American Civil War Authors

[mmccartylhs14]

My favorite (living) Civil War Historian is Gary Gallagher, from the University of Virginia. Dr. Gallagher has written on a wide variety of topics with regards to the war. His current work is The Union War which is a narrative of the war as seen from those above the Mason Dixon Line. What are your thoughts on Civil War books? Do you have a favorite aspect of the war that you like to read about? It seems that with the saturation of books every year that the chance to do original work is become smaller and smaller.

[DATo]

mmccartylhs14 - If you have not already done so I would STRONGLY advise you to check out Bruce Catton's trilogy: 1) Glory Road, 2) Mr. Lincoln's Army, and 3) A Stillness At Appomattox, a Pulitzer Prize winner. The books should be read in that order. They are usually to be found in a set with one, two and three stars on each book respectively. The stars represent the order to be read.

These books centered on the war in the east between the Army Of Northern Virginia and The Army Of The Potomac.

Catton's writing style is beautiful to read and his scholarship is legendary. He also includes many anecdotes about individual soldiers and many other topics. I feel quite confident that you will really enjoy these books.

[mmccartylhs14]

DATo....I agree with you. I have read all of Catton's books and they are superb. Very narrative in style. I enjoy the collection of articles that he wrote for American Heritage quite well.

-- 05 Feb 2015, 09:59 --

Does anyone find narrative history less exciting and readable than scientific history?

[Amheiser]

My husband is a big civil war buff and his friends recommended that he read some books by the Shaaras. One of the books my husband and I have both read is Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara and the other book is The Killer Angels by his son, Michael Shaara. Both of those books were very well-written and very interesting if you like stories about the civil war. They both have written a number of other books on the civil war also and we'd like to read more of their stories but haven't had a chance to yet.

[mmccartylhs14]

I am getting ready to reread The Civil War: A Narrative. I enjoy narrative history more than scientific as it flows smoother and is much more descriptive. However, if I am research minded, then I will use scientific history.

[Amheiser]

I prefer narrative history over scientific history. Somehow it makes it more understandable for me if I can picture it from a story that describes how people who lived through it saw it. It makes it feel more real than just a bunch of facts and I can relate to it better.

[Ealasaid]

I read the North and South trilogy by John Jakes a few years ago and greatly enjoyed those books. I have also read a few Shaara books and, as Amheiser said, would like to read more.

[pauljparisi]

With Historical Fiction being all the rage lately, Does one need to be an extreme expert in that time period? I know this sounds obvious, in you do not want to have any historical inaccuracies, but just how involved and detailed do these books get with what is going on around the country/world at the time? I mean some basic knowledge on the Civil War and some specific details , times and dates thrown in , could it be a Historical Fiction novel, or is it far more detailed then that.