Civil War Books - I need help please in selection
 

Sparrow,
"Lee's Lieutenants" by Douglas S. Freeman is an absoulute must for the Eastern Theater. It is the "knowall-tellall" of the Army of Northern Virginia. It is a 3-volume set. It's a lot of reading for a slow-poke like me, but it really changed my thinking. I didn't see all 3 volumes at amazon, but here's a link to 2 of them. You can at least see what they are about.
The "Official Records" are good if you are patient enough to wade through archives. You can find a lot of things that never show up in books. http://www.guildpress.com

Knowing your personality and how sensitive you are to the human side of things, you should definitely read "Co Aytch" by Sam R. Watkins. No grand strategies here; just a personal grunt's story.
Chilidog

Bruce Catton's Books
 

Are an absolute must!

"The coming Fury, Grant moves South, Mr. Lincoln's Army, Glory Road, This Hallowed Ground, Never Call Retreat"

You cannot consider yourself a Civil War Scholar unless you read Bruce Catton.

All great books. Very detailed. Scholarly.

Lee's Leutenants is a great book. Easier reading than Catton's books.

There are hundred's of books out there some are easy reading others aren't so easy reading.

I like Lincoln's biography by Sandberg.

Keith

I will echo the Bruce Catton suggestion. He's perfect for an intro. He covers it all and has a really good literary style that is both moving and easy to read. He's one of the few who is really passionate about his subject, yet remains totally objective. His description of the Wilderness battle was one of the most moving passages I think I've ever read. I had to put the book down and take a walk and try to get the imagery out of my head.

After reading him for starters, you'll probably want to let the subject matter guide you. Personally, I like reading the memoirs and letters. They really knew how to turn a phrase back then. Sullivan Balloo's last letter to his wife before he got hisself killed at First Manassas could make a stone weep.

Avoid anything that looks like it has a point to make; those are usually crap and totally biased.

Wish I could write a letter like that...

Little Sparrow -

Fastest surest most direct route would be to PM Tamaroa...

Sis :

I have about 300+ books and magazines on the subject. PM me on what your are interested in, and I will send a box full that you are welcome to borrow for as long as necessary...I recently got some reprints of Confederate Veteran Magazine ( UCV ) from the early part of the 20th century on eBay. As luck would have it, the first story I opened to was about a soldier who grew up very near my great-grandfather in Hardeman Co. TN. I have a little bit of everything about the Civil War. This offer is open to anyone else as well. I will pay book rate postage your way and you pay on the return...It is cheap and fast..

Good luck,

Larry

How much do you want to dig into it, Sparrow?
 

There are different authors that weave incredible tales but it depends on your current knowledge and where you want to go. As others have done, I would strongly recommend Bruce Catton. He is a master story teller. His trilogy of the Army of the Potomac is the best I have ever read (Glory Road, Mr. Lincoln's Army and Stillness at Appomattox.

You get a great feel of the eastern theater from those books. More broadbased would be Catton's three volume Centennial history of the Civil War (The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword, Never Call Retreat).

If you are more in to the academia side, Alan Nevin's Series "Ordeal of the Union" is a scholarly study of the war.

If you want a balanced approach, I wouldn't go with Lee's Lieutenants right away. Freeman is good but you get little of the Yankee side in it.

Battles and Leaders of the Civil war is a great book. It is first hand accounts by the participants themselves and it covers both sides.

I would also recommend memoirs such as:

Hard Tack and Coffee John D. Billings
Gone for a Soldier Alfred Bellard
13 Months in the Rebel Army William G. Stephenson.
Minutae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia
by Carlton McCarthy.
Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade John O. Casler
Letters and Papers of an Artilleryman in the Army of Northern Virginia by Ham Chamberlayne.
U.S. Grant's Autobiography

And many many more :-)

Bill

P.S. I have tons of Civil War periodicals that I will be giving to the library to clear out my house. If you want them give me your address back channel and I will mail them to you. You can keep them if you like or if not, pass them on to anyone who is interested. I need to clear out my house, but I can't bear the thought of throwing these out. Most periodics have biographic stories of major players. They have sections on battles and preservation issues as well.

Killer Angels. You 'll remember it forever

One more thing is to see if you can get your hands on a couple of Civil war music albums. that will really get you in the mood. Listen to songs such as "the vacant chair" (about a empty seat set for a young lieutenant at a holiday meal, who was KIA), Somebody's Darling, Was my Brother in the Battle, Tenting tonight, Just Before the Battle Mother, All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight. They are sentimental, maudlin and can be real tear jerkers. But those guys had a right to be sentimental when your typical regiment suffered 30% casualties. Columbia Records puts out a series known as Legacy records. There are two; The Confederacy and the Union which were still available a couple years ago. I strongly urge you to listen to their music. It is quite an experience.

Bill

Isn't?
 

John,

Isn't Killer Angels an Oxymoron?

Come to think about it. There was the death angel.

I guess Killer Angels is an Oxymoron after all.


Keith :D

Ain't nothing getting you out of trouble . Thank you for getting me here. Peace.

Grabbed that one off the internet. It's pretty famous on account of it being so sad, so it's pretty well known. I first heard it in the Ken Burns Civil War series on PBS.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff border=0>Thank you Desdichado,it's a letter once readanyone withhalf a heart will remember. There is a picture in my home of another young man in uniform with words thatnot only comfort but direct me when my compass gets a little off kilter.

Peace on your path today,

Arrow

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Now that I've thunk on it a while, there is one book I'd recommend. "With My Face to the Enemy - Perspectives on the Civil War". It's a collection of short essays by a whole bunch of notables on different aspects of things. Some are just stories of battles, some are personal, some are strategic, some political, some social. Pretty good variety and most of the contributors are top notch. The title comes from the last words attributed to one officer at Gettysburg, who said, "Major, tell my father I died with my face to the enemy."

Hearts in Conflict: A One-Volume History of the Civil War

Curt Anders, August 1999

Probably not as involved as some of the books posted but I liked the overview.

The 20th Maine.
Read it years ago, still sticks. Also " An Illinois Boy in the Civil War". That could be hard to find but purports to be an autobiography of one of Sherman's Bummers - reads well.

Try looking for "Lincoln, the War Yars" by Carl Sandburg. It's been out of print (4 volumes) for 40 years or so but you might be ablee to find it on e-bay. It's one of the best books ever written about the Civil War.

I wonder why?
 

"Lincoln the War Years" is a great book. I wonder why it is out of print.

Keith :cd:

Being a member of the Watkins family I also thought "Co Aytch" by Sam R. Watkins was a good book and read it from cover to cover in a day .I just couldn't put it down :) one of my favorite sections was when Sam was eating dinner with the Yanks and the C.O. of the Union Co. rode up and asked a Soldier what that "reb" was doing he replied "eating, Sir" :) as Sam ran off back to his Camp....

If anybody is recommending a hard to find Civil War book, the following site is a good place to start:

http://www.oldesoldierbooks.com/cstore/cstore.cgi

I have done business with the owner Dave Zullo for years. He's not cheap, but I have gotten some great finds from him.

also, I did a quick search on www.bookfinder.com. There are plenty of Sandburg's Lincoln the War Years available: a couple of samples are below:

# Bookseller Notes Price
1 Rose's Books
via ZVAB
[United States] New York Harcourt Brace 1939; No edition stated, copyright 1939. Grey cloth binding with facsimile inscription blindstamped to front board. Gold titles. 660, 655, 673, 515 pp. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs. Lacking the slipcase. Fine condition. No Jacket Cloth 8vo - over 7?" - 9?" tall; Fine Illustrated $120.72
2 Rose's Books
via Bibliology
[United States] Illustrated Harcourt Brace. New York. 1939. 8vo - over 7 3/4 " - 9 3/4 " tall. Cloth. No edition stated, copyright 1939. Grey cloth binding with facsimile inscription blindstamped to front board. Gold titles. 660, 655, 673, 515 pp. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs. Lacking the slipcase. Fine condition. $125.00
( All matching books shown )


Regards,

Bill