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Books in The Civil War series

  • Civil War Hospital Sketches

    Louisa May Alcott

    Paperback (Dover Publications, Feb. 10, 2006)
    Before her wider fame as the author of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott achieved recognition for her accounts of her work as a volunteer nurse in an army hospital. Written during the winter of 1862–63, her lively dispatches appeared in the newspaper Commonwealth, where they were eagerly read by soldiers' friends and families. Then, as now, these chronicles revealed the desperate realities of battlefield medicine as well as the tentative first steps of women in military service.Writing under a pseudonym, Alcott recounted the vicissitudes of her two-day journey from her home in Concord, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C. A fiery baptism in the practice of nursing awaited her at Washington Hospital, were she arrived immediately after the slaughter of the Army of the Potomac at the battle of Fredericksburg. Alcott's rapidly paced prose graphically depicts the facts of hospital life, deftly balancing pathos with gentle humor. A vivid and truthful portrait of an often overlooked aspect of the Civil War, this book remains among the most illuminating reports of the era's medical practices as well as a moving testimonial to the war's human cost.
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  • Like a River: A Civil War Novel

    Kathy Cannon Wiechman

    Hardcover (Calkins Creek, April 7, 2015)
    Winner, The Grateful American Book PrizeLeander and Polly are two teenage Union soldiers who carry deep, dangerous secrets. Leander is underage when he enlists and Polly follows her father into war disguised as his son. The war proves life changing for both as they survive incredible odds. Leander struggles to be accepted as a man and loses his arm as a consequence. Polly mourns the death of her father, endures Andersonville Prison, and narrowly escapes the Sultana steamboat disaster. As the lives of these young, brave soldiers intersect, each finds a wealth of courage and learns about the importance of loyalty, family, and love. Like a River is a lyrical atmospheric first novel told in two voices. Readers will be transported to the homes,waterways, camps, hospitals, and prisons of the Civil–War era. They will also see themselves in the universal themes of dealing with parents, friendships, bullying, failure, and young love.
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  • Civil War: Peter Parker, Spider-Man

    Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Clayton Crain, Angel Medina, Sean Chen

    Paperback (Marvel, April 19, 2016)
    Whose side are you on? The war has begun, sides have been chosen, and the die has been cast! With the repercussions of recent events in Civil War spreading across the Marvel Universe, see how every action can have enormous consequences - even in Peter Parker's life. Now, one of Spider-Man's oldest and most insidious foes - the Chameleon - decides to make his move against the wallcrawler! His first step: gathering a new super-team of Spider-Man's deadliest foes and striking him where he is most vulnerable!COLLECTING: SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN 28-34
  • The Songs of Stones River: A Civil War Novel

    Jessica Gunderson

    Paperback (Capstone Press, March 1, 2015)
    This historical novel tells the story of two boys living in the South during the tragic days of the Civil War. James is a proud Southerner who feels responsible for providing for his newly widowed mother and his younger sister. Eli is the lone outdoor slave of a bitter man who sold off Eli's mother two years earlier. When circumstances force them to work side by side, each boy's eyes are opened to new ways of thinking, leading to an exciting conclusion. Filled with thoughtful prose and historical references, The Songs of Stone River brings the Civil War era to life.
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  • The Civil War

    Peter Benoit

    Paperback (Children's Press, Sept. 8, 2011)
    An introduction the civil war for young readers.This book introduces readers (Grades 3-5) to the American Civil War, detailing the war's causes, key battles, notable generals and other persons involved in the war, and how the end of the war affected life in the United States.
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  • Shermans March to the Sea

    Tom Streissguth

    Hardcover (Focus Readers, Jan. 1, 2020)
    This title focuses on Shermans March to the Sea, guiding readers through its historical context, goals, and impact on military strategy. Critical thinking questions and two Voices from the Past special features help readers understand and analyze the various views people held at the time.
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  • Reconstruction: Rebuilding After the Civil War

    Judith Peacock

    Library Binding (Capstone Press, Sept. 1, 2002)
    Peacock, Judith
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  • Brother Against Brother

    William C. Davis, Time Life

    Hardcover (Time Life Books, June 1, 1983)
    Examines the causes and origins of the American Civil War
  • This Unhappy Country: The Turn of the Civil War, 1863

    James R. Arnold, Roberta Wiener

    Library Binding (Lerner Pub Group, March 1, 2002)
    Discusses the Battles of Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and Chattanooga, all of which had a major impact on the outcome of the Civil War.
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  • Our Little Monitor: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War

    Anna Gibson Holloway, Jonathan W. White

    Hardcover (The Kent State University Press, Feb. 15, 2018)
    On March 9, 1862, the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia met in the Battle of Hampton Roads―the first time ironclad vessels would engage each other in combat. For four hours the two ships pummeled one another as thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers and civilians watched from the shorelines. Although the battle ended in a draw, this engagement would change the nature of naval warfare by informing both vessel design and battle tactics. The “wooden walls” of navies around the world suddenly appeared far more vulnerable, and many political and military leaders initiated or accelerated their own ironclad-building programs.Americans did not initially have much faith in the Monitor. Few believed that this strange little vessel could hold her own against the formidable Confederate ironclad Virginia, which had been built on the bones of the scuttled USS Merrimack in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Virginia, seemingly relentless and unstoppable, had ravaged the U.S. Navy in Hampton Roads on March 8, just before the Monitor arrived. Yet the following day, the “cheesebox on a raft” proved her Union mettle, becoming a national hero in her own right.For the remainder of the Civil War the Union Navy used dozens of monitor-style vessels on inland waters as well as at sea. But there would always be only one first Monitor, and she became affectionately known to many throughout the nation as “Our Little Monitor.” Her loss off Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862, was mourned as keenly in the press as the loss of 16 of her men that night.Using the latest archaeological finds from the USS Monitor Center in Newport News, Virginia, as well as untapped archival material, Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White bring “Our Little Monitor” to life once more in this beautifully illustrated volume. In addition to telling her story from conception in 1861 to sinking in 1862, as well as her recent recovery and ongoing restoration, they explain how fighting in this new “machine” changed the experience of her crew and reveal how the Monitor became “the pet of the people”―a vessel celebrated in prints, tokens, and household bric-a-brac; a marketing tool; and a prominent feature in parades, Sanitary Fairs, and politics.
  • The U.S. Civil War: A Chronology of a Divided Nation

    Amanda Peterson

    Paperback (Capstone Press, Feb. 1, 2015)
    The Civil War was a bloody four-year battle. Follow the war from the first shots fired on Fort Sumter to General Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and see how America's War Between the States unfolded. Meets Common Core standards for analyzing chronology text structures.
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  • River to Victory: The Civil War in the West 1861-1863

    James R. Arnold, Roberta Wiener

    Library Binding (Lerner Pub Group, March 1, 2002)
    Describes the early battles fought in the West during the Civil War, including the Battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Stones River.
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