Sears (very interested).

Folks should add their own essential CW readings to this thread. In fact, that's what I'll do one of these days. I'll first have to think about which books really are "essential", though.

From the top of my head -

James L. Huston - Calculating the Wort of the Union

Aaron Astor - Rebels on the Border

Bruce Leviner - Confederate Emancipation

Grady MacWhiney - Attack and Die (heavily disputed, but it's so darn convincing that it's a shame that the main thesis doesn't hold true)

Webb B. Garrison - Women of the Civil War (Gives a good overview; there are fantastic yet not-often read books about women in the Civil War - an under-studied albeit highly interesting topic).

I will edit this post, or post some new suggestions, as soon as I get a quiet minute to take a look at my shelves. It's really hard to remember author and exact title over the years, so these are just the ones that I correctly remember and that I deem "essential".

I'm highly curious about tips that other people might have. Although it's hard to say what's essential. Often enough, the un-essential proves quite essential after some time.

Have not heard that name in years, but recognize it.
Had to refresh my memory, so went to Wiki...

By the way... Grady McWhiney is a pretty awesome name...

I recommend "attack and die" not for its "celtic thesis" (it is in the last chapter and very insignificant to the argumentation in the previous chapters) but because it is a thorough examination of the tactics used and what they meant for the poor souls on the front line. Current historiography laughs at the celtic thesis and criticize McWhiney for overemphasizing the actual effects of the rifled musket on tactics.

I'm currently trying to get a firm grasp on Missouri and the Civil War for a project, I may add some of those titles later.

(Iphone hurts spelling...)

38 Nooses:Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier's End by Scott W. Berg

Not exactly a civil war book but took place during the same time period. It details the broken promises and treaties for the Dakota, the Dakota War itself which took place during the roughest period of the civil war, the pressing concerns at the time, and the aftermath including--the largest mass execution in American history.

I have somewhat of a very, very minor connection to the Dakota War. My GG Grandfather and GGG Grandfather (father and son) were both enlisted in the 4th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. They left mother/wife, a brother/son, and two sisters to run their small farm close to the frontier.
When the uprising came they were away down south. We have two letters mom/wife wrote to them during the uprising, describing the panic among many of the settlers, and also describing their having to temporarily move in close to one of the forts.

I can only imagine how worried the father and son were when they got that news, but we have no record of their response.

McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom was on my reading list in grad school, and was one of the more enjoyable reads. Great coverage for a one volume work.

Faust's This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War I found fascinating because it explained the war's significance to the rise of spiritualism in post-Civil War America.

A few I would add to the list:

Gordon Rhea's trilogy on Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign:
The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864.
The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7-12, 1864 and
Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864. I didn't find the book on Cold Harbor as compelling as the others, but it may simply have been the nature of what he had to try and make sense of in that volume; or, I could simply be dense. My wife casts one vote for "dense."

Gregory A. Coco's A Strange and Blighted Land -- Gettysburg: The Aftermath of a Battle. addreses something not often covered in other studies...what it was like for the civilians, etc., who had to deal with the battlefield both armies left behind.

Noah Andre Trudeau's Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage because of the manner in which he broke the battle down on a timeline.

and

William Freehling's The South Vs. The South: How Anti-Confederate Southerners Shaped the Course of the Civil War which was interesting because it educated me on the fact that "the South" was never a monolith when it came to slavery, or the Civil War.

Man...you start thinking about it, and the lists could go on for days.

Good to see you!

Gregory A. Coco's A Strange and Blighted Land -- Gettysburg: The Aftermath of a Battle.
sounds interesting to me.
I read a lot of social historys.

Give Coco's book a read if you find the time. Most books don't really touch on what the aftermath of these enormously destructive slug-fests were like for the civilian populations that were left to pick up the pieces.

We took a two week road trip through part of the southeast last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Virginia, North and South Carolina, the Savannah corner of Georgia...what beautiful country. It sounds from your profile like you are a Seattle girl who fell in love with Alabama. I've driven through the state twice, but never really spent time there.

Still get as much rain, but usually in one day as opposed to all week!

Some great writers from this area, Rick Bragg tops among them.

Hope you get another chance to visit the SE...truly gorgeous esp. in late spring.

...by Edward Gray Seville

OK, so it's not a real book. It's a fictional work about the Civil War in a Stephen King novella ("The Breathing Method&quot , but I always thought it was a great title. It *should* be a book about the Civil War.