Submarine Warfare in the Civil War
The Hunley, the experimental Confederate submarine that sank the USS Housatonic in a daring nighttime operation, was not alone under the waters of America during the Civil War. Both the Union and Confederacy built a wide and incredible array of vessels that could maneuver underwater, and many were put to use patrolling enemy waters. In Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, Mark Ragan, who spent years mining factory records and log books, brings this little-known history to the surface. $17.95
Rebels at Rock Island The Story of a Civil War Prison
The testimony of Ashley Wilkes of Gone with the Wind has helped to seal Rock Island's reputation as the Andersonville of the North. Revealing that Rock Island Prison was not without its problems -- ignominous punishments, inadequate facilities, malnutrition, and lack of basic supplies -- McAdams shows that Union officers in charge of the camp sought to maintain humane conditions as best they could in the face of severe shortages, disease, and a war that raged on longer than anyone anticipated. Two dozen rare photographs and sketches round out the unflinching descriptions of prison life. $32.00
The Longest Night A Military History of the Civil War
An authoritative history of battle from the first shots at Fort Sumter to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The Longest Night covers hundreds of engagements, well known and obscure, including the Western theater and naval actions along the coasts and rivers. The result is a gripping popular history that will fascinate anyone just learning about the Civil War while offering more than a few surprises for longtime students. The Longest Night conveys a real sense of life and death on the battlefield. Eicher examines the tactics of Lee, Grant, Johnston, and Sherman and discusses significant topics such as prisons, railroads, shipbuilding, clandestine operations, and the role of African-Americans in the war. $16.57
Testament A Soldiers Story of the Civil War
In August 1861, a nineteen-year-old Illinois farm boy named Benjamin Webster (Webb) Baker enlisted in the Union Army. For three years he fought in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. Through it all he wrote compelling letters home describing his experiences. Generations later, Benson Bobrick has used his ancestor's letters to write this stirring chronicle of one soldiers war. Not since the fictional The Red Badge of Courage have the trials of a soldiers Civil War been told with such beguiling force. Pea Ridge, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga--at these and other battles, Webb experienced the horror of war firsthand. By turns stoic, brave, and sorrowful, he writes of sleeping on the bare ground in winter, of harsh food rationing because of Confederate cavalry raids on baggage trains, of being wounded, and, most movingly, of death--including the death of his own brother, whom he buried on the field. Bobrick skillfully blends that voice with his own in a poignant tribute to his great-grandfather and a vivid narrative that will be cherished by anyone interested in the Civil War. $9.79
