Resources

In honor of its 50th Anniversary, in 2011,  the Louisville Civil War Round Table selected what it considers the 50 Essential Books on the Civil War. These works are not necessarily the best books on the era, but rather are the basic resources necessary for anyone to understand the period 1861-1865. The list is divided by categories and touches as much of the war as possible; no effort was made to rank the books within each category, or to decide the relative merits of each type of book. All of these titles are available today. Taken as a whole, they represent the Civil War and its myriad facets.

50 Civil War Books to Read

  • Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas by John Hennesey

    The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam by James Murfin

    The Campaign of Chancellorsville by John Bigelow

    The Campaign of Gettysburg by Edward Coddington

    The Vicksburg Campaign 3 Vols by Ed Bearss

    This Terrible Sound: Chickamauga by Peter CozzensWilderness/Spotsylvania by Gordon Rhea

    Shiloh: Bloody April by Wiley Sword

    Stonewall in the Valley by Robert Tanner

    Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 by Albert Castel

  • R E Lee 4 Vols by Douglas S. Freeman

    The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans by William Lamers

    John Breckinridge by William C. Davis

    The Young Napoleon by Stephen Sears

    Rock of Chickamauga: The Life of General George H. Thomas by Freeman Cleaves

    Lincoln by David Donald

    Lee the Soldier edited by Gary Gallagher

    Jefferson Davis by William Cooper

    Lincoln and His Generals by T. Harry Williams

    Stonewall Jackson by James I. Robertson

  • Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

    The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

    Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

    Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

  • Photographic History of the Civil War in Ten Volumes by Francis Miller

    Battles & Leaders Century Magazine

    The American Heritage History of the Civil War (Old Version Bruce Catton)

    Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson

    The Civil War 3 vols by Shelby Foote

    Virginia at War 4 vols edited by William C. Davis and James I. Robertson

  • Lee's Lieutenants by Douglas S. Freeman

    Mother May You Never See the Sights I have Seen: The 57th Massachusetts by Warren Wilkinson

    The Union Cavalry in the Civil War by Stephen Starr

    Two Great Rebel Armies by Richard McMurry

    The Army of the Potomac 3 Vols by Bruce Catton

    The Orphan Brigade by William C. Davis

    Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee by Stephen Woodworth

    Army of the Heartland and Autumn of Their Glory by Thomas Connelly

    The Stonewall Brigade by Bud Robertson

    Education in Violence: The Army of the Cumberland by Francis McKinney

  • Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant

    Memoirs of William T. Sherman by William T. Sherman

    The Civil War Papers of George

    McClellan by Stephen Sears

    A Confederate War Clerk's Diary by John B. Jones

    Fighting for the Confederacy by E.P. Alexander

    Memoirs of a Dutch Mudsill: The War Memories of John Henry Otto 21st Wisconsin by John Henry Otto

    Company Aytch by Sam Watkins
    A Diary From Dixie by Mary Boykin Chestnut

    Memoir of Service Afloat During the War Between the States by Raphael Semmes

    The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia in the Civil War by Charles Babcock Jones edited by Robert Meyer