Engaging the Civil War Series
Engaging the Civil War, a series edited by the founders of the Emerging Civil War blog group, adopts the sensibility and accessibility of public history while adhering to the standards of academic scholarship. To engage readers and bring them to a new understanding of America’s great story, series authors draw on insights they gained while working with the public—walking the ground where history happened at battlefields and historic sites, talking with visitors in museums, and educating students in classrooms. With fresh perspectives, field-tested ideas, and in-depth research, volumes in the series connect readers with the story of the Civil War in ways that make history meaningful to them while underscoring the continued relevance of the war, its causes, and its effects. All Americans can claim the Civil War as part of their history. This series helps them engage with it.
Published by Southern Illinois University Press, the Engaging the Civil War series is edited by Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., and Brian Matthew Jordan, Ph.D.
Publications in this Series
Turning Points of the American Civil War
Turning Pointsof the American Civil WarChris Mackowski andKristopher D. White, editorsForeword by Thomas A. Desjardin “Engaging the Civil War” SeriesSouthern Illinois University Press, 2017Click here for ordering information Contributors to this collection, public historians with experience at Civil War battle sites, examine key shifts in the Civil War and the context surrounding them to show […]
Where Valor Proudly Sleeps
Where Valor Proudly Sleeps: A History of Fredericksburg National Cemeteryby Donald C. Pfanz “Engaging the Civil War” SeriesSouthern Illinois University Press,2018 Click here for ordering information Many books discuss in great detail what happened during Civil War battles. This is one of the few that investigate what happened to the remains of those who made […]
Entertaining History
Entertaining History: The Civil War in Literature, Film, and SongChris Mackowski, editor “Engaging the Civil War” SeriesSouthern Illinois University Press,2019 Click here for ordering information Popular media can spark the national consciousness in a way that captures people’s attention, interests them in history, and inspires them to visit battlefields, museums, and historic sites. This lively […]
The Spirits of Bad Men Made Perfect
The Spirits of Bad Men Made Perfect:The Life and Diary of Confederate Artillerist William Ellis Jonesby Constance Jones “Engaging the Civil War” SeriesSouthern Illinois University Press,2019 Click here for ordering information This remarkable biography and edited diary tell the story of William Ellis Jones (1838–1910), an artillerist in Crenshaw’s Battery, Pegram’s Battalion, the Army of […]
Imagining Wild Bill
Imagining Wild Bill: James Butler Hickok in War, Media, and Memory by Paul Ashdown and Edward Caudill “Engaging the Civil War” Series Southern Illinois University Press, 2020 Click here for ordering information When it came to the Wild West, the nineteenth-century press rarely let truth get in the way of a good story. James Butler […]
The Bonds of War
The Bonds of War:A Story of Immigrants and Esprit de Corpsin Company C, 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantryby Diana L. Dretske “Engaging the Civil War” SeriesSouthern Illinois University Press,2021 Click here for ordering information When curator Diana L. Dretske discovered that the five long-gone Union soldiers in a treasured photograph in the Bess Bower Dunn Museum were not […]
Matchless Organization
Matchless Organization:The Confederate Army Medical Departmentby Guy R. Hasegawa “Engaging the Civil War” SeriesSouthern Illinois University Press,2021 Click here for ordering information Despite the many obstacles it had to overcome—including a naval blockade, lack of a strong industrial base, and personnel unaccustomed to military life—the Richmond-based Confederate Army Medical Department developed into a robust organization that […]
The Lead Mine Men
Coming Soon: The Lead Mine Men: The Enduring 45th Illinois Volunteer InfantryThomas Mack “Engaging the Civil War” SeriesSouthern Illinois University Press, 2022 Publications in this Series
Without Concealment, Without Compromise
Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons by Jill L. NewmarkSouthern Illinois University Press, 2023 (click here for ordering information) Of some twelve thousand Union Civil War surgeons, only fourteen were Black men. This book is the first-ever comprehensive exploration of their lives and service. Jill L. Newmark’s outstanding research […]
