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: 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.
Published: 9/15/21
Lincoln and Citizenship (2021)
A terrific addition to the “Concise Lincoln Library” series.
Published: 9/8/21
A Fire in the Wilderness (2021)
A worthwhile read about the first battlefield confrontation between Grant and Lee.
Published: 9/1/21
A Holy Baptism of Fire & Blood (2021)
A look at the role religion played in the American Civil War.
Published: 8/25/21
Unlike Anything That Ever Floated (2021)
A solid introduction to the Battle of Hampton Roads.
Published: 8/18/21
The First Reconstruction (2021)
A new interpretation of the politics of the early republic.
Published: 8/11/21
Grand Army of Labor (2021)
How the Civil War both strengthened and constrained the American labor movement.
Published: 8/4/21
The Bonds of War (2021)
A combo microhistory and collective biography that works well.
Published: 7/28/21
No Place for Glory (2021)
A reinterpretation of one of the Gettysburg Campaign's pivotal episodes.
Published: 7/21/21
West of Slavery (2021)
A critical intervention in the literature on the Civil War in the West.
Published: 7/14/21
Civil War Richmond (2021)
A "a sharp, well-written, and concise social history" of Virginia’s capital city.
Published: 7/7/21
Faces of Union Soldiers at South Mountain & Harpers Ferry (2021)
Incisive biographies of 30 Union soldiers.
Published: 6/30/21
A Mortal Blow to the Confederacy (2021)
Review of a "highly recommended" account of the fall of New Orleans.
Published: 6/23/21
Abandoned Coastal Defenses of Alabama (2021)
Review of a brief history of Alabama's Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines.