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On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas. Authors Phil Keith and Tom Clavin introduce some of the crucial but historically overlooked players,...

"Combining expert historical insight with the eyewitness accounts of soldiers and civilians, A Short History of the Civil War offers a brilliant summary of the key events and wider context of the hostilities between North and South. Profiles of influential military and political leaders, and thought-provoking features on themes and experiences, from the evils of slavery to the treatment of wounded soldiers, bring the story dramatically to life."...

Albert Richardson and Junius Browne, two correspondents for the New York Tribune, were captured at the Battle of Vicksburg and spent twenty months in horrific Confederate prisons before escaping and making their way to Union territory. Their amazing, long-forgotten odyssey is one of the great escape stories in American history, packed with drama, courage, horrors and heroics, plus many moments of antic comedy. They must endure the Confederacy's most...

"Enormous numbers of boys and youths served in the American Civil War. The first book to arrive at a careful estimate, Of Age argues that underage enlistees comprised roughly ten percent of the Union army and likely a similar proportion of Confederate forces. Their importance extended beyond sheer numbers. Boys who enlisted without consent deprived parents of badly needed labor and income to which were legally entitled, setting off struggles between...

The second season of AMC's post-Civil War series Hell on Wheels; continues the story of former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon, whose journey is filled with turmoil and danger as he struggles to leave a troubled past behind. Centered around the traveling town that follows the construction of the transcontinental railroad, the series examines the greed and corruption in man's fight for power.

Recounts Christmas celebrations during the early Civil War, with an emphasis on how the holiday united opposing soldiers before the Battle of Stones River in 1862. Though Congress didn't decree Christmas a national holiday until 1870, it was spreading nationwide as an American tradition by the time the war broke out. In 1861, the first Civil War Christmas saw festivities in both Union and Confederate camps, but the second, after a bloody year of war,...

These selections cover operations in Canada, Europe, and on the high seas as well as in the battle areas and other sections of the United States. (Publisher).

If one is to believe contemporary historians, the South never had a chance. Many allege that the Confederacy lost the Civil War because of internal division or civilian disaffection; others point to flawed military strategy or ambivalence over slavery. But, argues distinguished historian Gary Gallagher, we should not ask why the Confederacy collapsed so soon but rather how it lasted so long. In The Confederate War he reexamines the Confederate experience...

Five major historians return to the battlefield to explain the South's defeat. Provocatively argued and engagingly written, this work rejects the notion that the Union victory was inevitable and shows the importance of the commanders, strategies, and victories at key moments.

"The eastern campaigns of the Civil War involved the widespread use of field fortifications, from Big Bethel and the Peninsula to Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Charleston, and Mine Run. While many of these fortifications were meant to last only as long as the battle and often were not detailed in official records, Earl J. Hess argues that their history is deeply significant. Even before the onset of trench warfare at the Wilderness in May 1864, the...