Need a book recommendation

[John Winn]

I wasn't sure if this should be in the battle forum or the book forum or here, but here goes:

Being more of a social history type my references regarding battles and campaigns are limited. I'd like to remedy that a tad but don't want to buy or read multiple volumes and don't really need to know where every company was at every moment; just want good summaries and analyses. So I'm wondering what might be the closest thing to say McPherson's Battle Cry but focused on the major battles and campaigns - i.e. a single best volume on the subject. Maybe such doesn't exist but let me put it this way: if I were only going to buy one (ok, maybe two) reference(s) on the major battles and campaigns what would you suggest ?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Your humble servant.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I can't think of any single volume in that vein superior to Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones' How the North Won.

(ETA: Ironically, I notice I have it shelved right next to Battle Cry of Freedom on my bookshelf.)

 

[ole]

Name a battle. There are multiple books on each major battle, so if we can reduce it to one battle we can discuss which single book best covers it.

For example, for Sherman's March I would recommend Southern Storm by Trudeau. Others might have different opinions.

 

[John Winn]

Name a battle. There are multiple books on each major battle, so if we can reduce it to one battle we can discuss which single book best covers it.

For example, for Sherman's March I would recommend Southern Storm by Trudeau. Others might have different opinions.

Thanks Ole. I've got a space problem and don't really want to read multiple volumes about multiple battles so was hoping there might be something like a Major Battles and Campaigns of the Civil War that would be a good summary work. As I said, maybe such a thing doesn't exist but you never know unless you ask.

 

[leftyhunter]

Pitsons books about the battle of Pea ridge and Parrire Grove come to mind.
Leftyhunter

 

[Major James B. Ronan II]

John, as reference works I strongly recommend The Civil War Dictionary by Mark W. Boatner (NY: McKay, 1988). Another is the The American Civil War, West Point Military History Series, Thomas E. Griess, ed. (NJ: Avery, 1987) with accompanying atlas.

Shelby Foote's three volume epic, The Civil War still holds up in my opinion. Its particularly valuable because it covers the vast geographic extent of the war and is an excellent primer on that forgotten subject, United States geography, though you'll need an atlas.

 

[ole]

Thanks Ole. I've got a space problem and don't really want to read multiple volumes about multiple battles so was hoping there might be something like a Major Battles and Campaigns of the Civil War that would be a good summary work. As I said, maybe such a thing doesn't exist but you never know unless you ask.

How bad is the space problem? If you're looking for one-volume, I think there is one edited by Bruce Catton, but it's a coffee-table book. Battles & Leaders is a four-volume set (10 inches) unless you add the two-volume updates by Peter Cozzens (add 4 inches).

See if your library has Battles and Leaders. A lot of time to invest in reading those.

 

[John Winn]

Thanks guys !

BTW, anybody have Atlas of the Civil War: A Complete Guide to the Tactics and Terrain of Battle put out by National Geographic ? Worth having ?

 

[NedBaldwin]

There is a recent 'The West Point History of the Civil War' which might be the kind of book you are looking for.

 

[ole]

Thanks guys !

BTW, anybody have Atlas of the Civil War: A Complete Guide to the Tactics and Terrain of Battle put out by National Geographic ? Worth having ?

It is well worth having, but it is bigger than your average coffee-table book.

 

[James S.]

The Fredericksburg Campaign, I HIGHLY Recommend The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock by Francis O'Reilly. Not just Civil War, but maybe the BEST book on ANY subject I have ever read.

 

[leftyhunter]

I wasn't sure if this should be in the battle forum or the book forum or here, but here goes:

Being more of a social history type my references regarding battles and campaigns are limited. I'd like to remedy that a tad but don't want to buy or read multiple volumes and don't really need to know where every company was at every moment; just want good summaries and analyses. So I'm wondering what might be the closest thing to say McPherson's Battle Cry but focused on the major battles and campaigns - i.e. a single best volume on the subject. Maybe such doesn't exist but let me put it this way: if I were only going to buy one (ok, maybe two) reference(s) on the major battles and campaigns what would you suggest ?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Your humble servant.

Just off the top of my head
1. Jesse James the last rebel of the CW by T.J. Stiles
2. Pistons book about Wilson's Creek
3. The Inside War Michael Fellman about Missouri.
4. The South bitterly divided
5. The South divided
6. Irregular war in the Upper South by Robert Mckay US Army Major.
Leftyhunter

 

[LittleTennessee]

I have thoroughly enjoyed The Story of the Confederacy by Robert Selph Henry and The Blue and the Grey: The Story of the Civil War as Told by Participants Two Volumes in One Edited by Henry Steele Commager.

Not sure how accurate they may be, I feel the first isn't as cited as I'd like but good reads all the same.

 

[AndyHall]

BTW, anybody have Atlas of the Civil War: A Complete Guide to the Tactics and Terrain of Battle put out by National Geographic ? Worth having ?

I have it. It's a slick, pretty book, but for the general reader and actually not many maps in it -- certainly not enough to be called an atlas.

 

[John Winn]

I have it. It's a slick, pretty book, but for the general reader and actually not many maps in it -- certainly not enough to be called an atlas.

Thanks. I ended up buying The Civil War: The Story of the War with Maps. Reviews were good and it got a recommend from McPherson. Seemed like a good bet. Also bought a large foldout map by the National Geographic Society.

I've decided after much searching that what I'm looking for doesn't exist (which is remarkable given the 70,000+ books on the war) so I'm going to cobble together my own. Sort of a Cliff Notes of the major campaigns and battles. It'll be an educational project. I've got enough source material to pull it off I think and of course there's always Google. Should keep me off the streets and out of the grog shops for a while.

 

[KLSDAD]

If it's not too late....try A Battlefield Atlas of the Civil War by Craig Symonds... 110 pages; half of which are battle and campaign maps.