Question of the Week: 5/11-5/17/20

We keep hearing that many folks are reading more this spring and building their library collections.

What Civil War book[s] are you reading these days?



28 Responses to Question of the Week: 5/11-5/17/20

  1. Currently reading Peter Cozzens’ ‘The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka & Corinth’. Well-written, as are all Cozzens’ books, and a very informative look at a part of the Civil War about which I knew very little.

  2. E.Porter Alexander’s “Fighting for the Confederacy,” and Earl Schenk Miers ” The General Who Marched to Hell.”

  3. I’m reading 2 books right now. William F Scott History of the 4th Iowa Cavalry and Confederate Mobile by Arthur Bergeron. Prior to that I read Besieged by Blount. I have several preorders out there now.

  4. I am reading The Cornfield by David Welker. Hope to get back to Antietam soon. Previously read Happiness is Not My Companion which is a study on Gouverneur Warren.

  5. Hanging Captain Gordon by Ron Soddalter (grim I know) and A Little Short of Boats by James A. Morgan III (I had to read it really fast for a newsletter article for our round table and wanted to go back and give it the read it deserved).

  6. “Obstinate Heroism: The Confederate Surrenders After Appomattox” by Stephen Ramold. Very interesting read. I had several Missouri ancestors surrendered by Kirby Smith.

  7. -When the Yankees Came: Conflict and Chaos in the Occupied South, 1861-1865 – Stephen Ash
    -Civil War Hospital Sketches – Louisa May Alcott
    -The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command A Study in Command – Edwin B Coddington
    -The March: A Novel – E.L. Doctorow
    -Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters – Elizabeth Brown Pryor
    -This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War – Faust, Drew Gilpin

  8. Just finished “To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee May 13-25, 1864” by Gordon Rhea. Book Three of Rhea’s 4-volume Overland Campaign series. Like all of his books, it’s EXCELLENT. I actually met Gordon Rhea Summer 2014. He was the keynote speaker for the opening of additional acreage at the North Anna River Battlefield. The Confederate’s “inverted V” trenches remain intact.

  9. I recently purchased two new books. The book I’m currently reading is, Vicksburg, Grant’s Campaign that Broke the Confederacy, by Donald L. Miller. Despite having read several other studies about Vicksburg, I was inspired to read the book after listening to Mr. Miller Discuss it on CSPAN’s Book TV. The second book is, Conquered, Why the Army of Tennessee Failed, by Larry J. Daniel.

    1. I finished Conquered just a while ago. Good overall read on the Army of Tennessee. Daniel is opinionated and provides his analysis on all the major controversies that happened. It’s interesting and is a good overview, on what some other historians said about this Army.

  10. Just finished reading “Meade and Lee at Bristoe Station” by Jeffrey Wm Hunt. I really enjoyed it.

  11. I’m currently in a neglected old book phase. I’ve had a set of The Civil War; A Narrative for a long time sitting dusty and neglected on my bookshelf. I’m nearly at the finish line with Book 1 Fort Sumter to Perryville and will soon dive into Book 2. Interesting critical reading and interesting author that has me often stopping to research places, things and events. I can easily find myself hearing Mr Foote’s delta accent while going through the pages.
    I have another very old neglected book – Lee’s Maverick General about Daniel Harvey Hill which I plan on reading next.

  12. Currently reading “The Union Assaults at Vicksburg” by Timothy B. Smith.

    Next are “Caught in the Maelstrom”, by Clint Crowe and ” Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Camoaign”, by Dennis Rasbach.

  13. I am re-reading Jackson’s Letters to/from His Beloved Bride… and although I didn’t expect it to have any correlation to the Civil War, I am reading The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore. I discovered to my surprise that Tsar Alexander II who ruled from 1855 to 1881, was lending assistance to the Union Army (while France and England assisted the Confederate Army). The Russians sent their Baltic Fleet to NY and a Pacific Fleet to San Francisco. Fort Ross was once known as Fort Russia. Upon hearing of the assassination of Lincoln, the Tsar wept and wrote to Mary Todd Lincoln that the President was…”the noblest and greatest Christian of our generation – a beacon to the whole world – nothing but courage, steadfastness and desire to do good.” In all my years of studying American History from 7th grade to 12th and for four years in college … the only thing I heard related to Russia were in reference to the purchase of Alaska… and later post-WWI and beyond. Never once a mention related to the Civil War at all.

  14. I finally bought Mary Chestnut’s and Sarah Morgan’s war biographies. I’m also reading the new book out on the civil war in North Carolina in 1864, The Fight for the Old North State.

    Also finished Guelzo’s Gettysburg recently.

  15. Oldies but…with news stories about dreams and Covid-19, I decided to reread Jonathan White’s Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams During the Civil War. And of course, Lincoln on the Verge–a glorious new book by Ted Widmer.

  16. Hellmira – Manfield ,Faith in the Fight, and just finished Miracles in American History -Federer

  17. I just finished The Battle of the Wilderness by Gordon Rhea (fabulous!) and I’m taking a quick break to write stuff but I’ll be diving into Hardtack and Coffee by John Billings, as well as Cornelia Hancock’s letters. After that, more Gordon Rhea 🙂 Got a full schedule ahead.

  18. Just finished Tony Horowitz Spying on the South, ok but not nearly as good as Confederates in the Attic. Am presently reading David Silkenats Raising the White Flag. Informative.

  19. Reading the Stotelmeyer book on McClellan and the Maryland Campaign – “Too Useful to Sacrifice”

  20. Just finished- Lincoln takes Command and The Second Colorado Cavalry.
    Up next- Phil Kearny

  21. Civil War Places, Seeing the Conflict Through the Eyes of Its Leading Historians by Gary Gallagher and Son is a fascinating book by many of the Civil War’s leading authors, present company excepted.

  22. As I was thoroughly enjoying the recent posts regarding Secession, I was reading “American Secession” by F. H Buckley. I just finished it. This book addresses the concept of modern day secession. Mr. Buckley makes a compelling case for secession today based on the concept of “Home Rule”. He offers a rationale and blueprint for state secession without war, and at the same time allowing a state to remain in the Union. This is an interesting book for both pro Union and secessionist sympathizers.

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