Blogs

Published 8/30/2023

ORR: The Battle of Gettysburg 1863 (2023)

By: Cecily N. Zander Category: Book Reviews

Timothy J. Orr's "The Battle of Gettysburg 1863" is a perfect guide for battlefield visitors....and a handy reference for scholars.

Published 8/25/2023

Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 7

By: Gary W. Gallagher Category: Articles

Three books containing Robert E. Lee’s testimony provide the foundation for any collection on the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee forged the army into a powerful military instrument, molded its culture of command, built an unrivaled bond with its rank-and-file, and, based on operational successes, saw it become the most important national institution in the Confederacy. This essay examines two...

Published 8/23/2023

NUNLEY: The Demands of Justice (2023)

By: Evan C. Rothera Category: Book Reviews

Tamika Nunley's "The Demands of Justice" explores what justice looked like under slavery.

Published 8/16/2023

GOODYEAR: President Garfield (2023)

By: Brian Matthew Jordan Category: Book Reviews

C.W. Goodyear is determined to give James A. Garfield a fresh look.

Published 8/9/2023

GREENIDGE: The Grimkes (2022)

By: John Frederick Bell Category: Book Reviews

Kerri Greenidge's "The Grimkes" is a staggering feat of research and storytelling.

Published 8/2/2023

O'NEILL: Small but Important Riots (2023)

By: Gordon Berg Category: Book Reviews

In "Small but Important Riots," Robert F. O'Neill recounts the roiling cauldron of small unit actions at Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville.

Published 7/26/2023

LOVOLL: Colonel Hans Christian Heg (2023)

By: Niels Eichorn Category: Book Reviews

Odd Lovoll's "Colonel Hans Christian Heg" adds to a well-established literature on immigrants who served in the U.S. Army during the Civil War.

Published 7/25/2023

The Five Best Books on the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley

By: Jonathan A. Noyalas Category: Articles

For the past two decades I have been fortunate to live in the place I research and write about, the Shenandoah Valley. My scholarship over the past 20 years has explored a wide array of topics—including battles and campaigns, memory, postwar activities of Union and Confederate veterans, personalities, and the complexities of life for enslaved people and free blacks during the Civil War era in...

Published 7/19/2023

FOWLER: The Grammar of Civil War (2022)

By: Evan C. Rothera Category: Book Reviews

Anyone interested in civil wars throughout world history should read Will Fowler's "The Grammar of Civil War."

Published 7/11/2023

NEWMARK: Without Concealment, Without Compromise (2023)

By: Holly A. Pinheiro, Jr. Category: Book Reviews

Jill Newmark's book is a must-read and must-cite for those studying the Black military experience in the Civil War era.

Published 7/10/2023

Changing Times—And Names—at U.S. Military Bases

By: Christian B. Keller Category: Commentary

The events of the last several years and the current trends in public attitudes—however they may be construed and from whatever source they may emanate—have created a different world than that which most of us grew up in. Regardless of how we may personally feel about these changes in society, they are not likely to cease and, coupled with astounding advances in technology, will continue to...

Published 7/5/2023

WEEKS: Cherokee Civil Warrior (2023)

By: Jeremy Knoll Category: Book Reviews

W. Dale Weeks' "Cherokee Civil Warrior" should be read by anyone who wishes to better understand the changing relationship between the United States and Native Americans during the Civil War era.

Published 6/30/2023

Extra Voices: Trench Life

By: The Civil War Monitor Category: Articles

In the Voices section of our Summer 2023 issue we highlighted quotes by Union and Confederate soldiers about life amid the trenches. Unfortunately, we didn't have room to include all that we found. Below are those that just missed the cut.

Published 6/28/2023

WEST: Continental Reckoning (2023)

By: John R. Legg Category: Book Reviews

Elliott West’s "Continental Reckoning" vividly shows the importance of looking at the American West when studying the Civil War era.

Published 6/23/2023

The Top Five Civil War Biographies

By: Matthew Christopher Hulbert Category: Articles

It may seem a cliche to preface my Top Five articles with the disclaimer that the subject cannot possibly be done justice by so few recommendations. Then I cheat and add topical or geographical frameworks to make the selections manageable. Biography being perhaps more enormous than any other genre, it is a foregone conclusion that many, many truly outstanding books will be left off such a short...

Published 6/21/2023

ACKEN (ed.): Through Blood and Fire (2023)

By: George C. Rable Category: Book Reviews

"Through Blood and Fire" is an excellent collection of letters, valuable to the researcher as well as the casual reader.

Published 6/14/2023

KRAMER: Civil War Generals of Indiana (2022)

By: Riley Sullivan Category: Book Reviews

Carl Kramer's "Civil War Generals of Indiana" is a useful compendium of some lesser-known lives.

Published 6/7/2023

TOWLE: African Americans, Death, and the New Birth of Freedom (2022)

By: Daniel Kotzin Category: Book Reviews

Ashley Towle's "African Americans, Death, and the New Birth of Freedom" is an essential read.

Published 5/31/2023

MARTIN: From Underground Railroad to Rebel Refuge (2022)

By: Gordon Berg Category: Book Reviews

In "From Underground Railroad to Rebel Refuge," Brian Martin describes Canada's unique role in the U.S. Civil War.

Published 5/24/2023

Elmer Ellsworth's Civil War

By: The Civil War Monitor Category: Photo Essays

On May 24, 1861, 24-year-old Elmer E. Ellsworth—colonel of the 11th New York Infantry—was shot and killed by the pro-secessionist proprietor of the Marshall House, an inn located in Alexandria, Virginia, after the young officer removed a Confederate flag that flew from its roof. Ellsworth, who had risen to fame before the war while touring the country with his military drill team, the Zouave ...