Richard Blumberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books

Originally published November 2020 · p. 23

Richard Blumberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. Attack and Die: Civil War Tactics and the Southern Heritage by Grady McWhinney and Perry Jamieson. University of Alabama Press. 1982. An excellent analysis of how Southern culture and heritage dictated the strategy and application of warfare in the Confederacy. 2. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust. Random House, Inc. Borzoi Books. 2008. This work provides the most comprehensive study of the physical, emotional, and psychological aspects of death and its impacts on family and society. 3. Partners in Command: Relationships Between Leaders by Joseph T. Glatthaar. Free Press. 1998. This book provides an indepth study of why certain command relationships on both sides worked and others did not. 4. Embattled Courage: Experience of Combat in the Civil War by Gerald Linderman, Simon and Schuster. 2008. The focus of this work is on the motivations that sparked individuals to become soldiers. Most of them were driven to be courageous by family, friends, and sweethearts. 5. Railroads of the Confederacy by Robert C. Black. UNC Press. 1952. The most comprehensive study available on one of my favorite hobbies. 6. A Government of Our Own: The Making of the Confederacy by William C. Davis. 1994. One of his many excellent tomes, this work describes the founding fathers of the Confederacy and their struggles creating a constitution and effective government, along with electing a president. 7. Bedford Forrest and His Critter Company by Andrew N. Lytle. Rowan and Littlefield. 1992. This is among the best studies of cavalry leader Nathan B. Forrest. 8. My Brother’s Keeper: Union and Confederate Acts of Mercy During the Civil War by Daniel J. Rolph. Stackpole Books. 2002. This work provides short vignettes describing acts of kindness by soldiers of both sides and shows an uplifting side of the combat experience. 9. The Women of City Point Virginia 1864–1865: Stories of Life and Work in the Union Occupied Headquarters by Jeanne M. Christie. MacFarland and Company 2020. An excellent study of civilian life in one of the world’s biggest port cities during the late War. 10. Ploughshares into Swords: Josiah Gorgas and Confederate Ordnance by Frank E. Vandiver. Texas A&M University Press. 1994. A genius at military administration, Gorgas was the shining star of Confederate logisticians. Richard Blumberg is a retired Army Reserve Colonel, who received his MA in Military History (Civil War Studies) from American Military University. He is Past President of the Houston, Texas Civil War Roundtable. He has contributed two articles to CWN and has served on its Book Review staff since 2003. He served as a presenter to the 2000 Conference on Women in the Civil War and is scheduled to teach a community college online class in Civil War Logistics in October 2020.