Best Civil War books of 2014, one person's opinion

Sigh. Not a naval one in the lot.

I'll share the Monitor's list once I receive my copy... should be soon, I got the email saying it was on its way.

I am pretty well-read on most aspects of the war except the naval portion. Can you recommend a book to start me off ? I am mainly interested in the fight s on the rivers.
 
I am pretty well-read on most aspects of the war except the naval portion. Can you recommend a book to start me off ? I am mainly interested in the fight s on the rivers.

Probably the best single-volume history of the naval war widely available is James McPherson's recent War on the Waters (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2012). While not groundbreaking, it's a very well-written and effective summary.

There's been no really good recent overall treatment of the war specifically on the Western Rivers, though there are a number of excellent books on individual campaigns and battles and specific aspects. My favorite remains Fletcher Pratt's old Civil War on Western Waters, but it's showing its age. Another older title I think well of is John D. Milligan's Gunboats Down the Mississippi. I was favorably impressed by Peter Ericson's recent Running the Batteries, but it's not perfect. (There are a couple of other recent overviews of the riverine war that I would hesitate to recommend.)
 
Probably the best single-volume history of the naval war widely available is James McPherson's recent War on the Waters (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2012). While not groundbreaking, it's a very well-written and effective summary.

There's been no really good recent overall treatment of the war specifically on the Western Rivers, though there are a number of excellent books on individual campaigns and battles and specific aspects. My favorite remains Fletcher Pratt's old Civil War on Western Waters, but it's showing its age. Another older title I think well of is John D. Milligan's Gunboats Down the Mississippi. I was favorably impressed by Peter Ericson's recent Running the Batteries, but it's not perfect. (There are a couple of other recent overviews of the riverine war that I would hesitate to recommend.)

Sounds like a good place to start. Thank you, sir.
 
Got my Civil War Monitor, Vol. 4, No. 4 today... The 'top books of 2014' aren't a single list, but a collection of several lists.

First, the top-selling Civil War titles of 2014:
  1. Levin, Jack E. Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. (Threshold)
  2. Gwynne, S.C. Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson. (Scribner)
  3. Abbott, Karen. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War. (Harper)
  4. DeRose, Chris. The Presidents' War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War that Divided Them. (Lyons)
  5. Baptist, Edward E. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. (Basic)
  6. Egerton, Douglas R. The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive Era. (Bloomsbury)
  7. Wheelan, Joseph. Bloody Spring: Forty Days that Sealed the Confederacy's Fate. (Da Capo)
  8. Sheehan-Dean, Aaron (ed.) The Civil War: The Final Year Told by Those Who Lived It. (Library of America)
  9. Adams, Michael C.C. Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War. (Johns Hopkins Univ.)
  10. Brewster, Todd. Lincoln's Gamble. (Scribner)
Then some individuals' picks:

A. Wilson Greene:
  • Jones, Evan C. and Sword, Wiley (eds.) Gateway to the Confederacy: New Perspectives on the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns. (Louisiana State Univ.)
  • (Honorable Mention) Varon, Elizabeth R. Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War. (Oxford)
  • (Looking Forward To) Sommers, Richard J. Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg, The Battles of Chaffin's Bluff and Poplar Spring Church, September 29-October 2, 1864. (Savas Beattie)
Kathryn Shively Meier:
  • White, Jonathan W. Emancipation, The Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln. (Louisiana State Univ.)
  • (Honorable Mention) Blair, William A. With Malice Toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War. (Univ. of North Carolina)
  • (Looking Forward To) Dozier, Graham T. A Gunner in Lee's Army: The Civil War Letters of Thomas Henry Carter. (Univ. of North Carolina)
Kevin M. Levin:
  • Murray, Jennifer M. On A Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park. (Univ. of Tennessee)
  • (Honorable Mention) Baptist, Edward E. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. (Basic)
  • (Looking Forward To) Warren, Craig A. The Rebel Yell: A Cultural History. (Univ. of Alabama)
Gerald J. Prokopowicz:
  • Adams, Michael C.C. Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War. (Johns Hopkins Univ.)
  • (Honorable Mention) Conroy, James B. Our One Common Country: Abraham Lincoln and the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865. (Globe Pequot)
  • (Looking Forward To) Gienapp, Erica and Gienapp, William (eds.) The Civil War Diary of Gideon Welles. (Univ. of Illinois)
Lesley J. Gordon:
  • Rubin, Anne Sarah. Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and American Memory. (Univ. of North Carolina)
  • (Honorable Mention) Blair, William A. With Malice Toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War. (Univ. of North Carolina)
  • (Looking Forward To) Adams, Michael C.C. Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War. (Johns Hopkins Univ.); and Baptist, Edward E. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. (Basic)
Andrew Wagenhoffer:
  • White, Jonathan W. Emancipation, The Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln. (Louisiana State Univ.)
  • (Honorable Mention) Nichols, Bruce. Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Missouri, Volume III, January-August 1864 and Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Missouri, Volume IV, September 1864-June 1865. (McFarland)
  • (Looking Forward To) Longacre, Edward. The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861. (Univ. of Oklahoma)
 
Interesting to see where they got that top selling list, because it differs from Amazon's. You can find the Amazon list here. Goes up to the top 100, but there are some replicates based on different editions. Notable top 10 discrepancies are 3 bios:

The O'Reilley Lincoln book (which I suspect if you add all the editions is the top selling title - but one could not pay me to read it), James M. McPherson's Jefferson Davis book and Robert L. O'Connell's Sherman book (both of which are great books.)

Interesting how the make those lists...
I know that the Amazon list is auto-generated based on total sales (unlike publishers' data.)
 
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