The American Civil War
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June 2018
The Battle of Westport: Missouri's Great Confederate Raid
by Paul Kirkman
DBC01434
Read by Keith Kruger. Reading time: 4 hours, 32 minutes.
On October 23, 1864, a confederate cavalry led by Major General Sterling Price clashed with Union forces just south of Kansas City, Missouri, near the town of Westport. It was the largest battle of the Civil War west of the Mississippi. 2011. Recorded by Wolfner Library in 2015.
Beyond Their Years: Stories of Sixteen Civil War Children
by Scotti Cohn
DB 84836
Read by Don Feldheim. Reading time: 6 hours, 38 minutes.
A collection of sixteen pieces describing life for children growing up during the American Civil War. Includes accounts of a drummer boy who survived the Confederate prison camps, a writer, the son of Ulysses S. Grant, and the daughter of a slave mother and a freed father. 2016
The Birth of a Nation: How a Legendary Filmmaker and a Crusading Editor Reignited America's Civil War by Dick Lehr
DB 80791
Read by Bob Moore. Reading time: 11 hours, 39 minutes.
The 1915 film The Birth of a Nation is an important part of movie history, reviled for its racist portrayal of African-Americans, but groundbreaking in its techniques. This is the story of the filmmaker D.W. Griffith and Monroe Trotter, the journalist who led the protest against the film. 2014.
Capitol Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868 by Cokie Roberts
DB 82759
Read by Catherine Byers. Reading time: 16 hours, 39 minutes.
Journalist examines the roles played by the women living in Washington, D. C., during the Civil War. Many enlisted as, among other things, nurses, relief workers, journalists, and munitions manufacturers. Utilizes newspaper articles, government records, private letters, diaries, and other primary sources to tell their stories. 2015.
Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee
by Michael Korda
DB 79760
Read by Michael Scherer. Reading time: 30 hours, 15 minutes.
Portrait of Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) as a brilliant general, a devoted family man, and a principled gentleman who disliked slavery and disagreed with secession, yet who refused command of the Union Army in 1861 because he could not "draw his sword" against his beloved Virginia. 2014.
A Disease in the Public Mind: A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil War by Thomas J. Fleming and William Hughes
DB 76792
Read by William Hughes. Reading time: 11 hours, 45 minutes.
Historian posits that longtime rivalries between the North and South, inflamed by radical abolitionists such as John Brown, led to the dissolution of the union. Discusses the history of slavery in the United States and why--unlike in other countries--efforts to end it peacefully failed. 2013.
Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise; 1848-1877 by Brenda Wineapple
DB 78130
Read by Mark Ashby. Reading time: 23 hours, 29 minutes.
Cultural, political, military, and intellectual history of the years just before, during, and immediately after the Civil War. Discusses the debate over slavery, the women's suffrage movement, Reconstruction, the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, and notables of the day, including Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, and P.T. Barnum. Some violence. 2013.
Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief
by James M. McPherson
DB 80235
Read by Robert Faas. Reading time: 5 hours, 40 minutes.
LP 030019; 386 pages.
Pulitzer Prize winner for Battle Cry of Freedom (DB 27449) examines the life of Jefferson Davis (1807?-1889), president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Contemplates Davis's leadership style and politics, personal life, and relationships with contemporary historical figures. Unrated. 2014.
Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman
by Robert L. O’Connell
DB 79744
Read by Andy Pyle. Reading time: 15 hours, 25 minutes.
Historian examines the life of William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), Union general during the Civil War. Details Sherman's family history and military exploits, including the March to the Sea and Indian Wars campaigns. Explores the impact of his outsized personality and private life on his military career and vice versa. Some violence. 2014.
Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo
DB 77018
Read by Bill Burton. Reading time: 26 hours, 9 minutes.
Historian chronicles the Civil War battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, using archives and first-person accounts. Examines the impact that specific regiments, topography, communications, and mistakes by opposing generals Robert E. Lee and George Meade had on the outcome. Violence. Bestseller. 2013.
Grant by Ron Chernow
DB 89541
Read by Mark Bramhall. Reading time: 48 hours, 5 minutes.
LP 33219; 1485 pages.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Washington (DB 72132) and Alexander Hamilton (DB 58364) provides a detailed portrait of Civil War general and eventual president Ulysses S. Grant. Discusses Grant's life prior to the Civil War, his business troubles, his remarkable role in the war, his later political career, and more. Unrated. 2017.
The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln before the Civil War by Daniel Stashower
DB 78103
Read by Don Hagen. Reading time: 14 hours, 9 minutes.
Details the plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore while he was en route to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration in February 1861. Profiles Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and widow Kate Warne, America's first female private investigator. Some violence. 2013.
How the Slaves Saw the Civil War: Recollections of the War through the WPA Slave Narratives by Herbert C. Covey and Dwight Eisnach
DB 78654
Read by Bob Moore. Reading time: 11 hours, 37 minutes.
Historians compile interviews of former slaves conducted by the Federal Writers Project during the 1930s. Includes accounts of Civil War battles, participation in the Union and Confederate armies, freedom, and Reconstruction. Also documents rural poverty among African Americans during the Great Depression. Strong language. 2014.
Iron Dawn: The Monitor, the Merrimack, and the Civil War Battle that Changed History by Richard Snow
DB 88035
Read by Barry Bernson. Reading time: 12 hours, 17 minutes.
An examination of the American Civil War sea battle fought in the harbor at Hampton Roads, Virginia, in March 1862. After the Confederacy built an iron fort atop a captured frigate, the Union developed a revolutionary iron warship that changed the course of naval warfare worldwide. 2016.
Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign by Earl J. Hess
DB 76795
Read by Joe Barrett. Reading time: 10 hours, 11 minutes.
Chronicles the 1864 battle between Union major general William T. Sherman and Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston. Describes Sherman's march to Atlanta; its obstruction by the Army of Tennessee's heavily fortified position at Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia; and the fierce fifteen-day fighting that ensued. Violence. 2013.
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
DB 80094
Read by Kristin Allison. Reading time: 14 hours, 59 minutes.
Profiles of four women and their service during the Civil War. Discusses Emma Edmonds, who disguised herself as a man and fought for the Union Army; Belle Boyd, who was a Confederate spy; Rose O'Neal Greenhow, another Confederate spy; and Elizabeth Van Lew, who spied for the Union. 2014
Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion by Harold Holzer
DB 80749
Read by Robert Sams. Reading time: 31 hours, 21 minutes.
Editor of The Lincoln-Douglas Debates (DB 38793) examines the relationship between Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), sixteenth president of the United States, and the press of his day. Discusses the way Lincoln used the powers of the presidency to close down "disloyal" newspapers and restrict access to information. 2014.
Madness Rules the Hour: Charleston, 1860, and the Mania for War by Paul Starobin
DB 88311
Read by Kevin Stillwell. Reading time: 8 hours, 51 minutes.
An account of how, with Abraham Lincoln's election looming in 1860, Charleston, South Carolina, faced the decision to submit to abolition or leave the Union with hopes that the rest of the South would follow suit. Examines the cultural crisis and choices that fractured the Union and led to the Civil War. Unrated. 2017.
Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South by Christopher Dickey
DB 82620
Read by Jeremy Gage. Reading time: 12 hours, 7 minutes.
Journalist Christopher Dickey recounts the work of Robert Bunch, who served as British consul in Charleston in 1853. His work also encompassed sending intelligence to the British government and working against his neighbors' plans for a new Confederacy, even on the brink of the American Civil War. Some strong language. 2015.
Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S. C. Gwynne
DB 80230
Read by Mary Kane. Reading time: 26 hours, 46 minutes.
Author of Empire of the Summer Moon (DB 71705) examines the eventful and tragic life of legendary Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863). As a member of the Confederate pantheon, he embodies the romantic southern notion of the virtuous lost cause. Gwynne provides insight into Jackson's innovative strategies, battle performance, and personal life. 2014.
The Savage War: A Military History of the Civil War by Williamson Murray
DB 87397
Read by Robert Sams. Reading time: 24 hours, 12 minutes.
A narrative recounting of the American Civil War, beginning with the first shots fired at Fort Sumter and stretching until Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Examines the influence of the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution on the way the war was waged, as well as the roles of many key figures. 2016.
Spring 1865: The Closing Campaigns of the Civil War by Perry D. Jamieson
DB 81787
Read by Andy Pyle. Reading time: 10 hours, 21 minutes.
Historian Perry D. Jamieson recounts the final Civil War campaign against Lee that ended at Appomattox, and Sherman's march north through the Carolinas that culminated in Johnston's surrender at Bennett Place. Jamieson discusses the significant consequences these campaigns held for the war's end and the Reconstruction period. Some violence. 2015.
Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments that Redeemed America by Douglas R. Egerton
DB 88573
Read by Sean Crisden. Reading time: 13 hours, 14 minutes.
An account of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry and the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry regiments, which, though led by white officers, were composed of black men. Discusses the importance of these regiments for both the Civil War and the battles being fought on the field of public opinion. Unrated. 2016.