The Bookshelf

The digital home of book reviews and author interviews—and your source of the most up-to-date information on all things Civil War literature

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

HARMAN: All Roads Led to Gettysburg (2022)

By: Codie Eash Category: Book Reviews

Troy D. Harman returns with another contemplative treatment of the summer of 1863 in "All Roads Led to Gettysburg."

Published 5/17/2023

HOOPER: Delivered Under Fire (2023)

By: Tim Talbott Category: Book Reviews

Candice Shy Hooper’s "Delivered Under Fire" gives students of the conflict a greater appreciation for one of its more fascinating individuals.

Published 5/9/2023

CIMPRICH: Navigating Liberty (2022)

By: Cecily N. Zander Category: Book Reviews

John Cimprich's "Navigating Liberty" gives thorough attention to the most important subjects in the literature on the transition from slavery to freedom.

Published 5/3/2023

PRIDE: Storm Over Key West (2020)

By: Kevin McPartland Category: Book Reviews

Mike Pride's "Storm Over Key West" interrogates the social, political, and racial dynamics of the island from the 1840s into the early phases of Reconstruction.

Published 4/25/2023

MAXFIELD: Man of Fire (2023)

By: Brian Matthew Jordan Category: Book Reviews

Neither blind to the general's foibles nor taken by the Lost Cause caricatures, Derek D. Maxfield's "Man of Fire" renders a human portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman.

Published 4/19/2023

HAUMESSER: The Democratic Collapse (2022)

By: J. Matthew Ward Category: Book Reviews

In "The Democratic Collapse," Lauren N. Haumesser contends that gender was a fountainhead of political contention in the antebellum United States.

Published 4/12/2023

MacKENZIE: The Fifth Border State (2023)

By: Jonathan A. Noyalas Category: Book Reviews

MacKenzie's thoughtfully researched and lucidly argued "The Fifth Border State" offers a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding West Virginia's formation.

Published 4/5/2023

SMITH: Young America (2022)

By: Benjamin E. Park Category: Book Reviews

Mark Power Smith's "Young America" challenges our framework for understanding the two decades immediately preceding the Civil War.