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: 7/20/16
KURTZ: Excommunicated from the Union (2015)
Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America by William B. Kurtz. Fordham University Press, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-0823268863. $35.00. I recently participated in a conference...
Published: 7/13/16
BLUMENTHAL: A Self-Made Man (2016)
A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1849 by Sidney Blumenthal. Simon & Schuster, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1476777252. $35.00. In the first book of his multi-volume biography of...
Published: 7/6/16
HODES: Mourning Lincoln (2015)
Mourning Lincoln by Martha Hodes. Yale University Press, 2015. Cloth, IBSN: 978-0300195804. $30.00. A few months ago, I picked up my six-year-old daughter from first grade, and as we drove...
Published: 6/29/16
ROSS: Free State of Jones (2016)
Free State of Jones directed by Gary Ross. Runtime: 2 hours, 19 minutes. Release date: June 24, 2016. *SPOILER ALERT* Written and directed by Gary Ross, Free State of Jones chronicles how an...
Published: 6/29/16
SHULTZ & MINGUS: The Second Day at Gettysburg (2015)
The Second Day at Gettysburg: The Attack and Defense of Cemetery Ridge, July 2, 1863 by David L. Shultz and Scott L. Mingus, Sr. Savas Beatie, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1611210743. $32.95....
Published: 6/22/16
HOOPER: Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives (2016)
Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives: Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War—for Better and for Worse by Candice Shy Hooper. Kent State University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1-60635-278-6. $39.95. In this intricate comparative...
Published: 6/15/16
PHILLIPS: The Rivers Ran Backward (2016)
The Rivers Ran Backward: The Civil War and the Remaking of the American Middle Border by Christopher Phillips. Oxford University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0195187236. $34.95. In The Rivers Ran Backward,...
Published: 6/8/16
PANHORST: The Memorial Art and Architecture of Vicksburg National Military Park (2015)
The Memorial Art and Architecture of Vicksburg National Military Park by Michael W. Panhorst. Kent State University Press, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-1-60635-219-9. $19.95. Historical memory is an ever-growing subfield. Coupled...
Published: 6/1/16
MEDFORD: Lincoln and Emancipation (2015)
Lincoln and Emancipation by Edna Greene Medford. Southern Illinois University Press, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0809333639. $24.95. “Who freed the slaves?” is becoming a tiresome debate, but it remains contentious. Like most...
Published: 5/25/16
HUBBARD (ed.): Lincoln, the Law, and Presidential Leadership (2015)
Lincoln, the Law, and Presidential Leadership edited by Charles M. Hubbard. Southern Illinois University Press, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0809334544. $34.50. Is there anything new to be written about Abraham Lincoln’s...
Published: 5/18/16
WILSON: Private John S. Mosby, First Virginia Cavalry (2015)
Private John S. Mosby, First Virginia Cavalry: Picketing Fairfax County Before Becoming the Confederacy’s “Gray Ghost” by Gregory Wilson. CreateSpace, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-1517255855. $25.00. Before he rode to glory...
Published: 5/11/16
NOYALAS: Civil War Legacy in the Shenandoah (2015)
Civil War Legacy in the Shenandoah: Remembrance, Reunion, and Reconciliation by Jonathan A. Noyalas. The History Press, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-1626198883. $21.99. Following the cessation of the Civil War’s hostilities,...
Published: 5/4/16
PERO: Gettysburg 1863 (2015)
Gettysburg 1863: Seething Hell: The Epic Battle of the Civil War in the Soldiers’ Own Words by Thomas R. Pero. Wild River Press, 2015. Cloth, IBSN: 978-0989523622. $75.00. “I think...
Published: 4/27/16
CROFTS: Lincoln & the Politics of Slavery (2016)
Lincoln & the Politics of Slavery: The Other Thirteenth Amendment and the Struggle to Save the Union by Daniel W. Crofts. University of North Carolina Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1469627311. $35.00....
Published: 4/20/16
IZECKSOHN: Slavery and War in the Americas (2014)
Slavery and War in the Americas: Race, Citizenship, and State Building in the United States and Brazil, 1861-1870 by Vitor Izecksohn. University of Virginia Press, 2014. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0813935850. $45.00. Historians...
Published: 4/13/16
GUNNIN (ed.): Letters to Virtue (2014)
Letters to Virtue: A Civil War Journey of Courage, Faith, and Love—Pvt. Charles W. Sherman, 12th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry edited by Ann K. Gunnin. BookLogix, 2014. Paper, ISBN: 978-1610055208. $29.00. Situated among the...
Published: 4/13/16
LOWRY: Galvanized Virginians in the Indian Wars (2015)
Galvanized Virginians in the Indian Wars by Thomas Power Lowry. Idle Winter Press, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-0692550748. $16.99. Working from the late Major Robert E. Denney’s invaluable database of 3,710 Confederate...
Published: 4/6/16
ACKEN (ed.): Service with the Signal Corps (2015)
Service with the Signal Corps: The Civil War Memoir of Captain Louis R. Fortescue edited by J. Gregory Acken. University of Tennessee Press, 2015. Cloth, IBSN: 978-1621901259. $48.50. The U.S. Veteran...