Cecily Zander, a historian of the Civil War era and the American West at Texas Woman’s University, recently took our questions. Her first book, The Army Under Fire: Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era, was published by LSU Press in 2024.
What are you currently reading?
Two books: Texas: An American History by Benjamin Heber Johnson (Yale University Press, 2025) and The Heart in Winter: A Novel by Kevin Barry (Doubleday, 2024).
What drew you to these books?
I am reading Texas: An American History to review it for the Monitor, but I would have picked it up soon, regardless. Like The Heart in Winter, it is indicative of my increased interest in writing about the American West and its place in how we tell the story of the Civil War era.
What was your favorite book as a child and why?
I’ll opt for a series and say the Little House on the Prairie books of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper & Brothers, 1932–1943, 1971). Initially my parents read them to me and, as I got older, I read them again and again, often on family trips to visit the sites where Wilder lived in the postbellum West.
What kind of reader were you?
Cecily Zander
Indomitable. I would have ordered the whole Scholastic book catalog every month when it was sent home from school, but frequent trips to the local library allowed my parents to avoid financial ruin. I almost always included a biography from Simon & Schuster’s Childhood of Famous Americans series in my haul—an indication, to be sure, of my burgeoning interest in history.
You’re forming a book group. Whom would you invite and why?
This is tough! I think I would opt for some of my best grad school pals. I miss having the time to sit in the office and talk about interesting books and ideas and engage with the illuminating arguments they provoked.
Where do you like to do your reading?
It is hard to beat reading at home with Moe the border collie settled in nearby. Moe is really the reason I am able to read as much as I do these days, as his frequent walks give me the chance to enjoy audiobooks of all sorts, from classics like Anna Karenina to fun fantasy and mystery titles. As a writer, I think hearing the prose of great authors is a wonderful way to learn and improve my craft.
Do you have a favorite bookstore?
I think I have loved nearly every bookstore I’ve ever visited, but I will note a few I consider special. In my hometown of Longmont, Colorado, there is Barbed Wire Books, whose selection of titles about the history of the West is unmatched. In Charlottesville, Virginia, where I went to college, Blue Whale Books is a must visit. No trip to Gettysburg is complete without a stop at The Horse Soldier. And, as I get set to leave Dallas for new adventures, I know I will miss the flagship location of Half Price Books and Deep Vellum Bookstore in equal measure.
What’s next on your reading list?
I am going to revisit Sir Richard Burton’s The Look of the West, 1860: Across the Plains to California (University of Nebraska Press, 1963) for my next Monitor digital history column. And then I plan to (finally) tackle Owen Wister’s The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains (Macmillan, 1902), in advance of my move to Wyoming, where I’ll be joining the History Department at the University of Wyoming in the fall.
