U.S. History. I hope going back through them is also an enjoyable experience for everyone else.
This book is recommended because it’s one of the best historical fiction works of all time.
Even though the reader knows what’s going to happen (“General Pickett, come on down!”), Shaara still humanizes both the Union and Confederate participants.
I read this before I took a Civil War class, and it amazed me just how well Shaara managed to turn primary sources into three-dimensional characters with all their human foibles and flaws.
“My favorite historical novel . . . a superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant.”—James M. McPherson
In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fought for two conflicting dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty…
DeAnne Blanton retired from the National Archives in Washington, DC after 31 years of service as a reference archivist specializing in 18th and 19th century U.S. Army records. She was recognized within the National Archives as well as in the historical and genealogical communities as a leading authority on the American Civil War; 19th century women’s history; and the history of American women in the military.
This pamphlet, although only 24 pages, is one of the best first-hand depictions of Civil War nursing. Miss Woolsey and her mother travelled to Gettysburg in the aftermath of the battle and immediately launched into the nursing ranks of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. She published her account shortly after returning home, when her services were no longer needed.
I came to Civil War studies fairly late in life but still relatively callow, by a route too roundabout to explain. But after reading James McPherson’s, Battle Cry of Freedom(there’s a bonus book!), I found I had a love of every facet of the era. The only thing I’d ever wanted to be was a writer and, as I delved deeper into the vast body of literature on the American Civil War, I finally felt as if I’d found thesubject I could pour all my passion into (that and my enduring love of dogs). My novel Wilderness, along with a few novels published in French, was the result.
Part of the enduring popularity of the Battle of Gettysburg studies, is that the battle offers a true microcosm of the American Civil War—from politics to personalities. A meeting engagement, a desperate struggle, a turning point, and human tragedy on a scale the continent had never seen before, the events of those three days in July still resonant down the years. Guelzo’s book, besides being one of the most recent, offers wonderful descriptions of every facet of the battle with finely-crafted prose and a pacing that will keep readers invested from start to finish.
Winner of the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History
An Economist Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
The Battle of Gettysburg has been written about at length and thoroughly dissected in terms of strategic importance, but never before has a book taken readers so close to the experience of the individual soldier.
Two-time Lincoln Prize winner Allen C. Guelzo shows us the face, the sights and the sounds of nineteenth-century combat: the stone walls and gunpowder clouds of Pickett’s Charge; the reason that the Army of Northern Virginia could be smelled before it…
I’ve found that the most tumultuous time in our nation’s history provides a poignant backdrop for fiction. As a firm believer that all people are God’s masterpiece and are created in his image, this time period can be difficult to read. However, I also believe there is a lot of potential to see how good can overcome evil, how faith can lead to healing, and how we can be overcomers. I’ve chosen books for this list that handle history with nuance and sensitivity, showcase fierce characters, provide embedded layers of faith, and leave you thinking long after the final page. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Jocelyn Green does an amazing job of highlighting the complications of the Civil War with multi-faceted characters who have to examine their faith, their loyalties, and their own pasts and prejudices. With an intricate plot and a cast of layered characters, Widow of Gettysburg was one that kept me enthralled.Not only is the amount of research and details from history clearly evident, Green is a master at making both history and story leap from the page. This was one I couldn’t put down.
For all who have suffered great loss of heart, home, health or family; true home and genuine lasting love can be found.
When a horrific battle rips through Gettysburg, the farm of Union widow Liberty Holloway is disfigured into a Confederate field hospital, bringing her face to face with unspeakable suffering-and a Confederate scout who awakens her long dormant heart.
While Liberty's future crumbles as her home is destroyed, the past comes rushing back to Bella, a former slave and Liberty's hired help, when she finds herself surrounded by Southern soldiers, one of whom knows the secret that would place…
As a child my grandmother shared that we had ancestors who had served during the Civil War, a momentary conversation that set me on a lifetime quest to connect with those men and their experiences. My professional work as a historian and military analyst for the US Government helped build the skills that enabled this quest and each of my books, articles, and videos seek to understand and share both the “what” of those experiences and the “why” of the war’s many battles and conflicts.
I found Major Rufus Dawes' first-hand account of Antietam to be perhaps the best, most readable of the many soldier accounts available. Not only does Dawes write clear narrative accounts of what he experienced at Antietam, but he offers his own feelings and thoughts on the fighting that take the reader beyond the movements and action. Another thing that I appreciated about Dawes' account is that he frequently offers wider context for the fighting and movements that gives the reader a deeper understanding of why he was experiencing these events (and unlike many other postwar accounts, Dawes avoids using this hindsight to cast blame). Although it naturally only gives the Union side and a small portion of the battle, Dawes' experiences probably generally reflect what it was like to “be there.”
"I have been so wholly engrossed with my work for the last week or I should have responded sooner to your question: 'Are you going?' If a kind Providence and President Lincoln will permit, I am. I am Captain of as good, and true a band of patriots as ever rallied under the star spangled banner."-Rufus R. Dawes. A Full Blown Yankee of the Iron Brigade combines the personal experiences of Rufus R. Dawes with a history of the regiment in which he served. The Iron Brigade was the only all-Western brigade that fought in the eastern armies of the…
