The American Civil War
Peter J. Parish

The finest single-volume survey of the Civil War, complete with attention to civilian as well as military conflicts in American society. Gorgeously well written by, surprisingly, a British historian.

The Civil War as a Theological Crisis
Mark A. Noll

For all its brevity (216 pages), the best account and interpretation of how Christian ideas shaped, and were shaped by, the Civil War. Not, thankfully, a religious history or a church history, but a theological history.

Battle Tactics of the Civil War
Paddy Griffith

Another British historian, this time a military one, whose utterly fresh-faced look at the tactics, weapons, and combat experience of the Civil War amaze on every page. Your favorite myths about rifled muskets and total war deflate like a shot balloon.

On the Threshold of Freedom: Masters and Slaves in Civil War Georgia
Clarence l. Mohr

Despite the increased outflow of Civil War "social history" over the last 20 years, Mohr's book remains the model for interpreting the home-front experiences of Civil War Southerners, black and white.

Lee's Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox
J. Tracy Power

The most ambitious and innovative history of Civil War soldiers on offer, focusing on the final campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia.

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Related Elsewhere:

Christianity Today and Books & Culture articles on the Civil War include:

Christian History Corner: Reports of the Revival | The Confederate camp became a school of Christ. (November 1, 2004)

Books & Culture's Book of the Week: Divinely Decreed? | Re-fighting the Battle of Gettysburg (June 1, 2003)

Christian History Corner: Peace on Earth? | Christmas Carols and the Civil War. (December 1, 2000)

Christian History Corner: General Revelations | Reconsidering Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. (October 1, 2000)

"Baptism in Blood" | The Civil War and the creation of an American civil religion. (Books & Culture, July/August 2003)

When Thou Goest Out to Battle | The religious world of Civil War soldiers. (Books & Culture, July/August 2003)

How the War Might Have Ended | A conversation with historian Jay Winik. (Books & Culture, July 1, 2003)

Changing the Script | A discovery that altered the course of the war. (Books & Culture, July 1, 2003)

Still Writing the Civil War | Do we know this country too well? (Books & Culture, July 1, 2003)

Abolition's Hidden History | How black argument led to white commitment. (Books & Culture, September 1, 1999)

America's Holy War | The American Civil War was not a war about religion. Its object was not to exterminate a religious infidel, or impose religious uniformity. Yet it was a holy war. (Books & Culture, March 1, 2000)

Also see Christian History & Biography's Issue 33: Christianity and the Civil War.

Other articles on books are available on our site.

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If evangelicals knew history, they would not only be Catholics, but they would realize that the Civil War was a wicked war of aggression waged to crush a democratically elected nation that was only upholding the Revolutionary tradition of Washington, Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers.

Thanks for this list; I like the idea of studying the Civil War from an Evangelical Christian viewpoint as well as that of an American Citizen.

good books on our history

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