History American Civil War
History American Civil War
History American Civil War
These nonfiction books are all about the American Civil War, the historical
figures involved, analyses on the cultural and political climate of the time, and
the aftermath of the war. To order any of these titles, contact the library by
email, phone, mail, in person, or order through our online catalog. Most titles
can be downloaded from BARD.
How the South Could Have Won the Civil War the Fatal Errors that Led to
Confederate Defeat by Bevin Alexander
Read by Bill Wallace
13 hours, 28 minutes
Military historian posits that the South would have been victorious had
Confederate president Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee followed
General Stonewall Jackson's advice and attacked factories, railroads, and farms
in the North rather than engaging in frontal assaults. Details crucial battles that
support this theory. 2007.
Download from BARD: How the South Could Have Won the Civil War…
Also available on digital cartridge DB066971
America's War Talking about the Civil War and Emancipation on their
150th Anniversaries by Edward L. Ayers
Read by Various Narrators
10 hours, 47 minutes
Anthology of readings about the Civil War and its aftermath, copublished by the
American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Offers both historical documents and contemporary perspectives, including an
1862 journal by Louisa May Alcott and a 2008 analysis of the conflict's legacy
by historian Drew Gilpin Faust. 2012.
Download from BARD: America’s War Talking about the Civil War…
Also available on digital cartridge DB074156
“Freedom to All": New Jersey’s African-American Civil War Soldiers by
Joseph G. Bilby
Read by Marc Bianchi.
4 hours, 11 minutes
In 1857, the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision said African-Americans had
no rights. During the Civil War, New Jersey’s vocal Copperhead minority
agitated to have blacks forced from the state. Despite an atmosphere that
treated them at best as second-class citizens, New Jersey’s African-American
community embraced the Union cause as their own seeing it as their ’war of
liberation.’ Mr. Bilby has shined a much-needed light on the brave Jerseymen
for whom the battle cry ’Liberty and Union’ had special significance. Some
violence and some strong language. For high school and adult readers.
Download from BARD: Freedom to All": New Jersey’s African-American…
Also available on digital cartridge DBC001863
Stealing the General the Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of
Honor by Russell S. Bonds
Read by Jake Williams
20 hours, 21 minutes
Recalls the April 1862 raid by Union soldiers in Georgia to steal a locomotive
called the General from the Confederates to damage their supply line. Spy
James J. Andrews and nineteen volunteers captured the steam engine only to
be chased by conductor William A. Fuller by foot, handcar, and train. 2007.
Download from BARD: Stealing the General the Great Locomotive…
Also available on digital cartridge DB066030
War Like the Thunderbolt: the Battle and Burning of Atlanta by Russell S.
Bonds
Read by Richard Moultrie Jr
16 hours
In War Like The Thunderbolt: The Battle and Burning of Atlanta author Russell
S. Bonds presents the epic story of what a union observer called the greatest
event of the civil war; the struggle for the city of Atlanta and the terrible fate that
befell the town and it’s citizens. Strong language and violence.
Download from BARD: War Like the Thunderbolt: the Battle and…
Also available on digital cartridge DBC005363
Shiloh 1862 the First Great and Terrible Battle of the Civil War by Winston
Groom
Read by Eric G. Dove
10 hours, 51 minutes
Describes the Battle of Shiloh, fought in the Tennessee wilderness April 6-7,
1862. Details the tactics of the two armies--the Confederates led by Albert
Sidney Johnson and the surprised Union defenders under Ulysses S. Grant.
Explores the what-ifs that might have changed the outcome. Violence.
Commercial audiobook. 2012.
Download from BARD: Shiloh 1862 the First Great and Terrible Battle…
Also available on digital cartridge DB074383
The Man Who Would Not be Washington: Robert E. Lee’s Civil War and
His Decision that Changed American History by Jonathan Horn
Read by David Drummond
9 hours, 32 minutes
A former White House speechwriter examines the life and legacy of Robert E.
Lee, contrasting his strong ties to George Washington and his decision to turn
against the first president s union. Discusses Lee’s married life, military glory,
and misfortune. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2015.
Download from BARD: The Man Who Would Not be Washington…
Also available on digital cartridge DB095030
Searching for Black Confederates: the Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth by
Kevin M. Levin
Read by Kerry Dukin
10 hours, 47 minutes
Historian explores the myths and truths of what roles African Americans filled on
either side of the US Civil War in the nineteenth century. 2019.
Download from BARD: Searching for Black Confederates: the Civil…
Also available on digital cartridge DB097192
Women of the Blue & Gray: True Civil War Stories of Mothers, Medics,
Soldiers, and Spies by Marianne Monson
Read by Caroline Shaffer
7 hours, 5 minutes
Examines experiences of women living in the United States during the 1860s.
Discusses individuals from a variety of backgrounds and ethnicities, including
those who supported spouses and sons, tended the wounded on the battlefield,
aided slaves in escaping, worked as spies, or even donned uniforms disguised
as men. Violence and some descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Download from BARD: Women of the Blue & Gray: True Civil War…
Also available on digital cartridge DB092741
The Civil War: the First Year Told By Those Who Lived It by Brooks D.
Simpson, Stephen W. Sears, Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Read by Kristin Allison
32 hours, 15 minutes
More than one hundred twenty pieces drawn from letters, diaries, speeches,
articles, poems, songs, military reports, legal opinions, and memoirs that create
a firsthand narrative of the first year of the Civil War. 2011.
Download from BARD: The Civil War: the First Year Told By Those…
Also available on digital cartridge
Download from BARD as Electronic Braille
Also available in braille
The Long Road to Antietam How the Civil War Became a Revolution by
Richard Slotkin
Read by Jake Williams
20 hours, 43 minutes
Historian analyzes the political and military conspiracies that occurred during
the months preceding the September 1862 Maryland battle. Details the
conflicting strategies of president Abraham Lincoln and Union general George
McClellan. Includes day-by-day fighting accounts and chronicles the events that
led to the Emancipation Proclamation. 2012.
Download from BARD: The Long Road to Antietam How the Civil War…
Also available on digital cartridge DB075422
Upon the Altar of the Nation: a Moral History of the American Civil War by
Harry S. Stout
Read by Jake Williams
22 hours, 51 minutes
Using primary sources, Yale religious history professor documents the belief
held by both the North and the South that God was on their side during the Civil
War. Analyzes the moral rhetoric behind the battles. Asserts that patriotic
ideology created a bloodbath that set the tone for future conflicts. 2006.
Download from BARD: Upon the Altar of the Nation: a Moral History…
Also available on digital cartridge DB063597
The War the Women Lived: Female Voices from the Confederate South by
Walter Sullivan
Read by Joyce Honaker
11 hours, 56 minutes
Engrossing diary excerpts written by 23 white Southern women during the Civil
War document the hardships they and their families endured, the suffering they
witnessed and the risks many of them took. For high school and adult readers.
Download from BARD: The War the Women Lived: Female Voices from…
Also available on digital cartridge DBC008429
The Slaves' War the Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves by Andrew
Ward
Read by Erin Jones
15 hours, 26 minutes
Author selects former slaves' interviews taken during the 1920s and 1930s, as
well as letters, memoirs, and diaries, to illustrate the thoughts and experiences
of freed blacks about the Civil War. Includes reactions to the Union army's
invasion of the South. Some violence and some strong language. 2008.
Download from BARD: The Slaves’ War the Civil War in the Words of…
Also available on digital cartridge DB073293