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: 1/19/22
Teacher, Preacher, Soldier, Spy (2021)
Born along the middle border in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1831 and dying on the “closing” Colorado frontier in 1891, John R. Kelso lived what can only be described as...
Published: 1/12/22
The Cacophony of Politics (2021)
When Roy Franklin Nichols penned the final chapters of his formidable classic, The Disruption of American Democracy, he wrote that “the Democratic party seemed in desperate straits. The war which...
Published: 1/5/22
Rites of Retaliation (2021)
By the fall of 1862, Jefferson Davis believed he had found a way to control the Union Army. That summer General John Pope had led an army into Virginia, issuing...
Published: 12/29/21
Stephen A. Swails (2021)
A short but satisfying biography of a trailblazing soldier in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry
Published: 12/22/21
Robert E. Lee (2021)
A review of Allen C. Guelzo's welcome new biography of Robert E. Lee.
Published: 12/15/21
Searching for Irvin McDowell (2021)
An "interesting" biography of a controversial Union general.
Published: 12/8/21
Worthy of a Higher Rank (2021)
There's "much to admire" about this edited Union colonel's wartime journal
Published: 12/1/21
Rebel Correspondent (2021)
Glimpses into a Confederate cavalryman’s experiences in the Civil War's western theater
Published: 11/24/21
The Summer of ’63: Vicksburg & Tullahoma (2021)
Lots of insightful content on key western campaigns.
Published: 11/17/21
Passing Through the Fire (2021)
A concise biography of famed Union officer Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Published: 11/10/21
The Summer of ’63: Gettysburg (2021)
A diverse series of contributions about the epic July 1863 battle.
Published: 11/3/21
Cornerstone of the Confederacy (2021)
A welcome addition to the literature on the Civil War and its memory.
Published: 10/27/21
Matchless Organization (2021)
A comprehensive history of the Confederacy's military medical organization.
Published: 10/20/21
Lincoln’s Mentors (2021)
An impressive study of the men who shaped Abraham Lincoln as a leader.
Published: 10/13/21
William Barksdale, CSA (2021)
An uneven biography of a U.S. congressman turned Confederate general.
Published: 10/6/21
Buying & Selling Civil War Memory in Gilded Age America (2021)
An impressive array of essays about the Civil War’s long shadow.
Published: 9/29/21
The Boy Generals (2021)
A "skillfully researched, eloquently written, and prolifically illustrated" book.
Published: 9/22/21
Surviving Southampton (2021)
A brief but potent social history of an enslaved society in the antebellum South.