NF Underrated Authors?

[Belfoured]

If we're looking for underrated authors I might use that to mean "very good authors who are new". Savas Beatie is prominent in bringing their work into publication and they deserve the accolades they are getting. You can find their names on several books turned out by SB over the past few years that have gotten deserved recognition.

 

[Drew]

You are probably right about Ayers, although, Ayers' work has always been questioned somewhat because his arguments about the complexities of the war's causes aren't easily pigeonholed. Supporters of the Union don't like that he recognizes more complexity than just slavery and supporters of the Confederacy don't like that he debunks many of their cherished beliefs. I don't hear him mentioned as much as a Gary Gallagher or even a Carol Reardon, but I guess that you are right that he is as prominent as them.

Ayers is not retired from writing. He is retired from academia. He taught at UNV from 1980 to 2007 and was the President of the University of Richmond from then until 2015. So, yes, you are right about him retiring. But he wrote "Thin Light of Freedom" in 2017, he published "Southern Journey" in 2020 and "American Visions" last year.

It is hard to say who is "underrated?" I would agree that my list fits the underrated among non-Civil War buffs. I guess I am thinking of the top tier as those we see on Ken Burns and other famous documentaries. Those would be who the general public has heard of. It is also hard for me because the big box bookstores no longer have "Civil War" sections and that is one way I gauged who was being considered a top tier historian.

You are right though, among history buffs, my list isn't very underrated.

This is a thoughtful post. Thank you for it.

 

[Kearny The Magnificent]

I'll take a couple stabs at "underrated" two ways:

1. Older books from 20-50 years ago are forgotten with a few exceptions. Of these, I feel time has unfairly been unkind to Allan Nevins. His 8 volume work was groundbreaking when it came out and still comprehensive in scope. I'm sure many of us own all 8 or at least the 4 volume war-focused set rereleased around the sesquicentennial. But when's the last time you heard his name? Dust off those books!

2. Bruce Levine. All of his works, which deal more with the political side of the war, have been great. His books include the best biography of Thaddeus Stevens, multiple on slavery including Confederate Emancipation, and one on German immigrants. He's not as prolific as others but I think any Civil War bookshelf is improved with his stuff on it.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I've never heard of Levine.

Nevins was a big deal as an author in his lifetime writing on a variety of American historical figures and events, but I agree is pretty much forgotten now. His 8 volume history of the Civil War seems surprisingly obscure considering there's nothing comparable by one author. Then again, reading an 8-volume history of anything doesn't hold much appeal to me.

 

[TallTallMan]

I'll take a couple stabs at "underrated" two ways:

1. Older books from 20-50 years ago are forgotten with a few exceptions. Of these, I feel time has unfairly been unkind to Allan Nevins. His 8 volume work was groundbreaking when it came out and still comprehensive in scope. I'm sure many of us own all 8 or at least the 4 volume war-focused set rereleased around the sesquicentennial. But when's the last time you heard his name? Dust off those books!

2. Bruce Levine. All of his works, which deal more with the political side of the war, have been great. His books include the best biography of Thaddeus Stevens, multiple on slavery including Confederate Emancipation, and one on German immigrants. He's not as prolific as others but I think any Civil War bookshelf is improved with his stuff on it.

I have Nevins but none of Levine, but you got me interested!

 

[LCYingling3rd]

I've never heard of Levine.

Nevins was a big deal as an author in his lifetime writing on a variety of American historical figures and events, but I agree is pretty much forgotten now. His 8 volume history of the Civil War seems surprisingly obscure considering there's nothing comparable by one author. Then again, reading an 8-volume history of anything doesn't hold much appeal to me.

With Nevins I tend to pick a period or topic and explore it. I know what you mean though; I would never "sit down and read" a series like that. I am the same with my, "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln." I use them like a reference and not a narrative. I didn't read Shelby Foote's three volumes in one sitting. It took me a while. I didn't read Harry Pfanz in one sitting either. I got his "Gettysburg, Culps Hill and Cemetery Hill" first, when it was his second book in the series. And of course, his, "Gettysburg, The First Day" was his last book.
Long series are difficult.

As far as Bruce Levine is concerned, I have had his, "The Fall of the House of Dixie" in my hands at books stores a couple of times and just never pulled the trigger. I will someday.

 

[SSVilla]

Allen C. Guelzo

Excellent book about Gettysburg. Excellent book about Reconstruction. Excellent book about Lee.

I have this one from the library…

 

[Scott Mingus]

I particularly like Edward Ayers books. "The Thin Light of Freedom" and "in the Presence of Mine Enemies" are two of my favorites. His study of the complexity of the Civil War's cause, "What Caused the Civil War" is fascinating reading to me.

I believe John Michael Priest is underrated. His books, "Antietam" and "Before Antietam" are essential to my studies.

Jeffrey Wert comes to mind! He has written much more than his essential "From Winchester to Cedar Creek."

I cannot believe Eric Wittenberg and Scott Mingus have not been mentioned! In addition to their many individual books, their two-volume collaboration of "We Are Striking for Pennsylvania" Volumes I & II is fantastic and their "The Second Battle of Winchester" is essential to my research.

I like Scott Patchan's books as well. I enjoyed both "Shenandoah Summer" and "The Last Battle of Winchester." He also has books on Second Manassas and George Washington in the French and Indian War among others.

That is a few that I like....

Thanks for the very kind words.

 

[Library Lady]

I'll take a couple stabs at "underrated" two ways:

1. Older books from 20-50 years ago are forgotten with a few exceptions. Of these, I feel time has unfairly been unkind to Allan Nevins. His 8 volume work was groundbreaking when it came out and still comprehensive in scope. I'm sure many of us own all 8 or at least the 4 volume war-focused set rereleased around the sesquicentennial. But when's the last time you heard his name? Dust off those books!

2. Bruce Levine. All of his works, which deal more with the political side of the war, have been great. His books include the best biography of Thaddeus Stevens, multiple on slavery including Confederate Emancipation, and one on German immigrants. He's not as prolific as others but I think any Civil War bookshelf is improved with his stuff on it.

In category #1 I'd add Henry Steele Commager. He and Allan Nevins were the go-to established writers on the Civil War when I was in college in the 1970s. You don't hear about him anymore, either.

 

[lelliott19]

I particularly like Edward Ayers books. "The Thin Light of Freedom" and "in the Presence of Mine Enemies" are two of my favorites. His study of the complexity of the Civil War's cause, "What Caused the Civil War" is fascinating reading to me.

I believe John Michael Priest is underrated. His books, "Antietam" and "Before Antietam" are essential to my studies.

Jeffrey Wert comes to mind! He has written much more than his essential "From Winchester to Cedar Creek."

I cannot believe Eric Wittenberg and Scott Mingus have not been mentioned! In addition to their many individual books, their two-volume collaboration of "We Are Striking for Pennsylvania" Volumes I & II is fantastic and their "The Second Battle of Winchester" is essential to my research.

I like Scott Patchan's books as well. I enjoyed both "Shenandoah Summer" and "The Last Battle of Winchester." He also has books on Second Manassas and George Washington in the French and Indian War among others.

That is a few that I like....

I agree with @LCYingling3rd . Some of the best underrated or not as well-known authors IMHO are listed here. Priest, Wert, @Scott Mingus , Wittenberg, and Patchan.

I'll add a few of my personal favorites: @Michael C. Hardy author of perhaps the most deeply researched, well-written, and easy to read brigade level study I have ever read - General Lee's Immortals: The Battles and Campaigns of the Branch-Lane Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865. Mac Wycoff whose work on South Carolina regiments is iconic. Glen Swain of The Bloody 7th South Carolina writes such a compelling narrative you can't put it down. Probably one of the best regimental histories nobody's heard of because it is self-published and regiment specific is Brigadier General Jerry C. McAbee's, USMC (Ret.) Stubborn Men and Parched Corn: The Eighteenth Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment for his ability to incorporate his own combat experience into context of the strategy and maneuvers.

 

[Jerry43]

She was a great historian and the field lost an excellent voice when she was killed in a car accident

April 13th will be 10 years since her death. Driver of car that rear ended her car was found not guilty due to insanity and was committed to a facility with
yearly evaluations of his mental state for release.

 

[ErnieMac]

I've loved Demon of Unrest though Larson is very popular. I will note however, I didn't know him prior to this book.

Demon of Unrest is Larson's only Civil War book. I've read a number of his other history books which are quite good. Examples include Isaac's Storm (Galveston Hurricane of 1900), Devil in the White City (1892 World Columbian Exposition & serial killer H. H. Holmes), Thunderstruck (Marconi & wireless telegraph) & Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania among other.

 

[Library Lady]

@SSVilla , if you were the member who expressed an interest in the Gilded Age, then both Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck would be for you. Devil in the White City is about the World's Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago in 1893 at a time when Chicago was the fasting growing city in the world. On the good side is Daniel Burnham, a renowned architect (the Flatiron Building in NYC; Union Station in Washington, DC; Selfridge's in London, etc.) and urban planner (the plan for the city of Chicago and his famous statement, "Make no small plans."), versus H. H. Holmes, an early American serial killer. Thunderstruck features Guglielmo Marconi and the development of wireless telegraphy versus Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, the poisoner (the Gilded Age being the golden age of poisoners). His view of the Gilded Age is one where there is a lot of technological and societal change going on as well as a lot of unsavory things, some of which are aided and abetted by the tech change and some of which will be tamped down because of it.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Devil in the White City is about the World's Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago in 1893 at a time when Chicago was the fasting growing city in the world.

Tangential Trivia: there is a community in Florida called White City, which is, ironically, not incorporated. The main road through it is Midway Road.

I like to ask locals if they know why they are so named. They usually guess the former is a racial thing, or maybe the name of a founding settler. The latter they think is halfway between the two nearest municipalities.

Very few people are aware of the actual origin. The origin settlers were from Chicago (mostly Danish) circa 1893. They named White City to honor the fair, which featured the first carnival midway.

 

[civil_war_study]

I particularly like Bill Styple, and I think he doesn't get enough credit for his works. "General's in Bronze" is fantastic, he edited the writings of artist and sculptor James Kelly who had some very interesting interviews with famous Civil War generals.

(I learned Joshua Chamberlain had a full beard at Gettysburg... details about Fitz John Porter's trial... Sheridan and his famous ride...and his famous hat...)

Also, his magnum opus on Phil Kearny is extremely impressive. Bill basically spent 40+ years writing Kearny's biography, and accounts for almost every month of Kearny's life. I met Bill in Gettysburg, wonderful guy too.

 

[DixieRifles]

I've really liked Timothy Smith. I read his Corinth 1862 and he has an easy to follow narrative style. I have several of his books on my to read list.

I was invited to speak at the local SCV chapter for tomorrow night. I didnt have a new subject, I decided to give them ideas so they can learn on their own.
My subject will be 10 books by Dr Timothy Smith and my selection focuses on his books related to Northern Mississippi— with one exception being Shiloh; Conquer or Perish. Also 2 of the books are biographies.
That is a lot of ground to cover but the purpose of my talk is to inform them of the books and explain the subject matter. He put out a lot of books. From these 10 books, 6 were published since 2020!!

I have not read all 10 books, yet —but that is my goal and I have my list.

Click to enlarge
​

I do have to ask Dr. Smith about one thing.
He published "Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg" in 2004.
Ten years later in 2024, he published the "Inland Campaign for Vicksburg" as part of his 5 volume, 3000 page series on Vicksburg Campaign. Same 5 battles, same time frame but different maps and content on the battles.
It is like he is competing against himself. If someone asked which book should they read, I couldnt answer.

 

[TallTallMan]

I was invited to speak at the local SCV chapter for tomorrow night. I didnt have a new subject, I decided to give them ideas so they can learn on their own.
My subject will be 10 books by Dr Timothy Smith and my selection focuses on his books related to Northern Mississippi— with one exception being Shiloh; Conquer or Perish. Also 2 of the books are biographies.
That is a lot of ground to cover but the purpose of my talk is to inform them of the books and explain the subject matter. He put out a lot of books. From these 10 books, 6 were published since 2020!!

I have not read all 10 books, yet —but that is my goal and I have my list.

View attachment 545414
Click to enlarge
​

I do have to ask Dr. Smith about one thing.
He published "Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg" in 2004.
Ten years later in 2024, he published the "Inland Campaign for Vicksburg" as part of his 5 volume, 3000 page series on Vicksburg Campaign. Same 5 battles, same time frame but different maps and content on the battles.
It is like he is competing against himself. If someone asked which book should they read, I couldnt answer.

Cool! Good luck with your talk! I--sadly--don't have a single Tim Smith yet.

 

[Jamieva]

I was invited to speak at the local SCV chapter for tomorrow night. I didnt have a new subject, I decided to give them ideas so they can learn on their own.
My subject will be 10 books by Dr Timothy Smith and my selection focuses on his books related to Northern Mississippi— with one exception being Shiloh; Conquer or Perish. Also 2 of the books are biographies.
That is a lot of ground to cover but the purpose of my talk is to inform them of the books and explain the subject matter. He put out a lot of books. From these 10 books, 6 were published since 2020!!

I have not read all 10 books, yet —but that is my goal and I have my list.

View attachment 545414
Click to enlarge
​

I do have to ask Dr. Smith about one thing.
He published "Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg" in 2004.
Ten years later in 2024, he published the "Inland Campaign for Vicksburg" as part of his 5 volume, 3000 page series on Vicksburg Campaign. Same 5 battles, same time frame but different maps and content on the battles.
It is like he is competing against himself. If someone asked which book should they read, I couldnt answer.

I have watched a lot of youtube interviews with Tim. Basically the 5 volume Vicksburg study was supposed to be 3 but turned into 5 and I believe they didn't come out in order. They could be published in a condensed time frame because he did all the research before he wrote the first book so it was just a meter of writing them all. I assume he never planned of doing 5 when he wrote that champion hill book way back when,

 

[JohnnyReb421745]

You're not kidding, @Sheltowee . I ran an AddALL list on the author's name and came up with one copy of Perryville: Battle for Kentucky at $120.

I have all 4 of Hafendorfer's

You're not kidding, @Sheltowee . I ran an AddALL list on the author's name and came up with one copy of Perryville: Battle for Kentucky at $120.

i have 4 of Hafendorfer's books. Perryville, Wildcat Mountain, Richmond and Mill Springs. Yes, difficult to find and yes, very expensive.

 

[JohnnyReb421745]

Cool! Good luck with your talk! I--sadly--don't have a single Tim Smith yet.

If you're looking for a micro tactical deep dive, definitely go with Champion Hill by SB (2004?). The 'Inland Battles' is more of an operational study of those 5 engagements including Champion Hill. While he does provide some details on the battles, this is not a tactical study. It's a shame somewhat though, Port Gibson could use the 'deep dive' study.