American Civil War ebooks

[pwalker8]

Chancellorsville, Stephen Sears' classic book came out in ebook today. Now two out of the four of his masterful battle books (Gettysburg, The Landscape turned Red (Antietam), The Peninsular Campaign and Chancellorsville) are available in ebook.

[Mike L]

Thanks for that. I'll definitely put it on my "to read" list.

Have you read James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom? Definitely the best book on the (American) Civil War that I have read.

Mike

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Thanks for that. I'll definitely put it on my "to read" list.

Have you read James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom? Definitely the best book on the (American) Civil War that I have read.

Mike

Yes, I have. It's certainly a classic and a good read. I can't really say that there is any one book that I consider the "best". Shelby Foote's Civil War books (4 in all) give the best overview from the Southern point of view. McPherson's books tended more towards the Union point of view.

[jgaiser]

I'd add anything written by Gary W. Gallagher or Alan Guelzo. I've spent the summer and fall reading Civil War histories and both of these authors are top notch. I do have Sears book on Gettysburg, but haven't read it yet.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

I'd add anything written by Gary W. Gallagher or Alan Guelzo. I've spent the summer and fall reading Civil War histories and both of these authors are top notch. I do have Sears book on Gettysburg, but haven't read it yet.

Thanks for the pointers, I'll check them out.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

I'd add anything written by Gary W. Gallagher or Alan Guelzo. I've spent the summer and fall reading Civil War histories and both of these authors are top notch. I do have Sears book on Gettysburg, but haven't read it yet.

I read Guelzo's recent book Gettysburg: The Last Invasion. I thought it was excellent, and offered some fresh insights. Guelzo won the inagural $50,000 Guggenheim-Lehrman Military History Prize for the book.

[rollei]

Jeff Shaara and Michael Shaara has written some civil war books.
- Gods and Generals
- The Killer Angels
- The Last Full Measure

http://www.amazon.com/The-Civil-War-.../dp/0345433726


Gods and Generals
Jeff Daniels, Stephen Lang, Robert Duvall
Warner Home Video
http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Generals-...dp/B005NFJAYE/

[pwalker8]

The Killer Angels was a great book and was the basis of the movie Gettysburg.

[pwalker8]

and I just saw that "The Landscape turned Red" (i.e. the battle of Antietam) by Stephen Sears will be coming out for the kindle the first week of Feb. I've already pre-ordered it. I would argue that this is Sears' best work.

[BenG]

It's been 20 or 25 years since I read them. Both are excellent. I remember McPherson having a lot more analysis on the roots, causes, and consequences of the war and Foote's books being more of a straight forward narrative of what happened. Foote is an excellent writer.

[Pulpmeister]

And of course, for non-fiction, Shelby Foote's superb The Civil War: A Narrative. Huge-- but marvellous. Three fat volumes, in book form, and three fat volumes in digital form too.

[bfisher]

Currently reading James McPherson's new book "Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief", where he describes the difficulties Davis faced as President of the CSA. Well written, but it seems a bit short for the price http://www.amazon.com/Embattled-Rebe.../dp/1594204977. Fortunately, I was able to get it from the library .

[AlexBell]

At a much more basic level there is Chickamauga by Ambrose Pierce in the MR library.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by bfisher

Currently reading James McPherson's new book "Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief", where he describes the difficulties Davis faced as President of the CSA..

Talking of Jefferson Davis, I can recommend Bloody Crimes, by James Swanson. It's a "dual strand" narrative, in which the author describes the flight of Davis after the fall of Richmond, intertwined with an account of Lincoln's funeral train which took his body back to Illinois.

It's not as exciting as Swanson's Manhunt, which is about the assassination itself and the hunt for the conspirators, but it's still a good read. I doubt that, even in the USA, many people know Jefferson Davis' story, or what happened to him after the war was over.

Mike

[jefer]

The Ebook is very interesting. If possible, I want mini review.