I was listening to Michael Berry this morning, who was giving glowing praise to the book by SC Gwynne, Hymns of the Republic. I intend to pick up a copy of this to read, but as it covers the final year of the war, I'm curious if anyone has any recommendations for any titles that cover the entire war.

I'm hoping to avoid books that would be more political than historical. The Civil War is the biggest war that I have not spent much time reading about (read tons on WWII, some on the Revolution and WWI, and a bit of Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq/Afghanistan).

A particular battle or the entire war?

JABQ04 said:

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A particular battle or the entire war?

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I'm interested in the entire war but I imagine something focused on a particular battle might be more detailed.

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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JABQ04 said:

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A particular battle or the entire war?

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I'm interested in the entire war but I imagine something focused on a particular battle might be more detailed.

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Shaara's The Killer Angels is the best in this regard. Gettysburg.

chick79 said:

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The Killer Angels while great is historical fiction.

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Yep. Nonetheless, it is well-researched and solidly grounded in fact, and is a great introduction to the Civil War.

One of my favorites is April 1865. It is about the end of the Civil War and details the debates and aftermath well. One of my favorite books. I love reading about how wars conclude and the dynamics of the closure.

April 1865 is an excellent read.

I have a general observation: The three best writers about the Civil War that I have read are Bruce Catton, Ernest Furgurson, and Shelby Foote.

Catton wrote a three-volume history of the Army of the Potomoc which is just beautifully written. When I taught The Gettysburg Address to my AP English classes, I xeroxed the passages from Catton about Pickett's Charge and then about five pages from the end of the book, which stops just as Lincoln as getting up to speak at Gettysburg. Kids got tears in their eyes when we read through this stuff together, and I always tear up when I re-read it. The third volume won the Pulitzer Prize.

I have read Furgurson's books on Chancellorsville and on Cold Harbor. They are so well-written they are difficult to put down.

Shelby Foote's trilogy is too long for me to do anything except dip my foot into, but I have re-read the parts on Gettysburg and Appomattox many times over.

Read any/all of Dr Vandiver's books. His book about Pershing is good also.

There is a podcast called the civil war podcast that I like to recommend. I've been listening to it for years and always enjoy it. It takes them several years to cover one year of the war, so it is very detailed, yet I find it entertaining and digestible.

He still reads "Stars in it Their Courses" the chapters on Gettysburg and "Beleaguered City" the Vicksburg parts of his narrative on tape/CD.

The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans by Charles Royster

oldarmy76 said:

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There is a podcast called the civil war podcast that I like to recommend. I've been listening to it for years and always enjoy it. It takes them several years to cover one year of the war, so it is very detailed, yet I find it entertaining and digestible.

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It has a very obvious and repetitive anti-confederate slant.

I think McPherson could probably be called the standard, though there's always a lot of arguing related to this war and the 'history' associated. But still, he's a good starting place.

Thanks for all the responses.

Exactly right about the Army of the Potomac trilogy. Catton writes clearly and understandably, and when he hits some of the high moments (like covering Gettysburg at the end of the second book) it's pretty incredible.

Foote's trilogy is very dense but a very good read. Plan to take your time and pay attention, and he puts together a solid, comprehensive narrative.

Bruce Catton is generally my favorite, but that's likely because I started with him.

Scroll down to the Civil War section here. Be sure to read the preface first.

74OA said:

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Scroll down to the Civil War section here. Be sure to read the preface first.

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Merciful heavens, what a list! Thank you for posting, I'm going to be updating my Amazon wishlist now...

Maximus_Meridius said:

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74OA said:

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Scroll down to the Civil War section here. Be sure to read the preface first.

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Merciful heavens, what a list! Thank you for posting, I'm going to be updating my Amazon wishlist now...

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Yeah, I've used it to guide my reading for many years. Since there are many hundreds of books out there on just the Civil War and WWII alone--and some will inevitably be more credible than others--an authoritative "cheat sheet" to cull that long list is welcome. Particularly so as Dr. Berlin used this standard to develop his bibliography:

"Many of the books listed in this work are military classics, that is, books of recognized value that set a standard of historical or literary excellence. Others evaluate or expand on the military classics."

Other books that are, or eventually will be, rated as military classics could be on this list, but it's a great place to begin.

I just picked up a copy of Ordeal By Fire. Sounds like a good volume to get started with.

Thanks again for all these recs.

I have read a number of the books previously discussed... one of my favorite one-volume works is "Their Tattered Flags" by Frank Vandiver. Very readable, just the right mix of political/ military history and personal vignettes. I was lucky enough to find a first edition copy of it several years ago.

BQ78 said:

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He still reads "Stars in it Their Courses" the chapters on Gettysburg and "Beleaguered City" the Vicksburg parts of his narrative on tape/CD.

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A few years ago I searched everywhere for an copy of Foote reading his full tome, but could only find his work in Gettysburg. For shame.

Came across this interview...not deep, but broad range of topics that I found interesting. Hard to believe that was over 25 years ago.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?60099-1/stars-courses

There is also this old in-depth interview from booktv (cspan2)

AWESOME! I listened to about 10 minutes of that and can't wait to listen to the rest. I've said comments like this before: if I could pick one person from the past to come back and narrate my life or maybe just be the solo speaker at my funeral, based on voice alone, it would be him.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/civil-war-documentary-filmmaker-ken-burns-calls-for-confederate-statues-to-be-removed-theyre-an-attempt-to-rewrite-history-by-white-supremacists/

Stive said:

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If I start Shelby Foote's trilogy, can I get him to come back from the grave and read it to me?

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Amen to this! Foote's storytelling in Burn's mini-series was priceless...