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The Civil War is the most written about event in United States history. There are an extraordinary number of books covering all aspects of the war from large overviews like James McPherson's <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019516895X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019516895X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=e33f3bb02b609b5b80ce0c3755444af0 Battle Cry Freedom]</i>, Gary Gallagher's books on <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674066081/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674066081&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=de7ad6c37a2cdfff0cc474c341f422c9 The Union War]</i> and <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674160568/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674160568&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=781edeb3e16fe4ea8cd7f34e566f954c The Confederate War]</i>, Allan Nevins 8 volume set on the conflict, and Shelby Foote's [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394749138/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0394749138&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=34c399c569f5af2adb9dba9a17652804 three volume set of books] on the war. Like a lot of people, I started with Shelby Foote's books, but over the years I have drifted towards more academic works. Unsurprisingly, all kinds of different authors have written non-fiction books on the topic. Some of these authors are academic historians such as James McPherson and Gary Gallagher, more literary authors such as Winston Groom (author of fiction works such as Forest Gump and Civil War nonfiction works Shiloh, 1862 and Vicksburg, 1863) and Shelby Foote, and an extraordinary number of independent scholars. I would not be surprised to learn that there are more self-published books on the American Civil War than any other American historical topic.
[[File:Crossroads_of_Freedom.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|<i>Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam</i>]]
Creating this list has been both very easy and extraordinarily difficult. It is easy to find great books on Civil War Battles, but it is almost impossible to pick only ten. If you are a stickler and count the books listed, you will notice that the final is little bit higher than 10. Therefore, this list is not comprehensive. That would be impossible. Additionally, it only focuses on specific battles or campaigns of the war. Even when you intentionally restrict the number of total books on the war, you are still left with thousands of book titles. There are over 1,000 books available on Amazon discussing some aspect of the battle of Gettysburg. At the very least, these books are a great place to start an exploration of the Civil War.
<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1469625334/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1469625334&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5cbd7fb2ebb6d725d9af14b1b262f59af Cold Harbor to the Crater: The End of the Overland Campaign]</i>, (UNC Press) Edited by Caroline Jenner & Gary Gallagher - Jenner and Gallagher's book is one in a series the excellent Military Campaigns of the Civil War series of books published by the University of North Carolina Press. Other books in the series examine the Fredericksburg, Shenandoah Valley and Wilderness campaigns. Like other books in this series it includes essays from noted Civil War and 19th Century historians including Joan Waugh, Stephen Cushman, Keith Kathryn Shively Meier, Gordon Rhea. Instead of simply describing the campaign, these essays delve deeply into a diverse array of topic including the work of Confederate engineers, enduring the life of a soldier, the resilience of Confederate soldiers after Gettysburg, and the experiences of civilians caught in the battle for Petersburg for over a year.
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807128031/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807128031&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=e3bedc1d34a4ab0394b1409242343e9c Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864], (LSU Press) Gordon Rhea The Overland Series - Unlike Gallagher's and Jenner's more expansive book of essays, Rhea's book focuses on the battle for Cold Harbor. Despite the disproportionate losses by the Union, the Battle of Cold Harbor was a stalemate. Rhea goes into extraordinary detail about the battle and tries to demystify why the so many Union troops were killed. Cold Harbor is part of Rhea's Overland Campaign series published by LSU Press. The series also includes <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807118737/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807118737&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1a7a074dfdfd20472c7b5bc65ad4ee79 The Battle of the Wilderness]</i>, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807121363/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807121363&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=0dd2d7241d92d21a95949197fe89c647 The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern]</i>, and <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807125350/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807125350&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=14623c18b0d4a0619a022701fd1080d9 To the North Anna River]</i>. Rhea's book on the <i>Battle of the Wilderness</i> is also considered to be the classic book on this battle.
