# Civil War Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662 "2000-01-28T22:13:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GasDr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@GasDr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GasDr)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/1 "2000-01-28T22:13:00Z")
Can anyone recommend a very good unbiased book about the Civil War? ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/2 "2000-01-28T22:46:00Z")
_Battle Cry of Freedom_ by James M. McPherson is an excellent single-volume history of the Civil War. It won a Pulitzer Prize. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/3 "2000-01-29T00:02:00Z")
I believe Shelby Foote’s three volume set on the Civil War is unbiased and definitive. Certainly his scholarship on the subject is exhaustive. * * * The Dave-Guy “since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/4 "2000-01-29T00:09:00Z")
I really enjoyed _The Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara. (It was the book the movie _Gettysburg_ was based on.) I don’t know how accurate it’s supposed to be, but I remember it was hard to put down. (The movie is excellent, too.) * * * Love stinks! (Yeah, yeah!) ---
**Author:** ![trouts1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@trouts1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trouts1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/5 "2000-01-29T00:42:00Z")
GasDr How about a trilogy by Bruce Catton? Its just about the best. See [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3975/catton.html](http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3975/catton.html) Its very available second hand. There are lots of letters, and diaries on the net which are a great read. I’ve come across lots of letters which make up the fact basis for CW authors. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/6 "2000-01-29T00:57:00Z")
If you’re into documentaries, you might try Ken Burns’ _The Civil War_, but it’s kinda expensive unless you rent/borrow/wait for PBS… Definitely worth the 10 hours, tho. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/7 "2000-01-29T00:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by mrblue92: > **If you’re into documentaries, you might try Ken Burns’ _The Civil War_, but it’s kinda expensive unless you rent/borrow/wait for PBS… Definitely worth the 10 hours, tho.** They may have all or some of the videos at your local library. * * * Love stinks! (Yeah, yeah!) ---
**Author:** ![George\_Gray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@George\_Gray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Gray)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/8 "2000-01-29T01:02:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by DAVEW0071: > \*\*I believe Shelby Foote’s three volume set on the Civil War is unbiased and definitive. Certainly his scholarship on the subject is exhaustive. > \*\* I didn’t think Shelby Foote was very unbiased at all. He’s a southerner, and every now and then I detected traces of bitterness in his writing, as well as a bit too much romanticism for my taste. His stuff is still good, but I prefer Bruce Catton. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/9 "2000-01-29T01:27:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by voguevixen: > \*\*I really enjoyed _The Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara. (It was the book the movie _Gettysburg_ was based on.) I don’t know how accurate it’s supposed to be, but I remember it was hard to put down. (The movie is excellent, too.) > \*\* “The Killer Angels” is a very good book. It’s also a novel, so it’s not something you want to rely on too much. It will be found in the Fiction section of your local library. ---
**Author:** ![Hunsecker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Hunsecker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunsecker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/10 "2000-01-29T01:42:00Z")
Kenneth Davis’ _Don’t Know Much About the Civil War_ is a breezy intro to the war. Don’t expect much detail and analysis, but it tells you all the major players and events. Its pretty good about recounting all those events you barely remember from Junior High history class. It was more or less fair. Leaned a little North I think. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/11 "2000-01-29T03:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by BobT: > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally posted by voguevixen: > > \*\*I really enjoyed _The Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara. (It was the book the movie _Gettysburg_ was based on.) I don’t know how accurate it’s supposed to be, but I remember it was hard to put down. (The movie is excellent, too.) > > \*\* > > “The Killer Angels” is a very good book. It’s also a novel, so it’s not something you want to rely on too much. > It will be found in the Fiction section of your local library.\*\* I’m holding the book in my hand at this moment and it is categorized as “historical fiction,” but it is also a Pultizer Prize-winner and is touted on the back by both James M. McPherson and Ken Burns…both mentioned earlier in this thread as knowledgeable about the subject. Since GasDr did not specify what type of book (Non-fiction, Fiction, Auto-Biography, Biography, School Text, etc.) I merely mentioned it as an example of one I personally like. For instance, if GasDr is looking for a book to interest a high school class in the Civil War, this would be a good choice. If he is completing his thesis on the drinking habits of Confederate soldiers, he may be seeking something a bit more painstakingly documented. * * * Love stinks! (Yeah, yeah!) ---
**Author:** ![trouts1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@trouts1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trouts1)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/12 "2000-01-30T06:46:00Z")
GasDr Another approach: The CW is huge. Tough to get a grip on. You take in something like the Ken Burns series and think that you’ve just had quite a lesson and you did. But after reading about the CW then revisiting a video from the series you realize that Burns left out grillions of things that happened, out of necessity, I’m not faulting him in any way. Your looking for a factual view which is tough to get with a single author even if he is objective. Another approach which I did a few times is to take a single battle. Get Cattens and get his take by starting just before the battle say Anteitam (I would not do Gettysburg as an opener) through to its conclusion. Get other recognized authors whose books cover the whole war and read their sections of Anteitam. The get the bio’s of the leading generals and sift through them for the period covering Anteitam. At this point you start to hit lots of more primary information of individual stories and antidotes used by the authors who cover the whole war. For example: General Gordon who helped to muster the Raccoon Roughs and commanded the Reb’s at the Sunken Road - wounded 5 times. He was the general who at the final surrender in the Burns series reared and wheeled his horse into a bow and salute with his sword raised in thanks to Grant for not humiliating the South during the surrender. He was a great showman and requested Lee that his men be last at the surrender. Several events focused on by Burns were about General Gordon. Other generals at Anteitam who were important and have bios were Longstreet, Sheridan and lots of other big names so lots of fill info available. Finally you can get diaries and letters by period off the net that even Burns and Cattens did not have access to. ---
**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/13 "2000-01-30T06:28:00Z")
For those of you who enjoyed _The Killer Angels_, you may also want to try _Gods and Generals_, which goes from the years preceding the Civil War to before the battle of Gettysburg, and _The Last Full Measure_, which tells of The ivil War after the battle of Gettysburg. Both are by Jeff Shaara, the son of Micheal. I haven’t read either but both seemed to have recieved a lot of praise and I am meaning to read them. * * * We must blame them and cause a fuss before somebody thinks of blaming us. Sheila Broflofski ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/14 "2000-01-30T12:44:00Z")
For the grunt’s-eye view of the CW, try _The Life Of Johnny Reb_ or _The Life Of Billy Yank_. * * * With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a frog into a Ph.D, and you still have the frog you started with. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-books/6662/15 "2000-01-31T06:00:00Z")
You could try “A Short History of the Civil War” by James L. Stokesbury, who was a history professor at Acadia University prior to his death. He specialised in a series of “Short Histories” of various conflicts that are aimed at the intelligent, non-expert reader. He also provides suggestions for further reading. * * * and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel to toe