The Bookshelf

Stephen Berry's "Count the Dead" is a little book that packs a huge punch.

Holly A. Pinheiro Jr.'s "The Families' Civil War" enhances our understanding of the war's lived consequences in general, and the African American military experience in particular.

Steven Cowie's "When Hell Came to Sharpsburg" offers the most comprehensive accounting to date of all that a Civil War battle did to an individual community.

Harold M. Knudsen's "James Longstreet and the American Civil War" seeks to prove that the general possessed a strategic and tactical prowess exceeding the estimates of his postwar detractors.

"W.G." presents a fascinating character whose life reflects the complex and often troubled nature of nineteenth century America.

Laura F. Edwards' "Only the Clothes on Her Back" is a compelling work of legal history, written with clarity and verve.

Leon F. Litwack's "Been in the Storm" tapped into the grapevine telegraph...and set a higher standard for all subsequent social history of the United States.

Sean Michael Chick's "Dreams of Victory" asks some interesting questions and brings to life the old controversies.

"The Whartons' War" is a voluminous collection covering over three years of the war with no significant gaps.

Daniel J. Burge's "A Failed Vision of Empire" is a well-written, deeply researched, and provocative book.