
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: 9/18/24
High-Bounty Men in the Army of the Potomac (2024)
"High-Bounty Men" breaks new ground and makes an historiographical intervention by reclaiming the honor of late-war recruits.
Published: 9/11/24
America’s Imagined Revolution (2024)
Tomos Wallbank-Hughes's "America's Imagined Revolution" provides Reconstruction scholars with plenty new to ponder.
Published: 9/4/24
The Abraham Lincoln Book of Quotes (2023)
In "The Abraham Lincoln Book of Quotes," editor Travis Hellstrom presents some of the sixteenth president's "most loved wisdom.”
Published: 8/28/24
The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism (2024)
In "The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism," Niels Eichhorn and Duncan Campbell offer a convincing study of how the Civil War fit into broader international movements.
Published: 8/21/24
“Tell Mother Not to Worry” (2024)
Kirkwood’s study will undoubtedly appeal to Gettysburg aficionados. However, its utility should extend far beyond students of the conflict’s largest and costliest engagement.
Published: 8/14/24
Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War (2024)
William Nelson Fox’s new book supplies an introduction to military operations along the Texas Gulf Coast during the U.S. Civil War.
Published: 8/7/24
Wide Awake (2024)
Jon Grinspan's "Wide Awake" is a must-read for 2024.
Published: 7/24/24
A Fire Bell in the Past, Vol. II (2021)
The contributors to this volume have interrogated new themes and examined old issues with new lenses.
Published: 7/17/24
We Shall Conquer or Die (2024)
With his debut book, Derrick Lindow has depicted an element of the war that certainly deserves more attention.
Published: 7/10/24
Convicting the Mormons (2023)
Janiece Johnson's "Convicting the Mormons" offers an engaging account of the narrative nineteenth century Americans created about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Published: 7/3/24
J.E.B. Stuart (2024)
With a firm and even hand on the tiller, Edward Longacre supplies a fresh and highly recommended account of Lee’s purple plumed cavalryman.
Published: 6/26/24
The Atlanta Campaign, 1864 (2024)
Powell's brief overview of the Atlanta Campaign succeeds in providing its audience with an accessible and visually compelling overview of one of the war’s most pivotal moments.
Published: 6/18/24
Abraham Lincoln and Women in Film (2024)
Abraham Lincoln and Women in Film analyzes “Lincoln the lover—whom he loved and who loved him” and examines “the female characters in Hollywood’s story of the intimate life of Abraham...
Published: 6/12/24
Tabernacles in the Wilderness (2024)
Rachel Williams's "Tabernacles in the Wilderness" explores the overlooked role of the United States Christian Commission (USCC) during the Civil War.
Published: 6/5/24
Lincoln & California (2023)
Brian McGinty's "Lincoln and California" will appeal to those interested in the history of the Far West, Abraham Lincoln, or a more holistic understanding of the Civil War era.
Published: 5/29/24
The Boy Generals (2022)
"The Boy Generals" is a work of distinction...two of the war's great cavalrymen have found a very worthy chronicler.
Published: 5/22/24
Fighting for a Free Missouri (2023)
"Fighting for a Free Missouri" is a valuable contribution to a rich body of scholarship about the unique role German immigrants played in shaping the state's history during the Civil War era.
Published: 5/15/24
The Demon of Unrest (2024)
Erik Larson, the author of several action-packed books that have attracted a wide readership, employs a narrow lens to frame the broad history of North-South antagonism.