Question of the Week: 4/3-4/9/23
It’s been a while since we’ve posted this question…
In your opinion, what’s the best biography book of a Civil War figure?
It’s been a while since we’ve posted this question…
In your opinion, what’s the best biography book of a Civil War figure?
I read mostly from a northern perspective but found the biography on William “Extra Billy” Smith by Scott Mingus, Sr. to be one of the best recently written biographies.
Thanks so much!
George Henry Thomas: As True As Steel by Brian Steel Wills.
without a doubt, Douglas Southall Freeman’s R.E. Lee.
Sickles by Jim Hessler
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David Blight
This is a good idea. As newer members join it is good to hear their thoughts, and for those who have been on here longer they could have changed their mind. My favorite still is “William Tecumseh Sherman, In the Service of My Country” by James Lee McDonough. I might add a note of thanks for the workers on this site. You have awakened many of us.
Two good books on General Lee. Douglas Southall Freeman’s R. E. LEE is excellent and, in my reading, Charles Floods, LEE – THE LAST YEARS. .
Sickles At Gettysburg by James Hasslett. While not a full biography of Daniel Sickles, the book represents exhaustive research, great scholarship, and a fair presentation of a controversial figure regarding a significant action during the battles of Gettysburg. A great read!!
A tie between the biographies of Grant by Ron White and Ron Chernow.
Donald Pfanz’s biography of Ewell.
I haven’t completed it yet, but John Meacham’s new Lincoln bio, “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle” is very much worth a look.