BOOKS ON CIVIL WAR HISTORY

      By Dr. Earl J. Hess

 

        Dr. Earl J. Hess (Ph.D., Purdue University, 1986) is a leading author of military histories of the Civil War. Dr. Hess's books offer new insights on Civil War battles and campaigns, and also focus on thematic topics such as the use of weapons, tactics, and transportation in the Civil War. He has been called "the premier military historian of the Civil War" (Samuel J. Watson, author of Jackson's Sword) and his work has garnered praise for its "combination of adroit writing, high intelligence, and well-reasoned but unabashed judgments" (Mark Grimsley, author of The Hard Hand of War). Readers will find that his books offer perspectives on both the Union and Confederate experience, and also reveal the driving motivations of combat soldiers, whether serving under Grant or Lee.

 

        For more information on a specific book, please click the appropriate link below: 

 

July 22: The Civil War Battle of Atlanta

 

Civil War Torpedoes and the Global Development of Landmine Warfare

 

Civil War Field Artillery: Promise and Performance on the Battlefield

 

Animal Histories of the Civil War Era (Editor and Author of Three Essays)

 

The Oxford Handbook of the American Civil War (Co-Editor and Author of Five Essays)

 

Storming Vicksburg: Grant, Pemberton, and the Battles of May 19-22, 1863

 

Civil War Supply and Strategy: Feeding Men and Moving Armies

- Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award (Institutional/Functional History), 2020

 

Fighting for Atlanta: Tactics, Terrain, and Trenches in the Civil War

 

The Battle of Peach Tree Creek: Hood's First Effort to Save Atlanta

- A Selection of the History Book Club

- A Selection of the Military Book Club

- A Selection of the Library of Science

- A Selection of the Literary Guild and Bookburst

- Audiobook by Tantor Media

 

Civil War Logistics: A Study of Military Transportation

- Winner of the Eugene Feit Award in Civil War Studies by the New York Military Affairs Symposium, 2017

 

Braxton Bragg: The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy

- Winner of the Richard Barksdale Harwell Book Award, 2017

- Finalist, Army Historical Foundation, 2016 

- A Selection of the History Book Club 

- Audiobook by Tantor Media

 

The Battle of Ezra Church and the Struggle for Atlanta

- A Selection of the History Book Club

- A Selection of the Military Book Club

- A Selection of the Scientific American Book Club

- A Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club

- Audiobook by Blackstone Audio

 

Civil War Infantry Tactics: Training, Combat, and Small-Unit Effectiveness

- Winner of the Tom Watson Brown Book Award, Society of Civil War Historians, 2016

- Finalist, Lincoln Prize, 2016

 

Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign

- A Main Selection of the History Book Club

- A Main Selection of the Military Book Club

- Audiobook by Blackstone Audio

 

The Knoxville Campaign: Burnside and Longstreet in East Tennessee

 

The Civil War in the West: Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi

- A Main Selection of the History Book Club

- A Selection of the Military Book Club and Book-of-the-Month Club

 

Lincoln Memorial University and the Shaping of Appalachia

 

Into the Crater: The Mine Attack at Petersburg

 

In the Trenches at Petersburg: Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat

- Winner of the Richard Barksdale Harwell Book Award, 2010

- Finalist for Peter Seaborg Award, 2010

 

The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat: Reality and Myth

- A Selection of the Military Book Club

- A Selection of the History Book Club

- Finalist for Peter Seaborg Award, 2009

 

Trench Warfare under Grant and Lee: Field Fortifications in the Overland Campaign

- A Selection of the Military Book Club

 

Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge & Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide with a Section on Wire Road

- A Volume in the series This Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil War Battlefields

 

Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns, 1861-1864

 

Lee’s Tar Heels: The Pettigrew-Kirkland-MacRae Brigade

 

Pickett’s Charge: The Last Attack at Gettysburg

 - Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in History, 2002

 - Winner of the James I. Robertson Literary Prize, 2002

 - A Selection of the Military Book Club

- A Selection of the History Book Club

 

Banners to the Breeze: The Kentucky Campaign, Corinth, and Stones River

-  A Volume in the Great Campaigns of the Civil War Series

 

The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat

 - Winner of the first annual U.S. Civil War Center's Book of the Year Award, 1997 

 - A Selection of the Military Book Club

 

Liberty, Virtue, and Progress: Northerners and Their War for the Union

 

Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West

 - A Selection of the History Book Club

 - A Selection of the Book of the Month Club

Author Email: earl@love-and-learning.info

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