Difference between revisions of "Civil War Battles Top Ten Booklist"

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Here is our list.
 
Here is our list.
  
Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam, Sears
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618344195/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0618344195&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=edb1d6a640423279a1d72001664a0a91 Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam], Sears
  
Antietam: Crossroads of Freedom, James McPherson - McPherson has written extensively on the Civil War, but he has usually approached this topic from broader narrative. In his Pultizer Prize winning book Battle Cry Freedom, he masterfully wrote about the entire war. In one of his most recent books The War that Forged a Nation, he explained how the war fundamentally changed the United States and why it still resonates today. In Antietam, McPherson took a different approach. He not only walks the reader the entire battle, but he explains why the battle of Antietam fundamentally altered the course of the war.   
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195173309/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195173309&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=80102c73906ceab964b0b0831e1713a2 Antietam: Crossroads of Freedom], James McPherson - McPherson has written extensively on the Civil War, but he has usually approached this topic from broader narrative. In his Pultizer Prize winning book Battle Cry Freedom, he masterfully wrote about the entire war. In one of his most recent books The War that Forged a Nation, he explained how the war fundamentally changed the United States and why it still resonates today. In Antietam, McPherson took a different approach. He not only walks the reader the entire battle, but he explains why the battle of Antietam fundamentally altered the course of the war.   
  
Chancellorsville 1863, The Souls of the Brave, Ferguson
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679728317/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0679728317&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=0c817b7e934d7d21fdce5d684d5b36c0 Chancellorsville 1863, The Souls of the Brave], Ferguson
  
Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, George Rable
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807872695/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807872695&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=e75411434194a906c349e1f16ab03074 Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!], George Rable
  
The Fredericksburg Campaign, Gary Gallagher - Military Campaigns of the Civil War
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807131547/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807131547&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4a7183257522562bcf8360a455050aff The Fredericksburg Campaign], Gary Gallagher - Military Campaigns of the Civil War
  
Gettysburg: The Second Day - Gettysburg, Sears, Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory Carol Reardon, Amerircan Hertiage History Symonds
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807847305/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807847305&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=99ab2cbaf9236d0f568e9341bdfd8aec Gettysburg: The Second Day], [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618485384/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0618485384&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=d3659b96be7588346745720a4e005e02 Gettysburg], Sears, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807854611/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807854611&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5a78632122521fd5b8ff8e9046e163dc Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory Carol] Reardon, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803270771/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0803270771&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=13f92ebb8229f28b42f9fa539ae62a3a Gettysburg: A Battle Guide] Grimsley and Simpson
 
   
 
   
The Civil War at Sea, Symonds, Gettysburg: A Battle Guide Grimsley and Simpson
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199931682/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199931682&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=77557c16fc84e192ad77dc4d567da088 The Civil War at Sea], Symonds,  
  
Cold Harbor, Gordon Rhea The Overland Series
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807128031/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807128031&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=e3bedc1d34a4ab0394b1409242343e9c Cold Harbor], Gordon Rhea The Overland Series
  
The Battle of the Wilderness, Gordon Rhea
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807130214/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807130214&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=94c5ee178ab4de7693f9cc10bd4f3f7a The Battle of the Wilderness], Gordon Rhea
  
Perryvile: This Grand Havoc of Battle
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[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081313384X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=081313384X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=ca763a4ee1a73f7e49475b2ab601d0e9 Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle], Kenneth Noe

Revision as of 02:08, 9 August 2016

The Civil War is the most written about event in United States history. There are an extraordinary number of books covering all aspects of the war from large overviews like James McPherson's Battle Cry Freedom, Gary Gallagher's books on The Union War and The Confederate War, Allan Nevins 8 volume set on the conflict, and Shelby Foote's three volume set of books on the war. Like a lot of people, I started with Shelby Foote's books, but over the years I have drifted towards more academic works. Unsurprisingly, all kinds of different authors have written non-fiction books on the topic. Some of these authors are academic historians such as James McPherson and Gary Gallagher, more literary authors such as Winston Groom (author of fiction works such as Forest Gump and Civil War nonfiction works Shiloh, 1862 and Vicksburg, 1863) and Shelby Foote, and an extraordinary number of independent scholars. I would not be surprised to learn that there are more self-published books on the American Civil War than any other American historical topic.

Therefore, this list is not comprehensive. That would be impossible. Additionally, it only focuses on specific battles or campaigns of the war. Even when you intentionally restrict the number of total books on the war, you are still left with thousands of book titles. There are over 1,000 books available on Amazon discussing some aspect of just the battle of Gettysburg. The books on the list has a focus on both traditional academic historians and independent historians. While this list has been focused on battles, there are some truly extraordinary Civil War historians who have never written about battles or military campaigns. Drew Gilpin Faust's The Republic of Suffering may be one of the most important books ever written about the Civil War and it focused people dealt with the growing numbers of dead. The number of great Civil War historians left off of the list is tragic.

Creating this list has been both very easy and extraordinarily difficult. It is easy to find great books, but it is almost impossible to pick only ten. If you are a stickler and count the books listed, you will notice that the final is little bit higher than 10.

These books have typically been lauded as some of the best books on these battles and campaigns. Even if your favorite is not listed, these books are fantastic place to start.

Here is our list.

Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam, Sears

Antietam: Crossroads of Freedom, James McPherson - McPherson has written extensively on the Civil War, but he has usually approached this topic from broader narrative. In his Pultizer Prize winning book Battle Cry Freedom, he masterfully wrote about the entire war. In one of his most recent books The War that Forged a Nation, he explained how the war fundamentally changed the United States and why it still resonates today. In Antietam, McPherson took a different approach. He not only walks the reader the entire battle, but he explains why the battle of Antietam fundamentally altered the course of the war.

Chancellorsville 1863, The Souls of the Brave, Ferguson

Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, George Rable

The Fredericksburg Campaign, Gary Gallagher - Military Campaigns of the Civil War

Gettysburg: The Second Day, Gettysburg, Sears, Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory Carol Reardon, Gettysburg: A Battle Guide Grimsley and Simpson

The Civil War at Sea, Symonds,

Cold Harbor, Gordon Rhea The Overland Series

The Battle of the Wilderness, Gordon Rhea

Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, Kenneth Noe