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The West Point Atlas for the American Civil War, just for the maps.
https://www.amazon.com/Point-Atlas-American-Military-History/dp/0757001572
These West Point atlases are great accompaniments to other military histories. For instance, I once read one of David Chandler’s histories of the Napoleonic Wars side by side with the West Point Atlas, it really helps understand the narrative when you have great maps of the goings-on.
Too wide a request. Are you interested in a specific battle? A certain leader? A particular battle?
Any book by Bruce Catton...
Historian mrs jimfree recommends Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson.
"Fighting for the confederacy" by Edward Porter Alexander. Alexander was the preeminent artillary general for the south and fought in pretty much every major battle the ANV fought. It is a very easy read and not only analyzes the battles but gives lots of day to day stories about what it was like to be an officer in the civil war. His chapter on Gettysburg is the best overview and analysis of that battle I've read.
"Campaigning with Grant" by Horace Porter. Porter was a staff officer for Grant during his overland campaign and this book is a day to day diary of his experiences during that final year long campaign of the war. It is awesome and very similar in tone to the Alexander book. Easy to read and hard to put down. It is the best, and most intimate, portrait of Grant as a General ever written.
“Gettysburg: A Testing Of Courage” by Noah Andre Trudeau might be the best book you can find on the battle.
Highly recommended.
Jefferson Davis’ “Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government” is .99 on Kindle. Foote’s trilogy is superb. You cab get Clement Valandingham’s writings for free on Kindle. The guy was an honest genius. His speeches are 19th century syntax so there are lots of long sentences, but worth the work. It was clear why Lincoln hated him and had him exiled. “The Journal of Julia Legrande” is on Kindle. It covers the Union occupation of New Orleans. “The Diary of Mary Chestnut” is good, too.
We’re at post 170 or so and I thought I would consolidate the titles so far. These are as the poster put them - I haven’t verified any of the titles - but it should give you a good start. Looks like I’m going to be hitting the 99 cant book shelf at amazon!
The list so far:
“A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States” by Alexander H. Stephens
“Southern Wealth and Northern Profits” by Thomas Prentice Kettell
“Stonewall Jackson,” by James Robertson
“Andersonville” by Kantor
“Killer Angels” by Michael Shaara
“The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War” by H. W. Crocker III
“Shrouds of Glory” by Winston Groom
‘A Disease in the Public Mind’ by Thomas Fleming
“The Civil War: A Narrative’ (trilogy) by Shelby Foote
“Army of the Potomac” (trilogy) by Bruce Catton
“Battle Cry of Freedom” by McPherson
“The Civil War” by Geoffrey C. Ward
“I Rode With Stonewall”
“Lee’s Lieutenants” by Freeman
“Ironclads”
“Lincoln” by Carl Sandburg
“The Class of 1846: From West Point to Appomattox- Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan and Their Brothers”
“One man war” by Jack Hinson
“The Last Full Measure” by Jeffrey Shaara
“Silence at Appomatox”
“The American Republic: Constitution, Tendencies and Destiny” by Orestes Brownson
“The South Was Right!” by James Ronald Kennedy
“Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” by Ulysses S. Grant
“Cannibals All!, or Slaves Without Masters” by George Fitzhugh
“A Memoir of the Civil War” by Sam R. Watkins
“The Growth of the American Republic [Volumes I & II]” by Samuel Eliot Morison
“The Real Lincoln” by Thomas DiLorenzo
“One Gallant Rush”
“Uncle Toms Cabin”
“West Point Atlas for the American Civil War” by Thomas E. Griess
“The Life of Billy Yank and The life of Johnny Reb” by Bell I. Wiley
“Grant Biography” by H.W. Brands
“Ulysses Grant” by Ronald White
“Ordeal of the Union” (8 volumes) by Allen Nevins
“Morgan’s Raiders” By Dee Alexander Brown
“Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men.” by Jeff Hummel
“Hardtack and Coffee” by John Billings
“All For The Union” by Elisha Hunt Rhodes
“Pickett’s Last Charge” by Earl Hess
“Grant Takes Command: 1863 - 1865” by Bruce Catton
“Guns Of the South” by Harry Turtledove
“Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War’ by General Richard Taylor
“Gods and Generals”, and “Last Full Measure” by Jeff Shaara
“William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country: A Life” by James Lee McDonough
“Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson” by S.C Gwynne
“Lee’s Lieutenants” by Freeman
“Fighting for the confederacy” by Edward Porter Alexander
“Campaigning with Grant” by Horace Porter
“Gettysburg: A Testing Of Courage” by Noah Andre Trudeau
“Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government” by Jefferson Davis
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War (The Politically Incorrect Guides)
Best book for politics of the time. Even if you don't buy it, at least read the reviews at Amazon.
ML/NJ
Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander
Read Lincoln’s inaugural address.
I might just want to recommend some excellent pieces of writing by the foremost expert on the subject. His name was Abraham Lincoln and some of his writings include his “House Divided” speech, his First Innaugural Address, The Gettysburg Address and his Second Innaugural Address.
Killer Angels.
I recommend ... that you don’t read FR threads on it LOL!
They are the worst.
"The fascinating story of Joshua Chamberlain and his volunteer regiment, the Twentieth Maine, is reprinted with a new foreword by Civil War historian and UCLA professor Joan Waugh. Pullen's classic and highly acclaimed book tells how Chamberlain and his men fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville on their way to the pivotal battle of Gettysburg. There, on July 2, 1863, at Little Round Top, they heroically saved the left flank of the Union battle line. The Twentieth Maine's remarkable story ends with the surrender of Lee's troops at Appomattox. Considered by Civil War historians to be one of the best regimental histories ever written, this beloved standard of American history is now available in a new Stackpole edition. Includes maps, photographs, and drawings from the original edition."
Delighted that you will be studying the war! The extensive reading list here is too much for you I fear. I have read almost all of the recommended books (not Divens for example) and a coupla hundred more besides! My dad just recently gave me a copy of the first civil war book I ever read as a 10 year old kid at the county library, “Mr. Lincoln’s Army” by Bruce Catton (pronounced Kay-ton).
The most satisfying book on the war that I ever read was called, “Why the South Lost the Civil War” by Beringer, Hataway and other members of the University of Georgia history faculty.
You keep seeing “Killer Angels” on this list but you should know that it is entirely based on General Longstreet’s theory of the battle of Gettysburg. Longstreet felt the sting of blame for the defeat after the war and wrote a defense of his actions there. His book made the sainted General Lee look bad and Longstreet, I think, regretted it. The disgusting numbskull, Martin Sheen, portrayed Lee as a deranged, religious kook in the movie, “Gettysburg”.
Some people get into this from those Ted Turner movies, and then read the Shaara works on which those movies were based. Those people give tooo much importance to Lawrence and the 20th Maine.
Some get into it from the Ken Burns PBS Documentary, and then read the trilogy by Shelby Foote, the delightful historian who starred in that series as Catton had done for an earlier documentary.
I got into it by seeing the 1967 widescreen release of “Gone With the Wind” and then reading all the books in the library civil war section, especially Bruce Catton’s trilogy on the “Army of the Potomac.”
Catton wrote one called “The Blue and the Gray” which was made into an excellent miniseries! You gotta see that. It was said at the time to be non-fiction and all the people in the series “lived and saw as they are portrayed in it”. The dialogue is fanciful of course. Stars Lloyd Bridges, Stacy Keach, and Gregory Peck (as Lincoln). 1982 CBS. Get the full 6 hour version on Amazon. Beware there is a cut version.
You must go see the Museum of the Civil War Soldier at Pamplin Park near Petersburg Virginia. Best museum ever.
Anything by Bruce Canton.