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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
