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: 5/27/26
Green & Blue (2025)
"Green and Blue" represents a significant accomplishment in advancing the study of the common Irish American soldier.
Published: 5/20/26
From Gray to Blue (2026)
Patrick Garrow widens the traditional definition of galvanized Yankees in "From Gray to Blue."
Published: 5/13/26
A Little Piece of Hell at Gettysburg (2026)
Scott T. Fink highlights the significance of the Rose Farm, the vortex of Gettysburg's Wheatfield.
Published: 5/6/26
Fred Grant at Vicksburg (2025)
Fred Grant's memoir is a "touching portrayal of a father through the eyes of his son."
Published: 4/29/26
Black Religion in the Madhouse (2025)
Judith Weisenfeld's well-researched book focuses on the "social worlds of formerly enslaved Black people and their descendants."
Published: 4/22/26
The Old Alcalde (2026)
An exhaustive biography of an "unlikely" fire-eater who was perhaps the principal author of Texas's secession ordinance.
Published: 4/15/26
Gettysburg Postcards (2026)
A handsome and handy reference volume that will repay anyone interested in the Gettysburg battlefield's history.
Published: 4/8/26
The Reconstruction Diary of Frances Anne Rollin (2025)
Putzi's volume is an excellent resource for scholars of both Reconstruction and nineteenth-century print culture.
Published: 4/1/26
Sisterhood of the Lost Cause (2025)
A well-researched new book interrogates the public and private lives of Confederate widows.
Published: 3/25/26
The 14th New York State Militia in the Civil War (2025)
McLean, Jr.’s study of the Fourteenth New York State Militia offers an exemplar of how regimental histories can benefit those whose interests extend beyond a particular unit.
Published: 3/18/26
A Nation Unraveled (2026)
"A Nation Unraveled" makes its most compelling interventions by supplying testimony about how the war intruded on even the most mundane aspects of everyday life.
Published: 3/11/26
Little Round Top at Gettysburg (2026)
Few sites on the Civil War landscape carry as much weight as Little Round Top, that storied, rock-strewn knob on the southern end of the Gettysburg battlefield.
Published: 3/4/26
Boss Lincoln (2026)
The Lincoln who emerges from Pinsker’s book is for the most part the morally driven Lincoln we thought we knew, but with added dimension.
Published: 2/25/26
A Fate Worse Than Hell (2026)
"A Fate Worse Than Hell" is a landmark book that will engross the reading public.
Published: 2/18/26
Love and Loss After Wounded Knee (2025)
Dobrow gives the reader a chance to live with two extraordinary individuals trying and failing to navigate the perilous waters of personal, sexual, and racial politics in the 19th century
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.