Question of the Week: 9/28-10/4/20

Which Civil War book in your home library have you owned the longest? The newest?



21 Responses to Question of the Week: 9/28-10/4/20

  1. My oldest Civil War book is a paperback copy of “Grant’s Memoirs” that I bought at a book fair in high school. I recently bought a hardcover copy of “Grant’s Memoirs” edited by Elizabeth D. Samet. Someone recommended this copy in a ECW podcast.
    My newest book is “Defending the Arteries of Rebellion” by Neil Chatelain. I like buying books direct from Savas Beatie, they are terrific- the books and the personnel at Savas Beatie. Mr. Chatelain wrote in my book, “I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did researching it!”. I know that I will enjoy reading it.
    Thank you to Emerging Civil War for wonderful book recommendations!

  2. If we’re going to count fiction, “Gone With The Wind” would be the oldest in my collection and I first read it for the story/writing, not the history. If we’re talking non-fiction, it looks like the audiobook version of “Company Aytch”. Either that or the first volume of Shelby Foote’s “Civil War Narrative”. I really don’t know because I buy books in bulk and it’s hard tellin’ which came first. I know I came home with 20+ books after my first trip to Virginia and we had to buy a new bookcase to accommodate them.
    My newest books are currently out for delivery (yay!). “Six Women’s Slave Narratives” and “Thirty Years a Slave”. Stuff that hasn’t shipped yet include “When the Devil Came down to Dixie : Ben Butler in New Orleans” and “Florida Slave Narratives: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project 1936-1938”. I’ve got my eye on another book purchase that I’ll probably make in a week or so. Gonna need a new bookcase soon, haha!

    1. “Gone With the Wind” started me off as well, although I didn’t follow up on it for about forty years!

  3. Fletcher Pratt’s Ordeal by Fire was a gift from my grandparents at age 7 & recently I bought Chernow’s Grant.

  4. The oldest book in my Civil War Library is “The Golden Book of the Civil War” by Bruce Catton, which got when I was 10 years old for Christmas 1971. My newest book, which I got this weekend, is also “Defending the Arteries of Rebellion” by Neil Chatelain.

  5. The oldest book in my collection is “MIGHTY STONEWALL” by Frank E. Vandiver. I bought this book at a school book sale for $6.00 in 1960. My newest book, that arrived today, is ” Battle Maps of the Civil War ” by American Battlefield Trust.

  6. I bought my first book on the Civil War in the late 60’s and I still have it. It cost 95 cents in paperback. It is entitled “Combat: The Civil War The Climactic Years. It is a collection of excerpts from Battles & Leaders, Grant’s Memoirs, and other books written by participants.
    My newest is “The Cornfield Antietam’s Bloody Turning Point” by David A. Welker. It was delivered a few days ago so I have not started it yet.

  7. My very first book was The Penguin Book of the American Civil War by Bruce Catton. I only later discovered that this was a British edition of a book published by American Heritage. It had loads of photographs which I found fascinating, I was only ten years old so I didn’t understand everything. In later years I bought a hardback copy and found the maps incredible, even today I think they are fantastic. As an aside, at the same time I collected the whole set of Civil War News bubble gum cards which are still a part of my collection. My latest purchase is the new book by a favourite author, Gary Gallagher. The recent interview that ECW posted was real bonus after I had so enjoyed the book. I now think it must be time for another book to arrive, thank goodness for Amazon and ABE, it makes getting American books so easy. I have a very understanding wife!

  8. I cherish my copies of my dad’s Catton series A Stillness at Appomattox, and just opened Patriots Twice: Former Confederates and the Building of America after the Civil War by Stephen Hood. It is, of course, a Savas Beatie book.

  9. After visiting the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield on a School Excursion, I purchased “The Death Of Lincoln: a picture history of the Assassination” by LeRoy Hayman for less than a dollar (earned by mowing lawns) through Scholastic Book Services. Most recently my daughter gifted me a second-hand copy of “Come Retribution” by Tidwell, Hall & Gaddy which was acquired through ebay. My interest in the Civil War developed from my interest in the Lincoln Assassination (the complete story of which has yet to be fully revealed.)

  10. Oldest by age: “A Complete History of the Great America Rebellion”, vol. II, 1866
    Longest owned: Bruce Catton’s “Gettysburg: The Final Fury”
    Newest: Gordon Rhea’s final volume of his Overland campaign history, “On to Petersburg”

  11. My oldest is Gone With The Wind as well as I’ve had it since I was 13. My newest is Lee’s Young Artillerist: William RJ Pegram.

  12. The 1960 American Heritage book with text by Bruce Catton and those awesome “diorama”-style maps. I had just learned about my great great uncle’s service in the Army of the Potomac and the items left in my grandmother’s attic. The book got me hooked just as I was embarking on my Little League career. The rest is history.

  13. The newest is easy: I just received in the mail “The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War” by Leonard L. Richards. Perhaps the oldest is Shelby Foote’s series which my son read years ago, before I got hooked. Interestingly, I have only dabbled in that series although his writing is terrific.

  14. Oldest book is Lee and Grant at Appomattox by MacKinlay Kantor. Purchased in 1956
    ($4.00) hard bound. The book started a life long interest in our Civil War.

    The newest would The Bloody Crucible of Courage by Brent Nosworthy. Recently
    bought the paperback copy and I’m looking forward to reading.

  15. My first CW book, and it was a good choice, was Michael Schaara’s Killer Angels, the latest: Gary Gallagher’s The Enduring Civil War ( just got it).

Leave a Reply to armytncsaCancel reply