100 books like Ghost Cadet

I like this book because it is an outstanding collection of images and biographical information about real boys who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. 

I wanted to learn their stories so I could share them with others, in particular, my students–to teach them history through the lives of their peers. I found Keesee’s research extraordinary, a fascinating dive into the lives of real boys who were a part of America’s history yet are generally forgotten today. 

As a retired teacher, I continue to share what I’ve learned through my writings and presentations to library patrons and civic and historical organizations.

I love that Jay’s book focused on the youngest to serve, not just in the Union Army but also in the Confederate service. He also delved into a group not mentioned by other researchers, the Home Guard–kids usually 6-12 years of age, most prevalent in the South.  I also had the honor of several years of friendship with Jay Hoar by way of correspondence and phone calls.

I treasure his work as it allowed me to journey with these kids in their life stories and, when possible, to see who they were through their images, though many were from later in life. We exchanged our work, his nonfiction research for my historical fiction.

One of the boys whose story I frequently share in my presentations is 12-year-old Gustave Shurmann. During the war, he had a fascinating experience, serving four different generals as a regimental bugler and spending time in the White House with Tad Lincoln. 

I thoroughly enjoyed how William Styple researched Gus’s life and then turned it into a novel through which young readers could live history with Gus through a great story. I appreciated sharing Gus’s life in both formats as I lived it with him while reading this book and researched it, including in Gus’s own words, through excerpts from his own writings.

I found this book a fascinating look into the life of a boy who survived years in the most notorious prison of the Civil War, Andersonville, through his own writings. Not only did he survive imprisonment, but he also survived the explosion of the Sultana, the riverboat that carried thousands of prisoners north after their release following the war.

I lived Michael’s experiences through his words, saw the half-naked men and boys, their hair matted by the pitch smoke from their fires as they tried to keep warm, their bodies reduced to skin and bones through starvation diet, their numbers reduced as mortal wounds and illness cut lives short. Once released, I felt the heat of the burning water when the Sultana exploded and heard the cries of the dying consumed by the flames.  

The death toll of the Civil War was horrendous, the list of the wounded? Endless. Medical schools did not exist; doctor trained their assistants. There were no emergency rooms, no hospitals, no triage, and certainly no female nurses to care for those bleeding male bodies. In many respects, the medical profession was born on Civil War battlefields with the brave women who ventured among the dead and dying to staunch the flow of blood. So, who were the women who emerged from their sheltered lives to care for wounded soldiers in the Northern army? I wrote about one of them—Nellie Chase—but I thought she was an exception. These stories of the women who joined the Northern war effort expanded my knowledge beyond my wildest expectations.

Catton was one of the Civil War’s great historians, best known for bringing the stories of individual soldiers into otherwise sweeping accounts of the American Iliad. Amid this work, he also wrote this little-known short novel, published in 1955, which today probably would be filed in the “young adult” section of your favorite bookstore. It tells the tale of Bob Hayden, a Michigan boy who lies about his age to join a volunteer company and rises to manhood while serving in Virginia with Gen. “Fighting Phil” Sheridan.

The epic, multi-volume work of one of America's great mid-century historians. An old-fashioned work of immense erudition, vivid narrative, decisive judgment. Never before or since have so many great and consequential speeches been delivered in Congress; Nevins furnishes every one of them with suitable embellishment. Vols. 2-4 (in the 8-volume version) offer wonderful set pieces on the great events of the time--the Kansas-Nebraska debate, the Dred Scott case, the rise and election of Abraham Lincoln.

Unlike so many writers, Bierce had actual Civil War experience, as a Union soldier who saw action in a number of key battles. His stories are characterized by a rigorous attention to detail. But Bierce enjoyed serving up verisimilitude with a twist. A strong sense of the macabre, rivaling Poe, is present in some of Bierce’s finest stories such as “Chickamauga,” “One of the Missing,” and “Parker Adderson, Philosopher.” His timeless “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” features one of the most mind-bending twists in all of fiction.

After disguising herself as a man, Ash Thompson dons the uniform of a Union soldier in the Civil War. She is an enthralling character and not only did I avidly follow Ash to the front lines, this fine novel gave me the courage to move ahead with my work.

I decided my major character, Rory Chase, would be a woman caught up in the intrigue and espionage along our border with British Canada in 1864. Time and again, I said to myself, if Hunt can pull this off with his heroine, I believe I can do the same with Rory.

That I, too, can write about a woman who must learn the rules of warfare and espionage and then decide when to break them. 

Whether one is a Civil War buff, or a fan of Sun Tzu’s military strategy, you will find plenty of both in this three-volume set. Volume 1 is: Fort Sumter to Perryville. Volume 2 is: Fredericksburg to Meridian, and Volume 3 is: Red River to Appomattox.  

Shelby Foote’s work provided most of the background of Ken Burn’s PBS epic, The Civil War. Anyone who watched that masterpiece and heard the knowledge of Shelby Foote spoken in the most lovely Southern drawl, will not be disappointed in this collection. 

The Civil War: A Narrative – 3 volume box set provided significant detail and motivation for me as I wrote my own book.  When I had a question about a date, geography of a battle, written correspondence between fighters or allies, or conversations such as took place at Appomattox Courthouse between Generals Grant and Lee, I went immediately to Shelby Foote’s three-volume… show more.