Book Reviews
The digital home of book reviews and author interviews—and your source of the most up-to-date information on all things Civil War literature
Published: 7/6/22
To Walk About in Freedom (2022)
A remarkable microhistory centered around one formerly enslaved woman’s postwar interview.
Published: 6/29/22
Gettysburg (2022)
A compilation of postwar accounts about the epic 1863 battle.
Published: 6/22/22
Invisible Wounds (2021)
A detailed review of "Invisible Wounds: Mental Illness and Civil War Soldiers" by Dillon J. Carroll.
Published: 6/15/22
Spectacle of Grief (2022)
A study of public funerals during the Civil War era.
Published: 6/8/22
Gettysburg’s Lost Love Story (2022)
The story of an ill-fated Civil War-era romance.
Published: 6/1/22
Love & Duty (2022)
An exploration of widowhood in the Civil War-era South.
Published: 5/25/22
Salmon P. Chase (2022)
A deep dive into the life of Lincoln's treasury secretary.
Published: 5/18/22
Back From Battle (2021)
“Camp Discharge never got its monument,” writes Jim Remsen. “If it weren’t for the military records, memoirs, and news clippings, one could think the place never existed.” Fortunately for the...
Published: 5/11/22
Hell’s Half-Acre (2022)
A detailed review of Susan Jonusas' "Hell's Half-Acre," a book about the serial-killing Bender Family of Western folklore.
Published: 5/4/22
Harriet Tubman (2022)
A new biography of the iconic American freedom fighter.
Published: 4/20/22
First Fallen (2021)
A detailed review of Meg Groeling's "First Fallen," a biography of 11th New York Infantry colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth.
Published: 4/13/22
Our Comfort in Dying (2021)
A look at the wartime sermons of a Confederate chaplain.
Published: 4/6/22
A House Built By Slaves (2022)
A detailed review of Jonathan W. White's "A House Built By Slaves," look at Abraham Lincoln’s treatment of African Americans.
Published: 4/5/22
To Address You as My Friend (2021)
A detailed review of "To Address You as My Friend," a collection of Civil War writings from African Americans to Abraham Lincoln.
Published: 3/30/22
Elusive Utopia (2018)
An "archetype for well-researched monographs that remain accessible ... for a wide readership."
Published: 3/23/22
Civil War Witnesses and Their Books (2021)
A deep dive into first-person accounts of the Civil War.
Published: 3/16/22
Ends of War (2021)
A "beautifully written and engaging" examination of the Civil War's immediate aftermath.
Published: 3/9/22
The Horse at Gettysburg (2021)
A "detailed and enlightening" book about the role horses played at the epic 1863 battle.