Noah F. Crawford’s Top Ten Civil War Books

Originally published November 2020 · pp. 12–13

Noah F. Crawford’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War by James M. McPherson. Oxford University Press, 1997. One of the Civil War’s great historians takes on the audacious task of succinctly articulating what drove men to enlist and fight in the nation’s deadliest conflict. McPherson relies on a massive sampling of soldiers’ letters and diaries, analyzing and categorizing each with a scientific precision. In so doing, McPherson illustrates the deep ideological convictions of the soldiers and their disparate understandings of the causes for which they fought. That McPherson is able to do all of this in a single concise volume is a testament to the historian’s legendary capability to articulate the nuances of history while identifying comprehensible themes. 2. The Golden Book of the Civil War by Charles Flato. American Heritage Publishing Company, 1960. It is rare that a book engages readers as well in 2020 as in 1960. The Golden Book of the Civil War’s use of colorful maps, vibrant images, and a clear, readable prose makes it a truly timeless work. Although intended for “young readers,” the Golden Book has been the “bug” that sparked and kindled the interests of generations of Civil War buffs, and is just as enjoyable to pick off the bookshelf at fifty years on as it was in 1960. Doubtless, this simple, nostalgic pleasure will continue to spark an interest in the Civil War for young people for decades to come. 3. Mr. Lincoln’s Army by Bruce Catton. Doubleday, 1951. Catton tells the stories of Union soldiers as only someone who grew up listening to veterans recount their wartime experiences could. A masterful storyteller, Catton’s narrative utilizes a prose that borders on the poetic in this first volume of his Army of the Potomac trilogy. The average history buff is unlikely to learn anything new from these books, since many of Catton’s side-stories are now well-known anecdotes in Civil War scholarship. But even the most seasoned scholar will get lost in this page-turning and engaging series. Still need convincing to read the trilogy? The final installment, A Stillness at Appomattox, won both the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 1954. 4. The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 – July 13, 1863 by Bradley M. Gottfried. Savas Beatie, 2007 (Revised full color edition, 2010). If you want a minute-by-minute summary of the Battle of Gettysburg in a single volume, look no further. Of the dozens of books I have on Gettysburg, this is the one I always bring with me when I visit the battlefield. The maps balance detail with clarity; the accompanying text is straightforward and succinct. Whether you’re walking the battlefield, reclining in an armchair or in need of an adornment for your living room coffee table, Gottfried’s Maps is always an excellent choice. 5. The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War by George B. Davis, Joseph William Kirkley, and Leslie J. Perry. Barnes and Noble, 2003. The one-stop-shop for the cartographically-inclined Civil War buff. As invaluable as a reference book as it is fun to casually browse, the Official Military Atlas contains hundreds of maps, drawings, and illustrations for seemingly any named battle or skirmish during the conflict. The book’s massive physical size is also a great way to show off to your friends; after all, how many people have a 400page, 10-pound book leaning against their bookshelf? 6. April 1865: The Month That Saved America by Jay Winik. HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Winik’s monograph drops readers squarely into the chaos of the Civil War’s final 60 days. The book reads like a Shakespearean script, replete with complex characters, rising action, and intensely-dramatic sequences. Winik’s ability to write about the end of a four-year war while still contextualizing its background and explaining its significance is, itself, a masterful and tremendous accomplishment. When people ask me, “What is one book I need to read on the Civil War?” this is one that I always highly recommend. 7. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson. HarperCollins Publishers, 2007. Among the most gripping, page-turning, nonfiction Civil War books ever written. Everyone knows the plot; President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth, who is killed by pursuers in the rural backwoods of Virginia’s tidewater. Swanson transforms this story into a suspenseful and riveting tale that introduces a host of little-known personalities, the controversial investigator Lafayette Baker, the assassin-killer Boston Corbett, and many others. The writing is sensational without sensationalizing the story itself, and is recommended for anyone with an interest in the intersection of historical study and criminology. 8. Gettysburg by Stephen W. Sears. Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Probably the most comprehensive single-volume work on one of military history’s most famous battles. Sears expertly balances the readable with the objective, presenting the facts of the battle in an engaging, clear prose. It is military history in its truest, and best, form from someone who has long been considered among the best Civil War military historians. Of the thousands of books written about the Battle of Gettysburg, Sears might well have written the very best. 9. 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart. Knopf Doubleday, 2011. No book contextualizes the Civil War into American history better than 1861. Goodheart paints a portrait of 1860 America that covers politics, society, culture, economy, and military matters in a comprehensible and fascinating narrative that expertly explains the secession crisis and the first months of the war. Along with April 1865, Goodheart’s 1861 is the book I recommend the most to people who want to know more about the Civil War. 10. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. McKay, 1974. Yes, I know, the 20th Maine did not get sent to the Union center on July 3rd like they do in Shaara’s novel. Yes, I think Chamberlain embellished his own importance to the Union victory at Gettysburg. If you’re upset about the “historical inaccuracies” of The Killer Angels, you’re missing the point. Shaara was trying to tell a story, not describe an historic event. It is a story of brotherhood and courage that resonates with the school-age reader as much as a combat veteran. It captures the drama of the war without romanticizing battle and is probably the most acclaimed historical fiction of a military event in American literature. As long as books on the Civil War are selling, The Killer Angels should, and will, remain a classic. Noah F. Crawford is a graduate student at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on the experiences of refugees in the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War.