Brian Matthew Jordan, associate professor and chair of the Department of History at Sam Houston State University—and the Monitor’s longtime book review editor—took our questions recently. His current project, Crucible of the Republic: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Civil War, is due out in 2026.
What are you currently reading?
Bennett Parten’s Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation (Simon & Schuster, 2025).
What drew you to this book?
I had the good fortune to meet Ben Parten when he was conceiving the dissertation that forms the foundation of this book (and we both had the good fortune to work under David Blight as a dissertation adviser). So, I’ve been looking forward to the finished product for some time. Thus far, it is delivering on its promise, supplying a crisply written, accessible account of Sherman’s March to the Sea. The book sets aside hackneyed debates over whether the Civil War was a “total war” and retrieves one of the conflict’s most storied episodes as a critical moment in slavery’s demise. This is history aimed at a popular readership, but with solid scholarly moorings.
What was your favorite book as a child and why?
Russell Freedman’s Lincoln: A Photobiography (Clarion Books, 1987), prolifically illustrated with period photographs, immersed me in the look and feel of the Civil War era. I gazed at those pictures for hours.
What kind of reader were you?
I have always been an omnivorous reader. I’ve consumed at least a book a week for as long as I can remember. My mom took me to our local branch of the Akron/Summit County (Ohio) Public Library each Thursday, where I would emerge with an armful of children’s histories and biographies; my earliest habit was the “Encyclopedia of the Presidents” series (published by the Children’s Press). As a teenager, I started reading in earnest about the Civil War and began to accumulate my personal library. I never go anywhere without a book (or two) in hand; being without reading material makes me anxious!
You’re forming a new book group. Who would you invite and why?
Friends and colleagues in the field, though we already have “book groups” of sorts. Whenever I chat with fellow historians on the phone, via email, or at conferences, we are discussing the latest books and trends in the field. Whenever I speak to Civil War round tables, I’m chatting with the members about their latest reads and our shared love of books.
Where do you like to read?
I do most of my reading late in the evening in my home library, which is stocked with more than 5,000 volumes—including complete runs of the Official Records, Supplement to the Official Records, Southern Historical Society Papers, The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, and Confederate Veteran, among others. With a demanding travel schedule for public speaking and research opportunities, I also consume a fair number of books in airports and on airplanes.
Do you have a favorite bookstore? What about it appeals to you?
I love any second-hand bookstore—the thrill of the hunt for a long-sought but stubbornly elusive title, the smell of old books, the eccentricities of the shop itself. Whenever I’m traveling, I include a visit to a used bookstore on my itinerary. It’s impossible to select just one favorite, but those on the short list would include Books of Valor in Wendell, North Carolina; Rock Top Book Shop in Cashtown, Pennsylvania; The Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg; Ohio Book Store in Cincinnati; Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago; the Half Price Books “Mothership” in Dallas; McKay Used Books in Manassas, Virginia; the Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut; and Renaissance Books in Milwaukee (they have an especially dangerous outlet in the Milwaukee airport).
What’s next on your reading list?
I’m preparing to review William Marvel’s The Confederate Resurgence of 1864 (Louisiana State University Press, 2024) for an academic journal. Marvel’s books are always provocative—and often iconoclastic—so I’ve been looking forward to this one. After that, I look forward to other long-awaited titles by Michael Vorenberg, Richard Carwardine, and A. Wilson Greene.
