NF Civil War Bibliography.

[Ara Oko]

In studying this war, I found a couple of books were going to be required.
I bought two.
1) American Heritage "Battle maps of the Civil War with amazing illustrations and maps by David Green span.
2) "Illustrated Atlas of the Civil War" from the editors of Time Life Books.
Both are fine books, and help a lot listening to the civil War podcast.
I'm not American you see, I'm a Brit, and the conflict is not well known about here.
What would add to the Bibliography I wonder? The West Point atlas of the civil war is aparrently very good. Might be a good call.

 

[American87]

Atlases and maps are good, but there are shortcomings, because they cram so much information into one page. For example, multiple books have been written on Gettysburg, but an atlas/map book could try fitting the battle onto a single page. Still, some of the atlas/map book authors can add insight that other authors do not.

If you want in-depth analysis of battles, there are plenty of books out there. My favorite author is D.S. Freeman, who wrote R.E. Lee and Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command. Combined, they total 7 volumes, and they focus only on the Army of Northern Virginia. But Freeman gets into the minds of the generals better than any author I've read, and they are extremely interesting books. You may not want to invest that much time into Lee's Army, but that's my two cents.

 

[luinrina]

You can find books about single battles or entire campaigns, lots of biographies and more. You might want to look for suggestions in our Book, Movie, & TV Discussion Tent, especially this thread is good for title ideas:

NF - Top Civil War Books of All Time Voting Thread | Civil War Books, Stories, & Media

Are you ready to Rumble! By now I'm sure almost everyone (except for Steve who is officially barred from looking at the new Bookshop, yeah I'm looking at you Steve!) has seen the brand new: CivilWarTalk Bookshop But.... I've got a problem. I just created a new category today called Must Read...

civilwartalk.com

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

In case you have any interest in the navy/amphibious/diplomatic side of the war, I've posted an extensive bibliography at https://civilwartalk.com/threads/knowledge-of-the-naval-war.77727/page-5#post-783063 (though if you're just starting out, it's likely to be overkill)...

 

[Ara Oko]

Atlases and maps are good, but there are shortcomings, because they cram so much information into one page. For example, multiple books have been written on Gettysburg, but an atlas/map book could try fitting the battle onto a single page. Still, some of the atlas/map book authors can add insight that other authors do not.

If you want in-depth analysis of battles, there are plenty of books out there. My favorite author is D.S. Freeman, who wrote R.E. Lee and Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command. Combined, they total 7 volumes, and they focus only on the Army of Northern Virginia. But Freeman gets into the minds of the generals better than any author I've read, and they are extremely interesting books. You may not want to invest that much time into Lee's Army, but that's my two cents.

Sounds costly, but fascinating. I have heard of this in passing, it seems, if I recall, it was highly regarded among buffs of all calibres.

 

[Ara Oko]

Atlases and maps are good, but there are shortcomings, because they cram so much information into one page. For example, multiple books have been written on Gettysburg, but an atlas/map book could try fitting the battle onto a single page. Still, some of the atlas/map book authors can add insight that other authors do not.

If you want in-depth analysis of battles, there are plenty of books out there. My favorite author is D.S. Freeman, who wrote R.E. Lee and Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command. Combined, they total 7 volumes, and they focus only on the Army of Northern Virginia. But Freeman gets into the minds of the generals better than any author I've read, and they are extremely interesting books. You may not want to invest that much time into Lee's Army, but that's my two cents.

Not so. These books display the battle maps over time, in stop-motion style I guess. These are further reinforced with contemporary diarists, photographers and painters.
For someone like me that didn't grow up infused with the conflict I find them really useful.

 

[Ara Oko]

Actually, I have a copy of "American Heritage Civil War Battle Sites". I no longer need. I am no longer with my American love interest, so won't be going to the States now.
If anyone wants it, just pay postage and you can have it for free.