100 Must-Read Civil War Books About The Historic Era
The Civil War era, one of the ugliest periods in American history, has produced some of the most fascinating and heartbreaking books, both novels and historical accounts. From meticulously reconstructed battle scenes and the politics of war, to journals from slaves and all the horrors of slavery, thousands of Civil War books about America’s war at home and life during that time are written every year. (There are hundreds every year on Abraham Lincoln alone.)
Here are 100 of the best Civil War books every written–both fiction and nonfiction. They cover several aspects of the time period, including a few that cover events leading up to the war, and a few, like Beloved, about people’s lives after it.
- Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
- Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott
- They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War by DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook
- Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory by David W. Blight
- The Underground Railroad by Charles L. Blockson
- March by Geraldine Brooks*
- Kindred by Octavia Butler
- Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy: A Civil War Odyssey by Peter Carlson*
- A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton
- This Hallowed Ground: A History of the Civil War by Bruce Catton
- Mary Chesnut’s Diary by Mary Boykin Chesnut
What are your favorite Civil War books? Leave your favorites in the comments! Want more books about U.S. history? We’ve got another 100 of them here.
*fiction