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Book Reviews
New Civil War scholarship read and assessed, so subscribers know what is worth the shelf space.
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What makes a good battle book?
Confederate Grand Strategy: Is What Historians Think About Robert E. Lee All Wrong? By Alexander B. Rossino
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234 articles · 2016–2026Civil War Book Reviews
Reconstruction in Louisiana Fractured Freedoms: Reconstructing Central Louisiana. By David T. Ballantyne. Maps, footnotes, bibliography, index. 309 pp., 2025. Lou…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: B…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: B…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: B…
Emerging Civil War The Book of General Stevenson
Icracked the book open carefully, conscious of its old spine. I didn’t know what shape its pages might be in, either. The book, an edition of Dennis Hart Mahan’s…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: B…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews For current events visit CivilWarEvents.com
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews For current events visit CivilWarEvents.com
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews — November-December 2024
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews — September-October 2024
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Civil War Book Reviews
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact e…
Book Reviews — April 2024
Hoosier Spies and Horse Marines: A History of the Third Indiana Cavalry, East Wing. By James A. Goecker. Illustrated, Bibliography, Notes, Appendices, Index, McFa…
Book Reviews — March 2024
A Political Scientist’s Analysis of Reconstruction in Texas Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significan…
Book Reviews — February 2024
A Detailed View of Little-Studied Campaign Outwitting Forrest: The Tupelo Campaign in Mississippi, June 22-July 23, 1864. By Edwin C. Bearss, edited by David A. P…
The 2023 Lincoln Forum
By Leon Reed Once again, the Lincoln Forum brought together the nation’s leading Lincoln scholars and enthusiasts at Gettysburg’s Wyndham Hotel for a threeday bin…
Civil War News, a transformation of the Civil War Book Exchange, turns fifty
By Stephen Davis That’s right, we’re a halfThe year was 1974, the time century old. when… Civil War News was founded by • People Magazine hits the Kay and the lat…
Book Reviews — January 2024
A Wilderness of Destruction: Confederate Guerrillas in East and South Florida, 1861–1865. By Zack C. Waters. Illustrated, bibliography, index, Mercer University P…
Book Reviews — December 2023
Introducing the Rebel Yell to Pennsylvania ‘If We Are Striking For Pennsylvania:” The Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac March to Gettysburg, V…
Book Reviews — November 2023
Burnside’s Boys: The Union’s Ninth Corps and the Civil War in the East. By Darin Wipperman. Photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 510 pp., 2023. Stackpole Boo…
Book Reviews — October 2023
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: BookRev…
Book Reviews — September 2023
Redeeming Grant’s Reputation Grant at 200: Reconsidering the Life and Legacy of Ulysses S. Grant. Edited by Chris Mackowski and Frank J. Scaturro. Photos, notes,…
The War Before the War, Part 2: George B. McClellan
The War Before the War, Part 2: George B. McClellan Last month’s “This and That” reviewed the Mexican War experience of an artilleryman, Thomas Jackson. This time…
Ham Chamberlayne Virginian
Ham Chamberlayne Virginian “For the shortest, dullest letter really written in a past age can bring its atmosphere home to you as the most vivid historian of a la…
Book Reviews — August 2023
A Modern Strategic Look at America’s Major Wars Since 1861
Book Reviews — July 2023
Fascinating and Exciting Regimental History The 117th New York Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster. By James S. Pula. Photos, maps, notes, indices, bi…
Wert Wins Unprecedented Third Austin Civil War Round Table Book Prize for Bloody Angle Book
Wert Wins Unprecedented Third Austin Civil War Round Table Book Prize for Bloody Angle Book AUSTIN, Texas—Jeffry Wert has won the 2022 Austin Civil War Round Tabl…
Book Reviews — June 2023
XV Corps in Georgia and the Carolinas Soldiers From ExperienceThe Forging of Sherman’s Fifteenth Army Corps 1862– 1863. Eric Michael Burke. Maps, Endnotes, Biblio…
Book Reviews — May 2023
Custer Biography Struggles to Offer New Look at “Boy General”
Book Reviews — April 2023
The Interracial Fight for Emancipation The Color of Abolition: How a Printer, A Prophet and a Contessa Moved a Nation. By Linda Hirshman. Notes, illustrated, Mari…
Book Reviews — March 2023
First hand Accounts of Iowa Soldiers Iowa and the Civil War; Volume 3: The Longest Year 1864–1865 by Kenneth L. Lyftogt. 2022, Camp Pope Publishing, www.camppope.…
“Cheer, Boys, Cheer”: Sam Watkins in the Winter of ’63-‘64
Columbia Herald, 1881-82.3 The author stitched them together as a volume which at one time he thought he would entitle Sam’s Book.4 Fifteen hundred copies were pr…
Book Reviews — February 2023
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: BookRev…
Book Reviews — January 2023
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: BookRev…
The Salmon P. Chase Papers: Journals
Each book includes a detailed index. Reminder: search WorldCat to locate a printed copy in a local library: https://www.worldcat.org. In addition, the Library of…
Book Reviews — December 2022
A Powerful Look at Confederate Veterans’ Homeward Journeys Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant…
De Bow's Review
De Bow’s Review When James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow started publishing The Commercial Review of the South and West in New Orleans in 1846, he intended it as a jou…
Civil War News Book Reviewer's Top Picks for Western Theater Books
Stephen Davis’ Top Ten Favorite Western Theater Books
Book Reviews — November 2022
An Essential Collection of Union Veterans’ Writings Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil…
Modest Merit
by Stephen Davis Ed. note: Steve Davis’ new book, The Atlanta Daily Intelligencer Covers the Civil War, is now out (University of Tennessee Press). Here is an art…
Emerging Civil War Series Spotlight
About the Book: The stakes for George Gordon Meade could not have been higher. After his stunning victory at Gettysburg in July 1863, the Union commander spent th…
Book Reviews — October 2022
Old Glory at the Crossroads 1861–1865: The Original and Complete Tribune Newspapers Civil War Centennial Comic Strip. By Rick Fletcher and Athena Robbins, compile…
Book Reviews — September 2022
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: BookRev…
Book Reviews — August 2022
The Fourth of July and the 1876 Centennial exhibition Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civi…
Book Reviews — June 2022
Choctaw Confederates: The American Civil War in Indian Country. By Fay A. Yarbrough. Bibliography, index, notes, maps, 280 pp., University of North Carolina Press…
Fort Donelson Observes 160th Anniversary
Fort Donelson, located on the Cumberland River at Dover, Tenn., was the site of a battle remembered on its 160th anniversary by a series of tours, talks, a book s…
Book Reviews — May 2022
Abraham Lincoln, Color-Blind Host A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House. By Jonathan W. White. Illustrated, index, 251 pp.…
Emerging Civil War — April 2022
I was pleased to open the March 2022 issue of Civil War News to see a review by Joe Truglio of our ECW 10th Anniversary book The Summer of ’63: Vicksburg and Tull…
Book Reviews — April 2022
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and Reviewed by Wayne L. Wolf scholarsh…
Book Reviews — March 2022
The Record of Murders and Outrages: Racial Violence and Truth at the Dawn of Reconstruction. By William A. Blair. 4 tables, notes, index, 173 pp., 2021. The Unive…
More on Iuka: Why Did Rosecrans Fight Alone?
In last month’s column we reviewed some interesting aspects of the Battle of Iuka. We analyzed specifically Grant’s false charges that Brig. Gen. William S. Rosec…
Book Reviews — February 2022
Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army After Appomattox. By Caroline E. Janney. Photos, maps, notes, Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with…
Book Reviews — January 2022
the lucrative smuggling trade; hampering the arrival of needed supplies that the South could not produce internally thus adding to inflation; and, creating a sens…
Book Reviews — December 2021
that the economy expanded exponentially. Exports from the city grew from $67,000,000 in 1861 to $293,000,000 in 1865. Cincinnati became a major supplier of wester…
Top Biographies and/or Autobiographies of the Common Soldier
For this November Book Issue of Civil War News, we asked our contributors for their Top biographies and/or autobiographies of the common soldier. Here are their c…
Some of My Most Favorite Books Read in 2021
Women Making War: Female Confederate Prisoners and Union Military Justice by Thomas F. Curran. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 258 pages (2020). R…
My Top Ten Favorite Civil War Bios of Common Soldiers
In no particular order, here’s my ten favorite bios or autobiographies of common soldiers of the Civil War: 1. Rebel Private Front and Rear. By William Andrew Fle…
My Six Favorite Soldier Memoirs
In his self-published book An Epic on “Old Abe,” The War Eagle (The War Eagle Book Association, 1894), S. C. Miles, a veteran of the 8th Wisconsin, extolled the v…
Letters to the Editor — November 2021
TO THE EDITOR: I feel a bit of clarification is necessary regarding Thomas Ryan’s review of Slavery in the Western States in the October 2021 issue. Referencing U…
Book Reviews — November 2021
am thankful I was so fortunate as to have the opportunity to do so,” Thompson acknowledged in his 1879 introduction, realizing how the hand of fate had spared him…
ECW Honors Nelson’s The Three-Cornered War with Book Award
West (Simon & Schuster, 2000) as the recipient of this year’s Emerging Civil War Book Award. The Emerging Civil War Book Award recognizes a work of Civil War hist…
Book Reviews — October 2021
We Gave Them Thunder – Marmaduke’s Raid and the Civil War in Missouri and Kansas. By William Garrett Piston & John C. Rutherford. 2021, Ozarks Studies Institute o…
Book Reviews — September 2021
No Place For Glory: Major General Robert E. Rodes and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg. By Robert J. Wynstra. Illustrated, bibliography, index, notes, Kent St…
Book Reviews — August 2021
Defending the Arteries of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861–1865. By Neil P. Chatelain. Illustrated, Index, bibliograp…
Female Soldiers, Spies, Sutlers, Smugglers and Strumpets
Female Soldiers, Spies, Sutlers, Smugglers and Strumpets In an earlier column I reviewed the brief military careers of a few Southern and Northern women who, moti…
Book Reviews — June 2021
as a military engineer in the Continental Army. Duportail was born in France in 1743; in 1761 he entered the Military School of the Royal Corps of Engineers. Comm…
Book Reviews — May 2021
ultimately, to the new Republican party. He was known for his “witty repartee, his scorching sarcasm, his lofty eloquence, his great profundity, and his ponderous…
Letters to the Editor — April 2021
Letter to the Editor: The book review of Bruce Brager’s Grant’s Victory: How Ulysses S. Grant Won the Civil War in the February issue of CWN makes a point that Gr…
Book Reviews — April 2021
Atlanta’s Fighting 42nd, Joseph Johnston’s “Old Guard.” By W. Clifford Roberts Jr. and Frank E. Clark. Illustrated, Civil War News book reviews provide our reader…
Book Reviews — March 2021
Reconciliation and Reunion Patriot’s Twice, Former Confederates and the Building of America After the Civil War. By Stephen M. Hood. Illustrated, bibliography, ap…
Book Reviews — February 2021
Counties.” Governor Morton the Constitution in our current What of the designation of home viewed the southern half of the war on terror, conclusions about grown,…
Letters to the Editor — January 2021
Letters to the Editor LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Kudos to Civil War News for its Expanded November Book Issue. What a treat to read so many Top 10 Civil War Book Lists…
Book Reviews — January 2021
Fighting For The Union and a Pension An Immigrant Story. By Kenneth E. Burchett. Illustrated, Index, Notes, Amity American Publishing, 2020, 167 pp., softcover. A…
Book Reviews — December 2020
Lincoln: The Silent Abolitionist Aroused Lincoln and the American Founding. By Lucas E. Morel. Notes, bibliography, index, Southern Illinois University Press, siu…
American Battlefield Trust — December 2020
The American Battlefield Trust is proud to announce publication of our newest book, Battle Maps of the Civil War: The Western Theater, now available from Knox Boo…
My Most Favorite Book Read in 2020
My Most Favorite Book Read in 2020 The Enduring Civil War: Reflections on the Great American Crisis, by Gary W. Gallagher. Louisiana State University Press, (2020…
Meg Groeling’ Top Favorite Civil War Books
Meg Groeling’ Top Favorite Civil War Books When the request for a list of “favorite books” came to those who review for CWN, I thought here was an excellent, if u…
John Coski’s Top Ten Civil War Books
John Coski’s Top Ten Civil War Books (listed by date of publication) 1. The Scouts of Stonewall by Joseph A. Altsheler. Appleton, 1914. Volume 3 of Altsheler’s 8-…
Gordon Jones’ Top Ten Civil War Books
in the order I first encountered them from childhood to present. 1. The Golden Book of the Civil War by Bruce Catton and Charles Flato. American Heritage Publishi…
Chris Kolakowski’s Top Five Civil War Books
1. The American Heritage Book of the Civil War by Bruce Catton. American Heritage Publishing Co., 1960. A classic, and for many people, myself included, their int…
Charles H. Bogart’s Top Ten Civil War Books
Charles H. Bogart’s Top Ten Civil War Books My main interest in the Civil War centers around naval operations. I do not care if the action takes place on the high…
Book Reviews — November 2020
How Republican Junior Officers Won the Army of the Potomac’s Internal Political War A Republic in the Ranks: Loyalty and Dissent in the Army of the Potomac. By Za…
Book Reviews — October 2020
Only 582 Came Home The 6th Michigan Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. By Eric R. Faust. Illustrated, notes, appendices, index, bibliography, 2020, McFarland an…
Book Reviews — September 2020
Indian Nations: Civil War within a Civil War Caught in the Maelstrom: The Indian Nations in the Civil War, 1861–1865. By Clint Crowe. Bibliography, footnotes, pho…
Book Reviews — August 2020
Technology and Humanity in the Civil War: An Illustrated Journey Confederate Soldiers in the American Civil War. By Mark Hughes. Illustrated, appendices, index, 1…
Pandemic affects history profession in multitude of ways
Pandemic affects history profession in multitude of ways by Chris Mackowski Canceled talks, postponed tours, lost book sales, closed facilities, Civil War histori…
News Briefs — July 2020
most recent book, Inglorious Passages: Noncombat Deaths in the American Civil War, has also drawn acclaim. In addition, Dr. Wills has authored articles and book r…
Book Reviews — July 2020
Gettysburg Guides’ Book Offers Focused, Thorough Narrative of Peach Orchard Fight Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the “C…
To The Editor:
Thanks for the review of the long overdue history of the 39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. I am familiar with the role the 39th played especially during the Gettys…
Book Reviews — June 2020
Lincoln’s Multiple Personal Tragedies to the Terrible Carnage of the Civil War The Black Heavens: Abraham Lincoln and Death. By Brian R. Dirck. Notes, Bibliograph…
Book Reviews — May 2020
Diary of a Confederate Artillerist The Spirits of Bad Men Made Perfect: The Life and Diary of Confederate Artillerist William Ellis Jones. By Constance Hall Jones…
From The Lowcountry — April 2020
If you are publisher or author and want to submit your book for review, please email [email protected] to make sure that your publication meets the eli…
Book Reviews — April 2020
Getting to know the Troup Artillery Sons of Tom Cobb: Troup Artillery, Athens, Georgia. By William Sidney Smedlund. Maps, illustrations, appendices, bibliography,…
Book Reviews — March 2020
A Look at Secession as a Global Movement in the Antebellum Era Liberty and SlaveryEuropean Separatists, Southern Secession and the American Civil War. By Niels Ei…
“Hold My Horse” Review
Humor is notably lacking in most movies and videos pertaining to the Civil War. In part, of course, that is due to the extremely serious nature of that conflict.…
The Grand Review
The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals. On the gree…
Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable Annual Distinguished Book Award
The Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable is pleased to announce that its annual award for the best book published on the Gettysburg Campaign in 2018 goes to Robert J.…
From The Lowcountry — February 2020
We have decided to retire the official position of Book Review Editor of Civil War News beginning with the March 2020 issue. Dr. Larry Babits will continue to edi…
Emerging Civil War — February 2020
by Constance Hall Jones. This month, we direct our “10 Questions” to Connie. You can read more about the book and Connie here: https://emergingcivilwar.com/2019/1…
Book Reviews — February 2020
Unsung Civil War Heroines Gunpowder on Their Skirts: Military Heroines for the Blue and Gray. By Stephanie H. Ford. Bibliography, index, notes, glossary, photogra…
Perspectives on Antietam Phase Two – The Sunken Road
Last time we reviewed the accounts of two Federal officers who described their actions and observations in the first phase of the Battle of Antietam in the fields…
Book Reviews — January 2020
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Mounted
Answers found on page 46. Stephen Davis, our Book Review Editor, asks if there’s a book out there that’s a Federal counterpart to J. D. R. Hawkins’ work, cited on…
Book Reviews — December 2019
The Calculus of Violence: How Americans Fought the Civil War. By Aaron SheehanDean. Notes, illustrations, index, 465 pp., 2018. Harvard University Press, www.hup.…
Our Contributors – Books on Their Cart
Our Contributors – Books on Their Cart This idea spawned from CWN columnist Michael Shaffer, who wrote that Stephen Davis’ new book on the Atlanta Campaign was on…
Ohio in the War: Her Statesman, Generals, and Soldiers
Book cover. Agate: 1: a hard stone, sometimes referred to as a bloodstone; 2: pseudonym under which Whitelaw Reid wrote of various battles during the American Civ…
Notable Books of a Nautical Nature
When presented with the opportunity to write about books, one quickly realizes that new books are being published weekly dealing with the American Civil War, our…
New Gun Digest & Veteran Arms
often falling into the pit of nostalgia. One example of that nostalgia stimulation is Gun Digest, the annual firearms publication continuously in print since 1946…
Bookish
D. John J. Pullen E. Frank E. Vandiver F. Albert Castel G. Bruce Catton H. John J. Hennessy I. James I. Robertson, Jr. J. John D. Billings Answers found on page 4…
Book Reviews — November 2019
Saving the American Experiment New Perspectives on the Civil War. Edited by Gary Gallagher and Elizabeth Varon. Illustrations, notes, index, bibliography, 260 pp.…
Why I Support the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust
By Bradley M. Gottfried, Ph.D. I prepare detailed map atlases of Civil War campaigns—six are in print and a couple are on the way. I visit battlefields multiple t…
Sharpshooter Duels, Buffalo Arms and Wild Bill’s Firearms Heritage
Garry Yee, author of Sharpshooters 1750–1900: The Men, Their Guns, Their Story, a book that has become an instant classic and go-to source on the subject, has a n…
Book Reviews — October 2019
Contact Stephen Davis, Civil War News Book Review Editor. Email: [email protected].
“Best Little Book on Barnard”
Historical Publications LLC of Charleston, S.C., is proud to announce publication of its newThe paperback, Significant Atlanta 100 Campaign Civil War Photographs:…
Our First Sale
Every author wishes to remember his first book sale. Ours came in Savannah, Ga., on July 17. Jack, Peggy, and I met at Wiley’s Championship Barbecue, slightly sou…
Book Reviews — September 2019
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Book Reviews — August 2019
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Book Reviews — June 2019
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Book Reviews — May 2019
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Letters to the Editor — April 2019
I enjoy the Civil War News and find it most informative. The piece on Hiram Roosa’s collection was especially timely, as I had been asked to give a book report in…
Book Reviews — April 2019
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Lincoln Forum Announces New Annual Book Prize To Honor Best Lincoln Book of the Year
The Lincoln Forum has created a new $1,000 prize to honor the year’s best book on Abraham Lincoln—or a distinguished work in which Lincoln is a central figure. Th…
Book Reviews — March 2019
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable Announces its Distinguished Book Award
Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable Announces its Distinguished Book Award GETTYSBURG, Penn.—The Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable is pleased to announce that its Disti…
Book Reviews — February 2019
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Pennsylvania, California, and Oregon
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Pennsylvania, California, and Oregon This month, we close our review of the MOLLUS…
Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship that Changed America (conclusion)
Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship that Changed America (conclusion) Book Review Editor’s note: in our last month’s column, General Grant had been enticed…
Book Reviews — January 2019
Ideas of Citizenship Change in the Crucible of the Civil War Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significa…
Letters to the Editor — December 2018
TO THE EDITOR: Thank you so much for the great article “Ed Bearss Chooses His Favorite Civil War Books” in the November Civil War News Book Issue. I had the pleas…
Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship that Changed America
Recently I pulled from my bookshelf Ulysses S. Grant’s two-volume Personal Memoirs, which I bought in a very early edition published by the Charles L. Webster Com…
Book Reviews — December 2018
Irregular Warfare in Appalachia Kirk’s Civil War Raids Along the Blue Ridge. By Michael C. Hardy. Appendix, notes, index, 189 pp., 2018. The History Press, www.hi…
Wayne Wolf’s Top Five Must-Read Book Choices
Such Troops As These; The Genius and Leadership of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. By Bevin Alexander. The Berkeley Publishing Group, maps, index, notes, 2…
The Union Bookshelf
The Union Bookshelf Publisher’s note: In this issue we have printed the names of the 200 book titles selected by the late Richard Barksdale Harwell for his In Tal…
John Michael Priest’s Top Civil War Book Picks
John Michael Priest The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Vol. I: South Mountain. By Ezra A. Carman. Edited and annotated by Thomas G. Clemens. Maps, footnotes…
History of the Richard Barksdale Harwell Award
History of the Richard Barksdale Harwell Award By Gould Hagler Every year for three decades the Atlanta Civil War Round Table has presented the Richard Barksdale…
Harwell’s In Tall Cotton
Harwell’s In Tall Cotton By Roger Semplak and Marc Ramsey For every reader of Civil War history there is always the challenge, upon completion of a good book, of…
Harwell’s 200
Harwell’s 200 Book Review Editor’s note: in the March 2018 issue of our newspaper, we wrote of Richard Barksdale Harwell’s In Tall Cotton: The 200 Most Important…
From Cooke’s Books to Krick’s Licks
From Cooke’s Books to Krick’s Licks By Stephen Davis Book Review Editor’s note: I wish here to pay respect to the memory of my good friend of many years, Bob Mahe…
Eric J. Wittenberg’s Top Civil War Book Picks
Eric J. Wittenberg John J. Hennessy, Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993). This may very well be the…
Classic Books on Civil War Firearms
Classic Books on Civil War Firearms Since November is the Civil War News annual book review issue, publisher Jack Melton suggested that I nominate some classic Ci…
Bookish
Bookish Two decades ago, I wrote an essay for a book edited by Steven E. Woodworth, The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research (Greenwood Press…
Book Reviews — November 2018
How Officers’ Decisions Shaped a Key Battle Decisions at Stones River: The Sixteen Critical Decisions That Defined the Battle. By Matt and Lee Spruill. Photograph…
Letters to the Editor — October 2018
TO THE EDITOR: After reading Meg Groeling’s review of Richard Hurley’s book California and the Civil War in the August Civil War News all I could do was echo Meg’…
Kent Masterson Brown’s The Confederacy’s First Battle Flag
“It is upon the back of a true giant in Civil War vexillological inquiry, Howie Madaus, that this book has been written.” So Kent Masterson Brown begins The Confe…
Book Reviews — October 2018
Restoring Women’s Antislavery Fiction Her Voice Will be on the Side of the Right: Gender and Power in Women’s Antebellum Antislavery Fiction. By Holly M. Kent. No…
Virgil Carrington Jones’ Ranger Mosby (1944)
“How long have you had that book?” My son asked me that question as we sat in the Atlanta airport, waiting to board our flight. I was showing him Virgil Carringto…
Book Reviews — September 2018
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
The Civil War Trivia Quiz Book
A delightful surprise while I was recently in Baton Rouge was when a member of the Baton Rouge Civil War Round Table gave me as a gift William Terdoslavich’s The…
Book Reviews — August 2018
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Book Reviews — July 2018
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS)
MOLLUS Papers book cover. Judging from the kind response from you, our readers, this series on the MOLLUS Papers, seemingly, has generated much interest. This wri…
Book Reviews — June 2018
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis,…
Book Reviews — May 2018
Suppliers to the Confederacy Volume Three: British and European Imported Quartermaster Goods, Artillery and Other Ordnance. By Craig L. Barry & David C. Burt. Ill…
Women in War: The Role of Women in America’s Wars
Born in Massachusetts in 1821, Clara Harlowe Barton was the youngest of five children. Barton supplemented her early education with practical experience, working…
The Lincoln Group of New York Confers its “Award of Achievement”
NEW YORK, N.Y.—The Lincoln Group of New York, an organization dedicated to studying the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, has conferred its 2017 Award of Achieve…
Book Reviews — April 2018
The Great Valley’s Civil War The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America. By Edward L. Ayers. Maps, photos, notes, index, 64…
Perspectives on Manassas
Last month we examined the First Battle of Bull Run from the point of view of five Federal officers who commanded brigades in the first major battle of the Civil…
Book Reviews — March 2018
Collecting Gettysburg Relics—A Patriot’s Legacy J. Howard Wert’s Gettysburg: A Collection of Relics from the Civil War Battle. By Bruce E. Mowday and G. Craig Cab…
Book Reviews — February 2018
Seeking Love in the Civil War Practical Strangers: The Courtship Correspondence of Nathaniel Dawson and Elodie Todd, Sister of Mary Todd Lincoln. Edited by Stephe…
Letters To The Editor
TO THE EDITOR: Earlier this year, I sent in a Letter to the Editor offering some constructive criticism of the content of Civil War News. I must say that your Nov…
Book Reviews — January 2018
An Unconventional Way to Discover Gettysburg Discovering Gettysburg: An Unconventional Introduction to the Greatest Little Town in America and the Monumental Batt…
Yankee Entertainments Before Atlanta Burned
Publisher’s note. Recently our Book Review Editor, Steve Davis, gave a talk at the Center for Civil War Photography’s Annual Image of War Seminar in Charleston. H…
The Civil War Round Table of Atlanta’s Harwell Book Award
The Civil War Round Table of Atlanta has presented Earl Hess with the Richard Barksdale Harwell Award for the best book written on a Civil War subject published i…
Legendary Sports Figure introduces new book on Georgia Cavalryman
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Legendary Georgia football coach Vince Dooley recently spoke to a large crowd at Nashville, Tenn.’s Traveler’s Plantation about his new book: The…
Book Reviews — December 2017
Reviews of Civil War Books Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholars…
A Case of Mistaken Identity
An email from a nephew led me do some detective work. An ancestor, my nephew informed me, was accused of mistreating Federal prisoners at the Florence Stockade du…
Your Reviews Matter—and Help Keep Civil War Publishing Alive
We love reading about the Civil War. We save our hard-earned money and buy books on the subject we love. Sometimes we check them out from libraries. Other times,…
Westholme's Role in Civil War Book Publishing
I was kindly invited by the Civil War News books editor, Steve Davis, to briefly discuss the role of Westholme in Civil War book publishing. After working at two…
Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts – Part Two
Massachusetts Papers Cover. Last month’s installment reviewed the first eight volumes in the original 14-volume collection of the Papers of the Military Historica…
Book Reviews — November 2017
Reviews of Civil War Books Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholars…
Small Talk — October 2017
1. How many U.S. generals served as general-in-chief of the Union armies during the Civil War? 2. James I. (“Bud”) Robertson is a well-known Civil War historian a…
Emerging Civil War Book Awards and Roundtable Recognition
SPOTSYLVANIA, Va.— Emerging Civil War (ECW) has announced the recipient of its inaugural book award: Grant Invades Tennessee: The 1862 Battles for Forts Henry and…
Book Reviews — October 2017
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
New Book on J.E.B. Stuart’s Communication with Confederate Headquarters before Gettysburg
New Book on J.E.B. Stuart’s Communication with Confederate Headquarters before Gettysburg A new book includes proof that Jeb Stuart did communicate with Confedera…
More on Multiple Handguns, My New Book, New Book on the Morse Carbine & a Cartridge Question
We had a preview of a prototype Pedersoli Model 1854 Lorenz rifle a few months back, and there were some conversations that followed regarding the original rifle…
Letters To The Editor
Letters To The Editor TO THE EDITOR: As I read Frank Williams’ predictably critical review of Elizabeth Brown Pryor’s Six Encounters with Lincoln: A President Con…
Book Reviews — September 2017
Reviews of Civil War Books Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholars…
Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War
Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War book cover. “Medical Directors of Armies in the field, forward, direct to the Surgeon General at Washington, duplica…
Book Reviews — August 2017
Reviews of Civil War Books Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholars…
154th Anniversary Battle of Gettysburg Reenactment
(Photos provided by the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee) By Andrea DiMartino GETTYSBURG, Penn.—This year’s 154th Gettysburg anniversary reenactment was held at t…
Powell Wins 22nd Austin Civil War Round Table’s Prize
AUSTIN, TEXAS—David A. Powell, a Chicago historian has won the twenty second annual Daniel M. and Marilyn W. Laney Book Prize given by the Austin Civil War Round…
Book Reviews — July 2017
Reviews of Civil War Books Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholars…
Starting Your Arms Library – Part I
I I was recently asked to provide a book review for Civil War News, and this got me thinking about the books in my rather extensive arms library. As a reader of t…
Book Reviews — June 2017
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
Henrys, Pedersoli Lorenz & A Musket Swap
As I have mentioned in past columns, as well as my book A Revolution in Arms, the first Henry rifles in action may well have been in the hands of Confederates. Th…
Book Reviews — May 2017
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
Small Talk — April 2017
Small Talk By Stephen Davis This is a new monthly column from our Book Review Editor, Stephen Davis. Let’s have some fun with Civil War trivia. Here are ten head-…
Book Reviews — April 2017
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
The North Jersey Civil War Round Table Book Award Announcement
Anyone have a book to recommend? The North Jersey Civil War Round Table announces its 2017 Book Award; the winner will receive an award of $500. The award will be…
Book Reviews — March 2017
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
Novel Notes
Sister of Mine: A Novel. By Sabra Waldfogel. 471 pp., 2016, Lake Union Publishing, www. apub.com, $14.95 paperback. “When two Union soldiers stumble onto a planta…
Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable Book Award
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the annual Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable Book Award is Thomas J. Ryan for his book entitled: Spies, Scouts, and Se…
Book Reviews — February 2017
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
The Question Is Not What Is This Book Worth? But Rather What Is This Book’s Real Fair Market Value?
The Question Is Not What Is This Book Worth? But Rather What Is This Book’s Real Fair Market Value? Book Values – The Art Of Successful Pricing For The Second-Han…
How To Win A Prestigious Book Award!
Book Review Editor’s note: After our column in the November issue about distinguished book awards given by several Civil War Round Tables around the country, we d…
Book Reviews — January 2017
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
Ralph G. Newman’s Union Book Shelf
In our last column, we related how Douglas Southall Freeman’s “Confederate Book Shelf,” published in 1939, led Ralph G. Newman of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop to…
Movie Review: ‘Remarkable Tales Of The Civil War’
The title of Joseph Wilson’s new documentary, produced by RM Video Productions, is an excellent description of the finished product. The four tales recounted are…
Book Reviews — December 2016
Let me start off by saying that Al Stone is a raconteur extraordinaire. This volume is written in a conversational style that makes one feel that he/she is sittin…
Roundtable News — November 2016
There is something growing in the Civil War round table community. Collaboration. For years, Round Table Review has shared best practices among the round table co…
Reader’s Redoubt
Book Review Editor’s note: For this year’s “Book Issue” we asked some Civil War experts—authors, teachers and other professionals—to choose a book published so fa…
Dr. Freeman’s Book Shelf
“What shall I read next?” In the late 1930s Douglas Southall Freeman explained how, after Gone With the Wind, folks asked him to recommend other books about the w…
Civil War Book Awards
The late Jerry Russell (1933-2003) believed in Civil War Round Tables. He helped establish ten of them in Arkansas and dozens more elsewhere, always believing tha…
Book Reviews — November 2016
A Civil War Captain and His Lady: Love, Courtship, and Combat From Fort Donelson Through the Vicksburg Campaign. Edited by Gene Barr. Illustrated, photos, map, no…
Annual Gettysburg Remembrance Day Weekend Nov. 18-20
This is the annual anniversary celebration of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. There will be parades, balls, celebrations, book signings, expos and much more. All of…
Confederado Festa Brazil - Civil War Anniversary Celebration
In 1993, while living outside of Charleston, S.C I happened upon a book in local shop titled The Lost Colony of the Confederacy by Eugene Harter. Now I must confe…
Book Reviews — October 2016
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
From Our New Book Review Editor
Stephen Davis I am honored and delighted to assume responsibilities as new book Review Editor for Civil War News. Some of you may remember that from 1984 to 2005…
Book Reviews — September 2016
Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Stephen Davis, Civil W…
Steve Davis’s Critic’s Corner — August 2016
How often does a Civil War book become so cool, so indispensable, that an article about how it came to be written has been published in the esteemed journal Civil…
Civil War Round Table Of New York Presents Fletcher Pratt Literary Award
NEW YORK, N.Y.—The Civil War Round Table Of New York Presents The 60th Annual Fletcher Pratt Literary Award For Best Non-Fiction Civil War Book Of 2015. At Its 60…
Civil War Round Table Of Atlanta Presents Their 2015 Richard Barksdale Harwell Award
ATLANTA, Ga.—The Civil War Round Table of Atlanta has presented Dr. Timothy B. Smith of the University of Tennessee at Martin with the 2015 Richard Barksdale Harw…
Book Reviews — August 2016
In January 1865, the Union army and navy attacked Fort Fisher, the only obstacle between the Federals and Wilmington, N.C. Wilmington was the last port remaining…
Book Review From August 2015
The lament of most Western Theater students is that there are not enough books published on the theater they deem the most important. There will likely be more bo…
Restoring an Old Painting
In 2002, when Noah Andre Trudeau’s Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage came out, HarperCollins arranged a signing tour. I was slated to review the book for a journal…
Letters To The Editor
‘Seething Hell’ Book Review Comments ‘Farby’ People Costume TO THE EDITOR: I found Professor Allen Guelzo’s review of Thomas R. Pero’s Gettysburg 1863—Seething He…
Book Reviews — July 2016
Lincoln’s Political Life In Hancock Excelled At Gettysburg Battle First 40 Years Is Related A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1849. By…
Winner Of The Laney Book Prize Announced
AUSTIN, Texas.—Donald Frazier, professor of history at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas has won the twenty-first annual Daniel M. & Marilyn W. Laney Book Priz…
Book Reviews — June 2016
CWN Announcement 1863 New Mexico Fort Kept The Peace Civil War News book reviewer Brian Matthew Jordan was announced as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Histo…
Behind The Scenes Tour Of The Library Of Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Try to top this! There we were staring at the original copy of the collected works of Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner’s book, “Gardner’s…
Critic’s Corner — May 2016
Editor’s note: Do you have a favorite “battle book”? CWN contributor Steve Davis invites your opinions and comments by writing to his email [email protected]…
Book Reviews — May 2016
Pricey, Graphic Books About Douglass’s Visit To Ireland Plantation Violence, Slavery Slave Against Slave: Plantation Violence in the Old South. By Jeff Forret. No…
Ask The Civil War Appraiser
Ask The Civil War Appraiser By John Sexton We are starting a new feature in Civil War News, which will be a regular column written by Civil War Appraiser John Sex…
Unapologetic Confederate
Editor’s note: With this column we launch a new feature, “Critic’s Corner,” contributed by Stephen Davis of Atlanta. In each column Steve will select a “golden ol…
Book Reviews — April 2016
– Reviews of Civil War Books – Guelzo On Emancipation, Its Relevance Kansas Frontier Guard Was Redeeming the Great Emancipator. By Allen G. Guelzo. Illustrated, p…
Subscriber Survey Results
Subscriber Survey Results Number of surveys returned: 688 What do you like the most about Civil War News? (number of responses) Calendar of Events: 314 Book Revie…
Ryan Book About Gettysburg-Related Intelligence Is Cited
Ryan Book About Gettysburg-Related Intelligence Is Cited EASTON, Md. — Thomas J. Ryan’s Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign: How the Critical Ro…
News Briefs — March 2016
– Briefs of Civil War News Interest – Austin Book Award
Letters to the Editor
– Letters – Book Business Has Changed TO THE EDITOR: I am responding to Theodore P. Savas’s November issue commentary, “The Golden Age of the Book Is Now.” I rece…
Book Reviews — March 2016
– Reviews of Civil War Books –