10 Gifts For Your Favorite Civil War Buff

Confrontation at Gettysburg: A Nation Saved, a Cause Lost, by John David Hoptak
Gettysburg remains the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. The turning point of the war in military terms, it represented the furthest Robert E. Lee would ever penetrate northward, and his loss there marked the last time the South had the upper hand. Hoptak’s detailed review of the strategies and tactics on display at this furious battle is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand American history.

Corps Commanders in Blue: Union Major Generals in the Civil War, by Ethan S. Rafuse and Kenneth Noe
The Civil War has a Shakespearean tinge to it, a cast of colorful characters engaged in bloody warfare. You don’t need to be a history expert to find the conflict interesting—or to find the generals who fought for the Union to be some of the most flamboyant, brilliant, and frustrating men to have ever found their way into the history books. This entertaining and page-turning book offers plenty of history and personality to entertain and inform.

McClellan’s War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union, by Ethan S. Rafuse
General George McClellan should have been a legendary hero of the Civil War. Young, handsome, and brilliant, he was named supreme commander of the Union armies at age 35, cutting a dashing figure. His tentative and confused prosecution of the war, however, ended with the disastrous, savage battle of Antietam, and he was removed from his post. The story of George McClellan is an American tragedy in many ways, about a man destined for greatness who somehow missed his appointment with destiny in a life story that reads like a novel.

Robert E. Lee and The Fall of the Confederacy, 1863–1865, by Ethan S. Rafuse
Robert E. Lee is perhaps the most fascinating character of the Civil War after Abraham Lincoln. A brilliant general whose natural sympathies lay with the North, he chose to remain loyal to his home state and lead the Confederacy’s armies. The most talented military man in the country, he was incredibly successful for the first years of the war—and then found himself on a slow but consistent slide into defeat. The tragedy of Lee’s story is as affecting as any novel. Anyone who loves a great story will enjoy Rafuse’s excellent book on one of the most fascinating Americans who ever lived.

Guide to the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, by Charles R. Jr. Bowery and Ethan S. Rafuse
The longest campaign of the Civil War, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was incredibly complex, a swirl of violence and organization as the surging Union and fading Confederacy wrestled in a mighty, war-defining struggle. Anyone even casually interested in the history of war and this chapter of America’s story will thrill at how clearly this complicated chapter of the Civil War is explained and illustrated.

Manassas Battlefields Then & Now: Historic Photography at Bull Run, by Garry E. Adelman
What’s remarkable about The Civil War is that it’s one of the earliest modern wars we can document with photographs. Being able to see the battlefields and geographic features surrounding Bull Run—both as they were during the war and how they are today—grounds history in the modern day, allowing us to really imagine what it would have been like to be there. Even those casually interested in Civil War history will be wowed by this beautiful book.

Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History, by James Hessler and Wayne Motts
A battle isn’t a single, concrete thing. It’s a series of decisions and actions, many taken months before a single shot is fired—and many undertaken in the heat of it. Pickett’s Charge is perhaps the most famous attack in the Civil War, and you don’t have to love history texts to appreciate the heart-pounding story that Hessler and Motts expertly lay out in this thrilling book.

September Suspense: Lincoln’s Union in Peril, by Dennis E. Frye
When the Civil War commenced, many thought it would be quickly resolved. Eighteen months later, Lee invaded the North and reality came crashing home: the war would not end peacefully or quickly. Frye paints a picture of a nation struggling to come to terms with the fact that the unthinkable had not only happened, but wouldn’t end any time soon.

Battle of South Mountain, by John David Hoptak
The Battle of South Mountain is an ideal example of a crucial moment in history overshadowed by larger events—namely the epic battle of Antietam. Robert E. Lee intended his invasion of the North in 1862 to lead to a quick end of the war with a decisive, brutal body blow. And he almost succeeded. Seeing how the war could have had a much different ending offers a thrilling glimpse of an alternate future that could have been.

Stonewall Jackson: A Biography, by Ethan S. Rafuse
Jackson was the second most capable and famous general for the Confederacy after Robert E. Lee. A brilliant soldier, his death after being shot by friendly fire in 1863 is arguably the real turning point of the war, doing damage to Southern morale and leaving Lee with no replacement of equal talent. To understand the war, one has to understand Jackson, and Rafuse’s celebrated biography is a perfect gift for Civil War aficionados and amateur historians alike.