1863: The Rebirth of a Nation by Joseph E. Stevens
Read by Rick Foucheux. Reading time 18 hours 10 minutes
Examines the calamitous and pivotal Civil War year of 1863, which began with the Confederacy dominating the fields of battle and, after a series of dramatic Northern reversals, ended with an ascendant Union Army. Recounts major events such as the battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg, which turned the tide of the war. 1999.
Download 1863: The Rebirth of a Nation, DB49370
America's Battlegrounds by Richard Sauers
Read by Jack Fox. Reading time 6 hours 55 minutes
Civil War historian's tour of more than forty U.S. war sites and monuments within the national park system that commemorate the American Revolution, the War of 1812, expansion, the Civil War, and foreign wars. Each entry includes an account of the battle, key players, and detailed visitor information. 2005.
Download America's Battlegrounds, DB60376
Cavalryman of the Lost Cause by Jeffry D. Wert
Read by Robert Sams. Reading time 17 hours 15 minutes
The author of The Sword of Lincoln (DB 60605) pens a biography about Confederate general James Ewell Brown "J.E.B." Stuart (1833-1864). Uses archives and first-person accounts to trace Stuart's family history. Discusses Stuart's education, pre-Civil War military service, battle tactics, comrades-in-arms, and controversial decision during the Battle of Gettysburg. 2008.
Download Cavalryman of the Lost Cause, DB68313
Donnybrook by David Detzer
Read by Michael Scherer. Reading time 17 hours 16 minutes
Author uses primary sources to describe the planning and execution of the first major battle of the Civil War near Manassas, Virginia. Details the leadership failures on both sides that led to the events of July 21, 1861, highlighting the plight of ordinary soldiers. 2004.
Download Donnybrook, DB63536
Gettysburg by Noah Andre Trudeau
Read by Bill Wallace. Reading time 26 hours 34 minutes
Chronicle of crucial three-day Civil War battle in which Robert E. Lee's plan to destroy the Federal army was thwarted. Begins in mid-May 1863 at Chancellorsville and follows the Army of Northern Virginia through Lee's retreat from Gettysburg. Uses primary sources to present the viewpoints of officers, enlisted men, and civilians. 2002.
Download Gettysburg, DB54927
Gray Fox by Burke Davis
Read by Ted Stoddard. Reading time 14 hours 37 minutes
Civil War portrait of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from his letters, eyewitness accounts, and recorded conversations. Depicts Lee as man and soldier during eventful tragic years from his 1861 acceptance of Virginia command to his 1865 surrender at Appomattox. 1956.
Download Gray Fox, DB58760
How the North Won by Herman Hattaway
Read by Robert Sams. Reading time 36 hours 28 minutes
Provides a military account of the Civil War "from the viewpoint of the higher commanders on both sides." Emphasizes the war's management and planning rather than specific battles and posits that guerrilla raids and defense won the conflict. The authors offer revisionist theories of Lincoln, Lee, and Grant. 1983.
Download How the North Won, DB60825
How the South Could Have Won the Civil War by Bevin Alexander
Read by Bill Wallace. Reading time 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 How the South Could Have Won the Civil War, DB66971
In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859-1863 by Edward L. Ayers
Read by John Polk. Reading time 18 hours 8 minutes
University of Virginia history professor constructs a social narrative of the American Civil War as experienced by the residents of Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Using letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and other records, Ayers illustrates the shared Shenandoah Valley lifestyle of two societies divided by the conflict. 2003. Download In the Presence of Mine Enemies, DB58770
Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas by Benson Bobrick
Read by Ted Stoddard. Reading time 14 hours 22 minutes
Biography of Virginia-born Union general George Thomas (1816-1870), who was compared to George Washington by his officers and soldiers. Discusses Thomas's family life, his decision to stay in the federal army, his successful military campaigns, and his marginalization by rivals Ulysses Grant and William Sherman. Some strong language. 2009.
Download Master of War, DB69117
The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe; or, How the Confederate Cruisers Were Equipped by James D. Bulloch
Read by Butch Hoover. Reading time 29 hours 30 minutes
Memoir of a secret envoy sent by Confederate president Jefferson Davis to Europe in 1861 to acquire ships and arms for the fledgling southern navy. The author, a relative of Theodore Roosevelt, describes his covert diplomatic missions throughout the four years of the Civil War. 1884.
Download The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe, DB69117
Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns by Steven E. Woodworth
Read by Ted Stoddard. Reading time 10 hours 13 minutes
Professor offers a narrative history of two pivotal 1863 Civil War battles in Tennessee that followed Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Analyzes the tactics and strategies of the four Union and two Confederate armies that converged at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. Discusses how these campaigns affected the war's outcome. 1998.
Download Six Armies in Tennessee, DB64603
Stealing the General by Russell S. Bonds
Read by Jake Williams. Reading time 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 Stealing the General, DB66030
The Sword of Lincoln by Jeffry D. Wert
Read by Robert Sams. Reading time 20 hours 34 minutes
Civil War historian chronicles the experiences of the Union Army of the Potomac, formed to defend Washington, D.C., against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Reexamines the army's leadership and the soldiers' morale and attitudes from the battles of Bull Run and Gettysburg to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. 2005.
Download The Sword of Lincoln, DB60605
This Hallowed Ground by Bruce Catton
Read by Joe Groger. Reading time 19 hours 31 minutes
The story of the Union side of the Civil War.
Download This Hallowed Ground, DB16139
This Mighty Scourge by James M. McPherson
Read by Butch Hoover. Reading time 10 hours 5 minutes
Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom (DB 27449) presents sixteen essays, three previously unpublished, on the Civil War. Explores military strategies of both the North and South, the effect of newspapers' battle coverage on soldier morale, Lincoln's expansion of presidential war powers, and other topics. 2007.
Download This Mighty Scourge, DB65907
This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust
Read by Bill Wallace. Reading time 11 hours 34 minutes
President of Harvard University interprets the significance of the U.S. Civil War's death toll. States that two percent of the country's population was killed and many died without proper burials. Analyzes the way those losses transformed American society, culture, and politics through the experience of shared suffering. Violence. Bestseller. 2008.
Download This Republic of Suffering, DB65912
Thunder Along the Mississippi by Jack D. Coombe
Read by Derald Breneman. Reading time 11 hours 24 minutes
Explains how inland Civil War naval battles on the Mississippi River led to the North's victory. Describes the development of ironclads and the creation of a modern navy. Discusses the effects of the halt of western commerce and the seizure of southern ports on the eastern campaigns.
Download Thunder Along the Mississippi, DB63659
Tried by War by James M. McPherson
Read by Butch Hoover. Reading time 9 hours 57 minutes
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian highlights the role President Abraham Lincoln played as the head of the U.S. military during the Civil War. Stresses Lincoln's study and application of war strategies and his development of a political and national policy that focused on preserving the union. Bestseller. 2008.
Download Tried by War, DB67863
Upon the Altar of the Nation by Harry S. Stout
Read by Jake Williams. Reading time 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 Upon the Altar of the Nation, DB63597
Vicksburg is the Key by William L. Shea
Read by Ted Stoddard. Reading time 9 hours 8 minutes.
Details the Civil War struggle for the control of the Mississippi River that culminated in the Union siege of the city of Vicksburg in 1863. Describes Ulysses S. Grant's long campaign by land and sea. 2003.
Download Vicksburg is the Key, DB61834
Vicksburg, 1863 by Winston Groom
Read by Butch Hoover. Reading time 21 hours 8 minutes
Author highlights the military personalities who conducted the crucial Civil War western campaign that culminated with the Confederate defeat at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in July 1863. Describes the land and sea battles and the civilian population under siege. Violence. 2009.
Download Vicksburg, 1863, DB68947
What This Cruel War Was Over by Chandra Manning
Read by Bill Quinn. Reading time 13 hours 47 minutes
Georgetown professor posits that "ordinary Union and Confederate soldiers recognized slavery as the reason for the war." Uses letters, diaries, and regimental newspapers written during the conflict to document the social history of common soldiers--including immigrants, westerners, and African Americans--and the question of emancipation. Some strong language. 2007.
Download What This Cruel War Was Over, DB68426