What American Civil War Books Are You Planning On Buying/Reading Next?

R. Evans

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Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Location
Salem, Ohio
Forgive me if there is a thread like this around. I did a search and couldn't find anything.:smile:

So here goes. These 3 should be here tomorrow or Saturday. Can't wait to dive in.​
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Just started "Rebels in the Making: The Secession Crisis and the Birth of the Confederacy" by William Barney. He is describing the social and political climates in all the slave states and what led the 11 to secede and fight. It is very interesting so far.

I have an old copy of Barney's Crisis of Fear on my bookshelf. Think I'll dust it off and give it another look.
 
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I would love to buy "Mr. Lincoln's Army" by Bruce Catton.

Is it difficult to read?
I wanted to buy Shelby Foote's books but his style and prose is too difficult for my English level.

Not diffucult to read, per se, given that Catton was a professional journalist, not a professional historian. And it is aimed at about a US 7th Grade reading level, so there should be no difficulty in that regard.

However, the book is not well understood or appreciated unless the reader already has a pretty solid grounding in Civil War history. The roles of the many generals and politicians, to say nothing of the many similar battles, are confusing unless you already know the essential background.

This book sat on the shelf of the family library unread by me for many years. It was not interesting or attractive to me until after I had more thoroughly educated myself on the war in the East.
 
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Not diffucult to read, per se, given that Catton was a professional journalist, not a professional historian. And it is aimed at about a US 7th Grade reading level, so there should be no difficulty in that regard.

However, the book is not well understood or appreciated unless the reader already has a pretty solid grounding in Civil War history. The roles of the many generals and politicians, to say nothing of the many similar battles, are confusing unless you already know the essential background.

This book sat on the shelf of the family library unread by me for many years. It was not interesting or attractive to me until after I had more thoroughly educated myself on the war in the East.

Thank you for your kind answer !
Unfortunately my knowledge of the Civil War is limited to the lectures that I find online.
So I am afraid I can't really start with Catton.
Do you happen to know a book that is more "approachable"? :smile:
 
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Thank you for your kind answer !
Unfortunately my knowledge of the Civil War is limited to the lectures that I find online.
So I am afraid I can't really start with Catton.
Do you happen to know a book that is more "approachable"? :smile:
Consider Battle Cry of Freedom, by James McPherson. It won the Pulitzer Price and is often cited as the best one volume history of the Civil War.

The best part for you, is on Amazon the first approximatly 30 pages of the book are available for reading online. So you can try it and see if it fits your English ability.

Here is the link to Amazon, see the Look Inside tag line and click on it and you can read the sample of the book.

Amazon, Battle Cry of Freedom

Cheers
 
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Consider Battle Cry of Freedom, by James McPherson. It won the Pulitzer Price and is often cited as the best one volume history of the Civil War.

The best part for you, is on Amazon the first approximatly 30 pages of the book are available for reading online. So you can try it and see if it fits your English ability.

Here is the link to Amazon, see the Look Inside tag line and click on it and you can read the sample of the book.

Amazon, Battle Cry of Freedom

Cheers

Thank you !
I'm surely going to try it :smile:
 
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Forgive me if there is a thread like this around. I did a search and couldn't find anything.:smile:

So here goes. These 3 should be here tomorrow or Saturday. Can't wait to dive in.

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Have you read ''The Battle of Glendale; The day the South Nearly won the Civil War'' author Jim Stempel. It is a battle that took place on June 30,1862 at a local of Glendale. I have not read of that engagement and before I purchase the book I would like to know of anyone who has information on the author and of the battle. Thank you for any infomation.
 
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Have you read ''The Battle of Glendale; The day the South Nearly won the Civil War'' author Jim Stempel. It is a battle that took place on June 30,1862 at a local of Glendale. I have not read of that engagement and before I purchase the book I would like to know of anyone who has information on the author and of the battle. Thank you for any infomation.
I personally prefer Doug Crenshaws book on glendale

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1626198926/?tag=civilwartalkc-20
 
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I finished Coddington’s Gettysburg Campaign earlier this week and thought it was fantastic and a far better/easier read than I anticipated going in. While I’m no historian, I can appreciate and understand it’s reputation, as the 250+ pages of endnotes at times even sucked me in to looking through various citations while working my way thru the book. To this layman, the book works best when follows it’s subtitle of a “study in command” - it really shines when describing the decision making, thoughts/options of commanders, and rationale for decisions, if not quite as much in actual descriptions of fighting. The first true Gettysburg book I read was Sears and while I would probably return to Sears before Coddington for my own amateur readings, I completely understand why Coddington is considered the Bible of the battle. And fortunately, it’s written so well that even people like me can read it and appreciate it.

Now, onto even more Gettysburg fun with Harry Pfanz’s Gettysburg-The First Day.
 
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I have started reading Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon by Louis L. Picone.

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I'm about half through this book, and is excellent, providing details/background very different than the brief descriptions of Grant's final days and subsequent memorialization of him.
 
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I found this book in the new purchase shelf at my local town Library. I'm not sure if I will read it but was curious about its contents.

"Into Tennessee & Failure: John Bell Hood", by Stephen Davis, published Mercer Univ, 2020.

INTO TENNESSEE AND FAILURE is the second volume of Stephen Davis's study of John Bell Hood's generalship in 1864. Here Davis picks up the story in September-October 1864, tracing Hood and his army into North Georgia and Alabama. Entering Tennessee in late November, Hood's forces failed to trap Union Maj. Gen. John Schofield's infantry at Spring Hill. On November 30, Hood ordered his soldiers to attack Schofield's fortified lines at Franklin. A tragic and bloody repulse followed. Schofield escaped to Nashville, joining Maj. Gen. George Thomas's forces. With few options left, Hood approached Nashville and had his troops dig in. Though his army was half the size of Thomas's 50,000, Hood hoped to win a defensive victory when Thomas attacked him. Instead, in the battle of Nashville, December 15-16, the Army of Tennessee was routed from the field. By the time it ended its retreat in North Mississippi, Confederate authorities were ready to relieve Hood from command. Hood resigned in January 1865.
 
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I'm waiting for Paddy Griffith's Battle Tactics of the Civil War to arrive. That's the Civil War book I'm reading next.
Overall, it's good, and an interesting 'antidote' to some things we Americans tend to believe about the war when we remove it from the rest of Western 19th-century military experience.
 
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I just picked up Old Abe. It's a short and easy read and it is a great fictional piece about his years in office. You experience the joy, the laughter, the sorrow, the politics (a little), the tragedy of personal loss, and of course, the war.

I highly recommend it.

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Thank you for the recommendation; I’m really enjoying this novel!
 
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