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: 10/19/22
James Montgomery (2022)
A new book rehabilitates the reputation of a maligned and misunderstood Union officer.
Published: 10/17/22
September Suspense (2012)
Close students of Civil War military history are familiar with the long career and good work of Dennis E. Frye. As chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Frye’s...
Published: 10/12/22
Yours Affectionately, Osgood (2022)
An interesting collection of wartime correspondence by a New York officer.
Published: 10/5/22
The War after the War (2022)
A detailed review of John Patrick Daly's "The War after the War," a new history of the post-Civil War period of Reconstruction.
Published: 9/28/22
Count the Dead (2022)
A "little book" that "packs a huge punch."
Published: 9/21/22
The Families’ Civil War (2022)
A deep dive into Philadelphia's working-class African-American soldiers and their families.
Published: 9/14/22
When Hell Came to Sharpsburg (2022)
A look at how the Battle of Antietam affected the local population.
Published: 9/7/22
James Longstreet and the American Civil War (2022)
A detailed defense of "Lee's War Horse" against his postwar detractors.
Published: 9/3/22
The Whartons’ War (2022)
A well-edited collection of a Confederate general's wartime correspondence with his wife.
Published: 8/31/22
W.G. (2022)
A look at the life of a fascinating Civil War-era character.
Published: 8/24/22
Only the Clothes on Her Back (2022)
A detailed review of Laura F. Edwards' "Only the Clothes on Her Back," a look at the lives of everyday Americans in the early republic.
Published: 8/17/22
Been in the Storm So Long (1979)
On the one-year anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize winning scholar Leon F. Litwack’s death, historian Evan C. Jones offers this extended retrospective on Litwack’s magnum opus. Throughout the nineteenth...
Published: 8/10/22
Dreams of Victory (2022)
A well-written introduction to the life and career of the famed Louisiana general.
Published: 7/27/22
A Failed Vision of Empire (2022)
A detailed review of Daniel J. Burge's "A Failed Vision of Empire," a reconsideration of the concept of Manifest Destiny in American history.
Published: 7/20/22
All for the Union (2022)
A New York family fights the Civil War.
Published: 7/13/22
In The Houses of Their Dead (2022)
A detailed review of Terry Alford's "In the Houses of Their Dead," a study of spiritualism in the Civil War era.
Published: 7/6/22
To Walk About in Freedom (2022)
A remarkable microhistory centered around one formerly enslaved woman’s postwar interview.
Published: 6/29/22
Gettysburg (2022)
A compilation of postwar accounts about the epic 1863 battle.