A People's History of the Civil War:
354122
Fantastic book. Well researched and very educational. Should be required reading for every citizen.
889884
Loved how both sides of the civil war are presented. I have lived 25 years in the deep south and 26 years in the midwest. Both places taught the history of the civil  war totally different. Nice to see positive and negative presented equally.
2809373
This is a most interesting and well researched book.  It reminds me of the kind of military history that permeates the civil war battles.  For an audience back home during the War none of this detail was available.  This  history makes it make sense from both the Japanese and American views.  Well done.
3020098
O'Reilly tells what is was like for the country and the people at the time of the Civil War.  Telling why some people did the stupid things that they did.  But not excusing them for doing it.
1902496
The book is well written, and very readable.  I'm sure that a Civil War history written 30 years after the events has some errors, and that Longstreet would agree with Churchill that "history will treat me well, because I intend to write the history".  Longstreet's reputation, at least among southerners, took a major hit several years after the war because he dared to criticize Lee and told fellow southerners "we lost, get over it", and was somewhat rehabilitated due to "The Killer Angels/Gettysburg".  A "must read" for Civil War buffs.
3052104
As many others have commented, this is a great one volume history of the Civil war and is easy to read.
The long build up to the firing on Fort Sumter also sets the political context well though I agree with some other reviewers that the narrative is a little thin on the battle sequences. But for a detailed account of the military campaigns to have been included you'd have needed alot more than the 862 pages of this book. So my verdict is that it's as good as it gets for a work of this size.
There's definitely a Northern bias so I'll be reading Shelby Foote's 3 volumes to get a more Southern perspective.
As MacPherson so aptly ends his work the point about the Civil War was that in many ways the secession consisted of a counter-Revolution. Southern Society in fact represented the old, pre-industrial world, mirrored in many parts of Europe at the time, while it was in the North that the real revolution had occurred. My one criticism therefore is that I would have liked to see this theme developed a little more. Was slavery really the central issue which MacPherson makes it or was the war more a clash of competing social visions, with the Southern States' vision more closely resembling that of the Founding Fathers?
With the power of Federal Government increasing daily over our lives this question has more relevance today than it has had in decades.
A great read.
527272
Good read and very well written,  Captures the struggles between families in the war against themselves and describes the feelings of north vs south in very human terms.  Would recommend this to any interested in the Civil War.  Maps of the battle areas would have aided in the descriptions, but their lack does not reduce my giving the book 5 stars.
3909503
With Abraham Lincolns signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the War Department permitted black regiments to be raised and fight for the Union in the Civil War. Though many Northern Democrats complained about black soldiers, the administration went forward with close to 200,00 soldiers and sailors joining the effort to defeat the South in this conflict. Many dreaded the prospect that the wars aim was changing from preserving the union to one also of ending slavery. Douglas Egerton in Thunder At The Gates argues that many in the North and the South believed that colored troops could not be controlled by white officers and would not make good fighting men.  In the end, this excellent historian showed this point of view was incorrect and groups of men like the Massachusetts 54th were courageous and changed American society forever.

This book tells the story of three interconnected regiments; The Fifty-fourth, and the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry and the Massachusetts Fifth black cavalry, by following the lives and careers of a small number of soldiers. Their story started before Ft. Sumter, continued into the battles of Reconstruction and continues today. This writer shows how individuals tried to change this struggle into as Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address as a new birth of freedom. Additionally, the soldiers chronicled in this title declared that their purpose in enlisting was to show that their race was entitled to state and federal citizenship. Also, they sought to liberate their loved ones that they had left behind in the South and unite their families.

Richly narrated and drawn from an array of firsthand accounts, the author sheds new light on the complexities and significance of The Black Civil War Regiments that Redeemed America, both on and off the battlefield. This work published by Basic book of New York details the difficult events that followed the initial enlistment of black soldiers, what colored troops went through to be able to fight leading to the liberation of slaves, and the occupation of the South after Lees surrender. Egerton provide a clearer picture of the postwar United States and its attempts to be one nation again. Additionally, he does a first rate job of describing what changed for the veterans back home as well as the legacy of the regiments throughout American history to 2015.
1738124
It gives an interesting account of a soldiers life during the Civil War.  Well worth reading by any Civil War Buff.
2628346
This is a dense book written for Civil War buffs -- and I mean that as a compliment.  I know my history, but am not "as into" the Civil War as some of my peers.  I found that this book was interesting, but somewhat difficult to get through because I did not know the back story.  You do no NEED to know the back story -- the book is complete -- but I found that I wish I knew more before I read it.  A great gift for someone that enjoys Civil War reading.
4028987
A very good book if you are interested in how the regular soldier lived and functioned during the Civil War.
3974156
I am a student of the Civil War---this is a good addition to my library--takes you to the battlefield and the horror of war at that time--
1286461
In this book, Ash analyzes the Southern experience in areas invaded by Union troops during the Civil War.  Whereas most other studies on this subject deal with a specific town or locality, Ash's book presents an inclusive synthesis that examines the commonalities of the occupation throughout the South.  Three main themes direct his study of occupation.  One examines how Northern policies regarding the South during occupation developed over the course of the war.  Another theme appraises how three different geographical segments of the South experienced occupation (garrison towns, the Confederate frontier, and no-man's land).  Finally, Ash looks at how occupation by Federal forces led to internal conflicts between Southerners of varied political, social, and economic groups.

 In Ash's study, three important hallmarks of the South were its social hierarchy, its rural communalism, and its race relations.  These elements worked in combination to create a unique society that Northern invaders perceived as both backward and foreign.  Because of the cultural disparities between the North and the South, the arrival of Union occupying troops was a greatly feared occurrence by Southerners.  However, initial Southern interactions with Union troops proved to be less volatile than was originally thought.  Despite Northern attempts to remain equitable and lenient within occupied areas, Southern recalcitrance persisted.  The continuation of these rebellious attitudes forced Union troops to adopt a harsher policy in their administration of the occupied South, leading to further antagonism between the Union military and Southerners.  The "hard policy" of Union occupation also increased existing internal conflicts in the South, such as those between slaves and their masters, Unionists and their secessionist neighbors, and poor whites and the propertied elites.  Thus, with the Union control of the South and the disruption caused by this occupation, the established elements of Southern culture (social hierarchy, rural communalism, race relations) could no longer provide a completely cohesive society.
1200179
Jeff Richards has written a novel of the Civil War that is actually a collection of interlinked short stories.  The stories are about families and friends torn apart by the Civil War.  Richards has an ear for the voices of his characters and an eye for the human condition.  He tells the stories of men and women on both sides of the fighting and shows us all the humanity of these people who are doomed to suffer the inhumanity of that war.  Excellent reading.
1685448
This book was a good book for info on civil war but is better for an older audience. I learned a lot from it.
490547
The writer does a good job recreating the terrain and troop movements in the Civil War. Most importantly, he allows the reader to understand the personalities of the Civil War generals.
1362715
David Hackett Fischer's book provides the history of the people.  The events leading to the armed resistance against British forces, the American Riflemen who answered the call to arms, and the aftermath of that fateful day in history are recounted in interesting detail.  It is the story of the collective effort of individuals in defense of the principles of free men against a government imposing tyrany upon them.