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: 2/11/26
Becoming Lunsford Lane (2025)
Craig Thompson Friend's book provides invaluable insights into slavery, abolition, and race in the nineteenth century United States.
Published: 2/4/26
John Brown in New York (2025)
An excellent and engaging book that students of John Brown will want on their bookshelf.
Published: 1/28/26
Union Soldiers of Southwestern Illinois (2024)
John J. Dunphy's "Union Soldiers of Southwestern Illinois" introduces some lesser-known figures from a region long regarded as pro-Confederate.
Published: 1/21/26
The Girl in the Middle (2025)
Martha A. Sandweiss uses a single photograph to explore a sprawling century of U.S. history.
Published: 1/14/26
The Republican House Divided (2025)
"The Republican House Divided" joins a growing shelf of books on modern Civil War memory.
Published: 1/7/26
David Davis (2025)
Raymond J. McKoski presents an informative biography of a key Lincoln ally on the United States Supreme Court.
Published: 12/30/25
Union Guerrillas of Civil War Kansas (2025)
Authors Paul Thomas and Matt Matthews provide an informative work on the guerrilla warfare that roiled the Missouri-Kansas border during the U.S. Civil War.
Published: 12/24/25
The Devil’s Own Purgatory (2025)
Robert Gudmestad's "The Devil's Own Purgatory" is the definitive history of the Mississippi River Squadron in the Civil War.
Published: 12/17/25
The Second Manassas Campaign (2025)
"The Second Manassas Campaign" takes its place on a growing shelf of books about this pivotal operation.
Published: 12/10/25
War Fought and Felt (2025)
Joshua Shiver seeks access to the inner world of Confederate soldiers by reconstructing their relationships as husbands, sweethearts, parents, and messmates.
Published: 12/3/25
The 1st Michigan Colored Regiment (2025)
An illuminating look at the experience of Black soldiers in the Civil War.
Published: 11/26/25
Conflict and Controversy in the Confederate High Command (2025)
"Conflict and Controversy in the Confederate High Command" is a readable and historiographically informed military history.
Published: 11/19/25
The National Tribune Remembers the Atlanta Campaign (2025)
Davis's expertly edited collection should remind readers of the vast and yet untapped potential of "The National Tribune."
Published: 11/12/25
Exporting Reconstruction (2024)
"Exporting Reconstruction" is part of a growing body of scholarship that broadens the study of Reconstruction beyond the U.S. South.
Published: 11/5/25
Lee Besieged (2025)
John Horn's "Lee Besieged" is a focused account of Grant's Second Offensive at Petersburg.
Published: 10/29/25
As Wolves Upon a Sheep Fold (2023)
"As Wolves Upon a Sheep Fold" delivers the story of a practical, ordinary citizen swept up in national drama.
Published: 10/22/25
From Ironclads to Admiral (2025)
John Quarstein and Robert Worden finally give Admiral John Lorimer Worden the biography he deserves.
Published: 10/15/25
Hero of Fort Sumter (2025)
Readers will enjoy learning more about Robert Anderson, a man best known for his time at Fort Sumter during the Secession Winter, in Wesley Moody's new biography.