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: 1/18/17
BEILEIN: Bushwhackers (2016)
Bushwhackers: Guerrilla Warfare, Manhood, and the Household in Civil War Missouri by Joseph M. Beilein, Jr. Kent State University Press, 2016. Cloth, IBSN: 978-1606352700. $34.95. With the passing of Michael Fellman...
Published: 1/11/17
O’HARROW: The Quartermaster (2016)
The Quartermaster: Montgomery C. Meigs, Lincoln’s General, Master Builder of the Union Army by Robert O’Harrow, Jr. Simon & Schuster, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1451671926. $28.00. When President Chester A. Arthur forced...
Published: 1/4/17
SMITH: Scarred (2016)
Scarred: A Civil War Novel of Redemption by Michael Kenneth Smith. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-1-53037-974-3. $13.99. Scarred is Michael Kenneth Smith’s emotional, fast-paced sequel to his debut Civil War novel Home...
Published: 1/4/17
BEAN: Too Great a Burden to Bear (2016)
Too Great a Burden to Bear: The Struggle and Failure of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Texas by Christopher B. Bean. Fordham University Press, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-0823271764. $40.00. With the sesquicentennial...
Published: 12/28/16
CARPENTER: Gaston County, North Carolina, in the Civil War (2016)
Gaston County, North Carolina, in the Civil War by Robert C. Carpenter. McFarland Books, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-1-4766-6244-2. $39.95. In recent years, microhistories have become passé among many scholars. On a...
Published: 12/21/16
RAY (ed.): Sharpshooter (2016)
Sharpshooter: The Selected Letters and Papers of Maj. Eugene Blackford, C.S.A. edited by Fred L. Ray. CFS Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN 978-0-9882435-1-4. $39.95. Tales of Civil War marksmen have long been...
Published: 12/14/16
UNGER: Henry Clay (2015)
Henry Clay: America’s Greatest Statesman by Harlow Giles Unger. Da Capo Press, 2015. Hardcover, ISBN: 978-0306823916. $26.00. Biographers often fall in love with their subjects. Dumas Malone’s multi-volume biography of Thomas...
Published: 12/14/16
MACKOWSKI, WHITE & DAVIS: Don’t Give an Inch (2016)
Don’t Give an Inch: The Second Day at Gettysburg July 2, 1863 – From Little Round Top to Cemetery Ridge by Chris Mackowski, Kristopher D. White, and Daniel T. Davis. Savas...
Published: 12/7/16
BACKUS & ORRISON: A Want of Vigilance (2015)
A Want of Vigilance: The Bristoe Station Campaign by Bill Backus and Robert Orrison. Foreword by J. Michael Miller. Savas Beatie, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-1611213003. $14.95. For the average American, traditional...
Published: 11/30/16
DIXON & KWAPISZ: Civil War Adventure (2015)
Civil War Adventure by Chuck Dixon and Gary Kwapisz. Dover Publications, 2015. Paper, IBSN: 978-0486795096. $9.95. Civil War enthusiasts and scholars alike can take satisfaction in the ceaseless cascade of new...
Published: 11/23/16
BIGGS: They Fought For the Union (2016)
They Fought For the Union: A History of the First Delaware Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac by Jeffrey R. Biggs. Belli Civilis Press, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-0986361517. $19.99. In...
Published: 11/23/16
ROBERTSON: The Red River Campaign and Its Toll (2016)
The Red River Campaign and Its Toll: 69 Bloody Days in Louisiana, March-May 1864 by Henry O. Robertson. McFarland, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-1476663784. $29.95. In March 1864, Major General Nathaniel Banks...
Published: 11/16/16
RABLE: Damn Yankees! (2015)
Damn Yankees! Demonization and Defiance in the Confederate South by George C. Rable. Louisiana State University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0807160589. $38.00. Distinguished historian George C. Rable has published several books...
Published: 11/9/16
WONGSRICHANALAI: Northern Character (2016)
Northern Character: College-Educated New Englanders, Honor, Nationalism, and Leadership in the Civil War Era by Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai. Fordham University Press, 2016. Paper, IBSN: 978-0823271825. $35.00. In Northern Character, Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai traces the...
Published: 11/2/16
WITTENBERG & MINGUS: The Second Battle of Winchester (2016)
The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory that Opened the Door to Gettysburg by Eric J. Wittenberg and Scott L. Mingus, Sr. Savas Beatie, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1611212884. $32.95. The...
Published: 11/2/16
WITTENBERG & DAVIS: Out Flew the Sabres (2016)
Out Flew the Sabres: The Battle of Brandy Station, June 9, 1863 by Eric J. Wittenberg and Daniel T. Davis. Savas Beatie, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-1611212563. $14.95. Eric J. Wittenberg has...
Published: 10/26/16
BYRD: Confederate Sharpshooter Major William E. Simmons (2016)
Confederate Sharpshooter: Major William E. Simmons: Through the War with the 16th Georgia Infantry and the 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters by Joseph P. Byrd, IV. Mercer University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: ...
Published: 10/19/16
PETERSON: Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries (2016)
Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries by Dennis L. Peterson. McFarland, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-1476665214. $35.00. A quick trivia quiz: Name any member of Jefferson Davis’ cabinet. Even those who aced this...