Finalist for the 2011 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize "A seminal work. . . . One of the best examples of new, sophisticated scholarship on the social history of Civil War soldiers." -The Journal of Southern History "Will undoubtedly, and properly, be read as the latest word on the role of manhood in the internal dynamics of the Union army." -Journal of the Civil War Era During the Civil War, the Union army appeared cohesive enough to withstand four years of grueling war against the Confederates and to claim victory in 1865. But fractiousness bubbled below the surface of the North's presumably united front. Internal fissures were rife within the Union army: class divisions, regional antagonisms, ideological differences, and conflicting personalities all distracted the army from quelling the Southern rebellion. In this highly original contribution to Civil War and gender history, Lorien Foote reveals that these internal battles were fought against the backdrop of manhood. Clashing ideals of manliness produced myriad conflicts, as when educated, refined, and wealthy officers ("gentlemen") found themselves commanding a hard-drinking group of fighters ("roughs")-a dynamic that often resulted in violence and even death. Based on extensive research into heretofore ignored primary sources, The Gentlemen and the Roughs uncovers holes in our understanding of the men who fought the Civil War and the society that produced them.

The Spanish Civil War left a legacy of destruction, resentment and deep ideological divisions in a country that was attempting to recover from economic stagnation and social inequality. After Franco's victory, the repression and purge that ensued immersed Spain in a spiral of fear and silence which continued long after the dictator's death, through 'the pact of oblivion' that was observed during the transition to democracy. Memories of the Spanish Civil War: Conflict and Community in Rural Spain attempts to break this silence by recovering the local memories of survivors of the Civil War and the early years of Franco's dictatorship. Combining oral testimony gathered in one Andalusian village, with archival research, this ethnographic study approaches the expression of memory as an important site of socio-political struggle.

At least 8,000 Jewish soldiers fought for the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. A few served together in Jewish companies while most fought alongside Christian comrades. Yet even as they stood "shoulder-to-shoulder" on the front lines, they encountered unique challenges.

In Jews and the Civil War, Jonathan D. Sarna and Adam Mendelsohn assemble for the first time the foremost scholarship on Jews and the Civil War, little known even to specialists in the field. These accessible and far-ranging essays from top scholars are grouped into seven thematic sections--Jews and Slavery, Jews and Abolition, Rabbis and the March to War, Jewish Soldiers during the Civil War, The Home Front, Jews as a Class, and Aftermath--each with an introduction by the editors. Together they reappraise the impact of the war on Jews in the North and the South, offering a rich and fascinating portrait of the experience of Jewish soldiers and civilians from the home front to the battle front.

'Shiloh' as Seen by a Private Soldier
by Warren Olney
The Battle of Shiloh
by Joseph W. Rich
Shiloh from the ranks-Shiloh from the historian
The first piece in his vital book is a description of battle from the sharpest end of combat. It is the recollection of this momentous conflict of the American Civil War by a very ordinary private soldier who stood in the ranks of the Union Army-more significantly from his perspective-among his comrades of Company B, Third Iowa Infantry. It is not-nor does it purport to be-an overview of the battle. It is an ordinary soldier's narrow view-devoid of the larger picture-filled with noise, smoke, mud, fear and blood. For those who study military history it is, of course, precisely the kind of invaluable material that brings history alive. The second piece offers that objective perspective that the first account lacks. It is an overview and appraisal of that day of relentless and often controversial collision of arms. More significantly the author's interest and focus is drawn from the fact that this was a highly significant event for the State of Iowa since there were, apart from the Third Infantry, no less than ten other Iowa regiments engaged upon the field. This is an ideal book to help gain an understanding of 'both perspectives' of this famous battle-the human and the academic-within one volume and is recommended to all students of the period. Available in soft cover and hard back with dust jacket.

Thomas Hooke McCallie wrote a memoir in 1902 reporting for the benefit of his children what he knew of his family's immigration to the New World, of his education at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, of his courtship and marriage-and in more detail the trials and tribulations that befell him, his family and his church during the tumultuous years of the Civil War. THM, as the editor calls him throughout the book, opposed secession by his home state of Tennessee and refused to support the Confederacy either as a soldier or as a minister. And, with equal vigor he opposed the Federal government's resolve to preserve the Union by force of arms. His determination not to support either side of the conflict was the perfect formula for being harassed by both sides. Much of the memoir turns on the troubled existence resulting for THM, his family and his church because of his fixed view of right and wrong at this catastrophic moment in our nation's history.

In spite of the detailed reporting of pain and privation suffered during the war, the editor feels the real theme of the story is the way THM and his wife face every new crisis with prayer-prayer and faith that their prayers would be heard. Early in the war THM preached to Confederates soldiers who found their way to his church and later in the war, after the Union Army occupied Chattanooga, to Union soldiers, never changing the message because of the color of the uniform. The message? That every man, whether dressed in blue or gray, must know the saving Grace of Jesus Christ.

One man, Abraham Lincoln, was the sole cause of the War Between the States, l861 - 1865, and the deaths of almost one million Americans. Honest, compassionate and kind hearted, but forthright to an extreme, Lincoln spoke for millions of Americans who detested slavery, and wanted to eradicate it, and for millions more who wanted to preserve the Union upon confronting the secession of eleven southern states By calling for 75,000 volunteers, men to defend the Union immediately following the attack in Charleston Harbor, Lincoln knowingly inflamed the situation. The war was on. Lincoln wanted it. He also knew that it could have been avoided, it could have been settled amicably without the loss of any men from the North or the South. Lincoln knew that the U.S. Constitution was silent on the issue of secession, that there was then, as there is now, absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prevents any state or any number of states, from peacefully leaving the Union. REVIEW: "A great yarn - worthy of a Pulitzer." B. Ballard, Rockville, MD

"We went into the fight with 386, all told--358 guns. Every pioneer and musician who would carry a musket went into the ranks. Even the sick and footsore, who could not keep up in the march, came up as soon as they could find their regiments, and took their places in line of battle, while it was battle, indeed." --Col. Joshua Chamberlain

The fascinating story of Joshua Chamberlain and his volunteer regiment, the Twentieth Maine, is reprinted with a new foreword by Civil War historian and UCLA professor Joan Waugh. Pullen's classic and highly acclaimed book tells how Chamberlain and his men fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville on their way to the pivotal battle of Gettysburg. There, on July 2, 1863, at Little Round Top, they heroically saved the left flank of the Union battle line. The Twentieth Maine's remarkable story ends with the surrender of Lee's troops at Appomattox.

Considered by Civil War historians to be one of the best regimental histories ever written, this beloved standard of American history is now available in a new Stackpole edition. Includes maps, photographs, and drawings from the original edition.

"The American negroes are the only people in the history of the world. . . . that ever became free without any effort on their own." W. E. Woodward stated this in his biography of General Ulysses S. Grant. Nothing could be farther from the truth as will be seen in this history which will show that the African Americans fighting in the Civil War may have been the deciding factor in determining the outcome.

In Lieu of a Draft: A History of the 153rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment documents the daily chores of camp life and the long hours spent waiting to engage the enemy, Historian James I. Robertson, Jr. has noted that soldiers spent "more time in camp than on marches and in battle combined." This book presents the uncensored story and explores the deep political divisions within the regiment. William R. Kiefer, the regiment's historian, admitted that many incidents recorded in diaries had to be omitted, because they dealt with "certain personal matters," offensive to some of the survivors, but which admittedly "would otherwise have added relish to the stories." Kiefer also had to exclude material he felt was "heavily tainted with odium cast upon certain officers" and "written in such partisan style" that the reader would find it unacceptable. The battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg are retold through the eyes of the 153rd volunteers as only they could have seen and experienced them. Every effort has been made to present this story as a chronological narrative of their service.

Historians are only beginning to address the religious as a facet of the Civil War. Because neither war department had an office governing military chaplains, almost 4,000 of them were nearly lost to future study. After many years of research, their names, assignments, and denominational affiliations were listed in Faith in the Fight. In an organization created to destroy the enemy, chaplains ate, drank, and slept dissonance. Older than most soldiers and looking at battle with very different eyes, chaplains had their beliefs brutally tested at the same time they instilled faith that sustained men through adversities and tragedies. The Spirit Divided is a collection of letters, reports, and recollections in which army chaplains describe their motives and methods, their failures and achievements. Some threw away their somber black uniforms and became dashing staff officers who rode over battlefields to deliver orders, even capture enemy soldiers. Scorning these "chaplains militant," others were, in the words of a battlefield journalist, "bearers of the cup of cold water and the word of good cheer--the strong regiment may be the colonel's, but the wounded brigade is the chaplain's." Chaplains wondered whose side God was on, and if their ministries might be in vain. They saw, on both sides, God's Spirit at work. Was the Spirit divided, was God punishing both North and South for their sins, or was there some other explanation for this seemingly endless war? The reflections of these men of the cloth, who were underfed, underpaid, and largely unappreciated, have much to teach modern readers. They had to find, above all, the faith and perseverance to sustain the spirit of their people during the greatest war ever fought on this continent.

The war and views of a foot soldier in gray
The author of this book has written of his experiences of the American Civil War from the perspective of an ordinary private soldier of the North Carolina Infantry. Modern readers should allow for the fact that James Carson was very much a man of his time and place. His support for the Confederacy and the Southern way of life of the mid-nineteenth century is evident within these pages and include an ardent belief in the slave system. Nevertheless, this book is invaluable for those interested in a Confederate view of life on the sharp end of the infantryman's war including scenes of the march, camp life and the battlefield particularly at Petersburg. Available in soft cover and hard cover for collectors.