AGEOD Forums

Hey guys,
I am looking for some good Civil War fiction. I have several that I am reading or have read recently that are very good such as Jeff (and Michael Shaara) and Richard Croker. I was just wondering if there are any other really good ones out there.

I hear that, believe it or not, Newt Gingrich's Civil War novels are pretty good. They're all from a "what if" perspective though.

I forgot about those. I have read the first one and it was really good, if you can read it with an open mind. Many people that I know have read it and said that the "change" is implausible and such, which when I read it never had those thoughts. It did have some really awesome battle scenes described.
Thanks for the reminder.

The Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles Series #1 -#4 by Bernard Cornwell :

Rebel
Copperhead
Battlefield
The Bloody Ground

also,

The Civil War Battle Series. #1-#10 by James Reasoner :

Manassas, Vol.1
Shiloh, Vol.2
Antietam, Vol.3
Chancellorsville, Vol.4
Vicksburg, Vol.5
Gettysburg, Vol.6
Chickamauga, Vol.7
Shenandoah, Vol. 8
Savannah, Vol.9
Appomattox, Vol. 10

Chamberlain

IS the Civil War Battle Series any good. I have seen it a couple fo times out and about but never picked it up. Is it worth comitting to that big of a series?
Also thanks for all the information.

Hello Wardyr,

Yes, I read the entire series & it was well worth it. Here is a brief story line from Barnes & Noble about the book :

"Manassas is the first book in a series of ten historical novels spanning the Civil War. The Brannon family of Culpepper County, Virginia-Abigail, a widow, and four sons (Will, Mac, Titus, and Henry) and a daughter (Cordelia)-work a good-sized, self-sufficient farm. A fifth son has gone west to seek his fortune. The Brannons do not own slaves, but they are staunch supporters of the South in the conflict that is about to turn into war.
Manassas centers around the lives of the Brannons in the winter and spring of 1861. As speculation grows that the North and South will soon be at war with each other, the Brannons have their own problems, not the least of which is the Fogarty clan, a large family of troublemakers in the area. Will Brannon is the county sheriff, and he kills one of the Fogartys while trying to arrest him for murder. Justifiable homicide or not, the Fogartys vow to avenge the loss of one of their own.

While tensions mount in Culpeper County, news of the battle at Fort Sumter arrives. Will jones one of the Virginia militia units that quickly form. After a short period of training, his unite is rushed to defend the village of Manassas, a strategic railroad junction. When Union and Confederate armies engage in battle among the hillsides surrounding small, meandering Bull Run Creek, Will is forced to defend himself not only from the Union troops but also from some of the Fogarty brothers, who decide that the chaos of battle provides the ideal circumstances for settling their score with him".

You can see the Customer Reviews about the book & all of the others at
http://barnesandnoble.com/

Chamberlain

Thanks for the information. I will have to start reading that series. I actauuly saw it at a bookstore lastnight and picked it up.

Wardyr wrote:Thanks for the information. I will have to start reading that series. I actauuly saw it at a bookstore lastnight and picked it up.

Excellent !!!

Enjoy !!!!

Chamberlain

I'm reading Freedom by William Safire. A fictionalized account of the entire war with particular focus on Lincoln, his cabinet and the politics affecting the Union cause. While it covers the main battles in the East, the military story is not its strong suit. There are even some glaring errors, such as putting generals in the wrong place, etc. But as a novel of Lincoln's herculean effort to sustain the Union, it is superb.

Shelby Foote's "Shiloh" is an excellent historical novel.

Thanks for all the info.

Pretty much anything written after the war by Jubal Early is fiction.

Dick

Wanted to throw in a couple of books that have a different perspective. "Cold Mountain" is a good book with the war being more of a background to the story. That is by Charles Frazier. I am currently reading "Guns of the South" which is an alternative history book written by Harry Turtledove. I am about 1/3 through it and find it to be entertaining as long as you can handle the "what if" scenario that is posed by the book (time travelers provide the South with AK-47's). Anyway, they are fiction about the civil war with a slightly different approach.

I read all of Newt's books on ACW. The stories were well done and up until an entire Reb corp (3rd) was defeated by a new division (read that "green") of Colored troops in the climactic battle in book 3, I was entranced. Also Col. Shaw's regiment of green Colored troops stopped a break-thru of the ANV thru the Washington defenses. That was just too political for me to swallow.
I do not like Cornwall, he is severely prejudiced against the religious elements existing and strongly affecting the times about which he tries to write. apy:

I read the Cornwell Series and enjoyed them. But then I read a lot of Cornwells stuff.Good waiting for flights stuff to pass the time?
The Turtledove books I got bogged down with though. Did not finish reading them and that is rare for me once I buy a book.
Edmund Cooper wrote a sci-fi time travelling sort of scenario - just not my cup of tea that type of book? Would not recommend it.