Adams, Virginia M., ed, ON THE ALTAR OF FREEDOM: A BLACK SODIER'S CIVIL WAR LETTERS FROM THE FRONT, (1991) 139 pp. The 48 letters of Corp. James Henry Gooding while serving in the 54th Massachusetts from May 1863 to Feb. 1864.
Aptheker, Herbert, ABOLITIONISM: A REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT, (1989). A good example of the surge or recent historical interest in abolitionism.
Beringer, Richard E., et al, WHY THE SOUTH LOST THE CIVIL WAR (1986) 582 pp. emphasizes the inevitable collapse of the Confederacy due to internal contradictions and loss of will, rather than the battlefield.
Bernstein, Iver, THE NEW YORK CITY DRAFT RIOTS, (1990). An excellent narrative and analytical history
Blakey, Arch, GENERAL JOHN H. WINDER, C.S.A., (1990). Biography of an able but tragic Confederate prison-keeper unlike the infamous Henry Wirz.
Brandt, Nat, THE TOWN THAT STARTED THE CIVIL WAR, (1990). A narrative of the role of Oberlin, Ohio, in the rescue of fugitive slave John Price.
Browning, Robert M., Jr., FROM CAPE CHARLES TO CAPE FEAR: THE NORTH ATLANTIC BLOCKADING SQUADRON DURING THE CIVIL WAR (1993) 453 pp. is one of the recent new studies of navy history, with Stephen Wise's LIFELINE OF THE CONFEDERACY (1988) and William Fowler's UNDER TWO FLAGS (1990).
Buel, Clarence and Robert Johnson, eds., BATTLES AND LEADERS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 4 vols., (1982 reprint ed.). Military history by the participants themselves.
Castel, Albert, DECISION IN THE WEST: THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN OF 1864 (1992) 665 pp. is an excellent campaign history and winner of the Lincoln Prize.
Catton, Bruce, GRANT MOVES SOUTH (1960) and GRANT TAKES COMMAND (1969). The best military biography of U.S. Grant.
Catton, Bruce, THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR, 3 vols., (1961-65). The best narrative military history from the northern viewpoint.
Cornish, Dudley Taylor, THE SABLE ARM: NEGRO TROOPS IN THE UNION ARMY, (1956). The classic study.
Coryell, Janet, NEITHER HEROINE NOR FOOL: ANNA ELLA CARROLL OF MARYLAND, (1990). A good biography of the myth of "Lincoln's secret weapon" and female war strategist.
Cozzens, Peter, THIS TERRIBLE SOUND: THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA (1992) 675 pp. is a good military history of the largest battle in the western theater.
Current, Richard, THOSE TERRIBLE CARPETBAGGERS: A REINTERPRETATION, (1988).
Davis, William C., JEFFERSON DAVIS: THE MAN AND HIS HOUR (1991) 784 pp. is the best biography of a complex man beset with many imperfections.
Duncan, Russell, ed., BLUE-EYED CHILD OF FORTUNE: THE CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF COLONEL ROBERT GOULD SHAW (1992) 421 pp.
Faust, Drew Gilpin, THE CREATION OF CONFEDERATE NATIONALISM, (1989)
Fellman, Michael, INSIDE WAR: THE GUERILLA CONFLICT IN MISSOURI DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, (1989) 331 pp. A good study of the understudied upper South border state region, critical of the guerilla bands such as Quantrill's and of the Yankee anti-guerilla campaign against all "Pukes".
Foner, Eric, RECONSTRUCTION: AMERICA'S UNFINISHED REVOLUTION, (1988). An excellent modern synthesis that starts at 1863 and emphasizes the central role of the freedmen.
Foote, Shelby, THE CIVIL WAR, A NARRATIVE, 3 vols., (1958-74). The best narrative military history from the southern viewpoint, even though by a novelist rather than an historian, in 3000 pages.
Furgurson, Ernest B., CHANCELLORSVILLE 1863: THE SOULS OF THE BRAVE (1992) 405 pp. is the best study of this battle since John Bigelow's 1910 classic.
Gallagher, Gary, ed., Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign, (1991). 5 essays on an ignored campaign.
Genovese, Eugene, FRUITS OF MERCHANT CAPITAL, (1983). The most complete presentation of the thesis that the South was the pre-capitalist "bastard child of merchant capitalism" and was paternalistic toward slavery, as developed earlier in ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL (1974) and restated recently in THE SLAVEHOLDERS' DILEMMA (1992)
Gienapp, William, THE ORIGINS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 1852-1856, (1987). The definitive interpretation of the rise of the Republican Party, emphasizing ethnocultural factors, challenging Foner's 1970 study of free labor ideology, and also reads well as narrative history.
Hallock, Judith L., BRAXTON BRAGG AND CONFEDERATE DEFEAT (1991) 298 pp. argues that Bragg, like most southern commanders, was incompetent.
Hanchett, William, THE LINCOLN MURDER CONSPIRACIES, (1983). Debunks the "junk" history of assasination theories of Otto Eisenshimel and others.
Hennessy, John J., RETURN TO BULL RUN: THE CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF SECOND MANASSAS (1992) 607 pp. is one of the best campaign histories
Hughes, Nathaniel C., Jr., THE BATTLE OF BELMONT: GRANT STRIKES SOUTH (1991) 310 pp. tells the story of one of Grant's early attempts at river war.
Josephy, Alvin M., Jr., THE CIVIL WAR IN THE AMERICAN WEST (1991) 448 pp. emphasizes the importance of this neglected theater of the war, especially the Indian war.
Krick, Robert K., STONEWALL JACKSON AT CEDAR MOUNTAIN (1990) 361 pp. is a good, detailed micro-history of a battle.
Lash, Jeffrey, DESTROYER OF THE IRON HORSE: GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON AND CONFEDERATE RAIL TRANSPORT, (1991). More critical than most historians of Lee's West Point classmate.
Marszalek, John F., SHERMAN: A SOLDIER'S PASSION FOR ORDER (1993) 635 pp. is the best biography of William Tecumseh Sherman.
McFeely, William, FREDERICK DOUGLASS, (1991). Tries to explain the complexity of the whole man, emphasizing the "social geography of the multipositional self".
McMurry, Richard, TWO GREAT REBEL ARMIES: AN ESSAY IN CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, (1989). Challenges Thomas Connelly's critique of Lee.
McPherson, James, BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM, (1988). Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative of 862 pages.
Mulkern, John, THE KNOW-NOTHING PARTY IN MASSACHUSETTS: THE RISE AND FALL OF A PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT, (1990). Emphasizes the real influence and achievements of the short-lived party.
Mushkat, Jerome, FERNANDO WOOD: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY, (1990). A balanced treatment of the prototype corrupt city boss of New York.
Nolan, Alan T., LEE CONSIDERED: GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AND CIVIL WAR HISTORY (1991) 231 pp. is a refinement of Thomas Connelly's critique of Lee.
Oakes, James, SLAVERY AND FREEDOM: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE OLD SOUTH, (1990). Along with Oakes' earlier THE RULING RACE (1982), his books are the most important refutation of the Genovese thesis.
Palladino, Grace, ANOTHER CIVIL WAR: LABOR, CAPITAL, AND THE STATE IN THE ANTHRACITE REGIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA 1840-1868, (1990). A social history emphasizing class consciousness of the miners rather than the war's impact.
Paludan, Philip, A PEOPLE'S CONTEST: THE UNION AT WAR, 1861-1865, (1988). A good modern social history that emphasizes communities and common people rather than the nation and politicians.
Rable, George, CIVIL WARS: WOMEN AND THE RISE OF SOUTHERN NATIONALISM, (1989). Best study of southern women since Bell Wiley and a good example of modern social history.
Reston, James, SHERMAN AND VIETNAM, (1985). An interesting analysis of Sherman using comparative history.
Rose, Willie Lee, REHERSAL FOR RECONSTRUCTION: THE PORT ROYAL EXPERIMENT, (1964). An excellent local study of a key aspect of Reconstruction.
Rosenblatt, Emil and Ruth, eds., HARD MARCHING EVERY DAY: THE CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF PRIVATE WILBUR FISK, 1861-1865, (1992) 383 pp. is a collection from the soldier-correspondent in the 2nd Vermont to his Green Mountain Freeman newspaper.
Royster, Charles, THE DESTRUCTIVE WAR: WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN, STONEWALL JACKSON, AND THE AMERICANS, (1991) 523 pp.
Sears, Stephen W., TO THE GATES OF RICHMOND: THE PENINSULA CAMPAIGN (1992) 468 pp. is his third study of George McClellan.
Shea, William L. and Earl J. Hess, PEA RIDGE: CIVIL WAR CAMPAIGN IN THE WEST (1992) 417 pp. is a good campaign history that praises Samuel Curtis and critiques Earl Van Dorn.
Simpson, Lewis, MIND AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: A MEDITATION ON LOST CAUSES, 1991. Short, prize-winning study by a literary scholar that argues that two nationalisms met defeat in the Civil War: southern and New England.
Stampp, Kenneth, AMERICA IN 1857: A NATION ON THE BRINK, (1990). Restates the postrevisionist thesis of the Irrepressible Conflict and blames the South and the "exotic aberration" of slavery in general, and Buchanan in particular.
Stampp, Kenneth, THE PECULIAR INSTITUTION, (1956). The classic study of slavery that refutes Phillips' "magnolia and moonshine" thesis.
Stuckey, Sterling, SLAVE CULTURE, (1987). The magisterial study of the slaves themselves, demonstrating the survival of Africanism.
Taylor, John, CONFEDERATE RAIDER: RAPHAEL SEMMES OF THE "ALABAMA" (1994) 288 pp.
Thomas, Emory, THE CONFEDERACY AS A REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE, (1971).
Trulock, Alice R., IN THE HANDS OF PROVIDENCE: JOSHUA L. CHAMBERLAIN AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (1992) 569 pp.
Vinovskis, Maris, ed.,TOWARD A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: EXPLORATORY ESSAYS, (1990) 201 pp. 7 essays on the new social history approach.
Werlich, David, ADMIRAL OF THE AMAZON: JOHN RANDOLPH TUCKER, HIS CONFEDERATE COLLEAGUES, AND PERU, (1990). The first modern biography of Tucker emphasizing his activities after the war.
Wiley, Bell, CONFEDERATE WOMEN, (1975). Focuses on Mary Chestnut, Virginia Clay, Varina Davis.
Wills, Brian S., A BATTLE FROM THE START: THE LIFE OF NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST (1992) 457 pp. is the best biography of one of the most controversial southerners.
Wills, Garry, LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG: THE WORDS THAT REMADE AMERICA, (1992) 319 pp. overstates the ÒswindleÓ thesis and neglects Lincoln's consistent conservatism.
Wilson, Clyde, CAROLINA CAVALIER: THE LIFE AND MIND OF JAMES JOHNSTON PETTIGREW, (1990). Well-written biography of a Confederate general at Gettysburg.
Wilson, Dennis K., JUSTICE UNDER PRESSURE: THE SAINT ALBANS RAID AND ITS AFTERMATH (1992) 203 pp. emphasizes the diplomacy surronding the 1864 Confederate raid from Canada into Vermont.