New to the Civil War Memory Library, 01/05

Stephen V. Ash, Rebel Richmond: Life and Death in the Confederate Capital (University of North Carolina Press, 2019).

Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver, An Environmental History of the Civil War (University of North Carolina Press, 2020).

Jo Ann Daly Carr, Such Anxious Hours: Wisconsin Women’s Voices From the Civil War (The University of Wisconsin Press, 2019).

Lily Geismer, Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party (Princeton University Press, 2015).

Kerri K. Greenidge, Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter (Liveright, 2019).

LeeAnn Keith, When It Was Grand: The Radical Republican History of the Civil War (Hill & Wang, 2020).

Jeremy Zallen, American Lucifers: The Dark History of Artificial Light, 1750-1865 (University of North Carolina Press, 2019).

I recently spent some time in Barcelona and had a chance to dig into the history of the Spanish Civil War. Here is what I read in preparation in preparation for my visit and while in the city.

Adam Hochschild, Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1939-1939 (Houghton Mifflin, 2016).

Paul Preston, The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution and Revenge (W.W. Norton & Company, 2007)

Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Recent Past (Bloomsbury, 2006).

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11 comments… add one
  • Brad Jan 21, 2020 @ 19:17

    Kevin, a book about the War was recently reviewed in the New York Times: Lord of All the Dead by Javier Cercas. See https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/books/review/javier-cercas-lord-of-all-the-dead.html. The reviewer mentions his earlier book Soldiers of Salamis. I picked it up and although it reads like nonfiction, it’s actually fiction and quite engrossing. The Lord of All the Dead has received good reviews.

    • Kevin Levin Jan 22, 2020 @ 13:26

      Thanks for the recommendation, Brad.

  • Brad Jan 12, 2020 @ 14:45

    I lived in Spain for several years and have read a lot about the War. One of the earliest books about the War and one that still is very good is Hugh Thomas’ book. One I really love is Ronald Frazier’s Blood of Spain. It’s a must read. Another one that I really like is Gerald Brennan’s The Spanish Labyrinth, and, of course, there’s the Orwell book.

    • Kevin Levin Jan 12, 2020 @ 16:41

      Hi Brad,

      Thanks so much for the recommendations.

  • Pat Young Jan 9, 2020 @ 17:16

    My wife’s Uncle Lou was an Abraham Lincoln in Spain. He was later called to a hearing by Joe McCarthy.

    I have often wondered why so many Americans interested in our Civil War seem so uninterested in civil wars elsewhere in the world.

    • Ken Noe Jan 10, 2020 @ 5:53

      Civil War buffs generally are American exceptionalists, which is why you hear things such as “the Civil War changed warfare,” “Sherman invented total war” or “the Civil War was the bloodiest civil war in history” when in fact it wasn’t even the bloodiest one in the 1860s. One of the good things to come out of the sesquicentennial was renewed attention to the war’s international context, something trained military historians had stressed quietly for years.

      • London John Jan 10, 2020 @ 11:00

        Well, I’m not American and I believe the ACW was of world-historical importance, partly because of how important in the world the US became later but also because of its influence at the time. More important than anything that happened in Europe between 1815 and 1914, IMO. One of the great victories for humanity, if you believe in human progress. The Indian uprising against the British 1857-8 would have perhaps been of comparable importance if they’d won, but they didn’t. British and European racists understand the significance of the ACW when they flaunt Confederate Battle Flags.

  • Meg Groeling Jan 5, 2020 @ 11:46

    Stop this right now! One book leads to another and then there is free shipping…Kevin! Argh! (Thanks for such good recommendations, esp. about the radical republicans. As a life-long liberal, they fascinate me).

    • Kevin Levin Jan 5, 2020 @ 12:04

      It’s so hard to keep up with everything. I am lucky to receive advanced copies from a number of publishers. Definitely looking forward to Keith’s book as well.

  • Suzanne Crockett Jan 5, 2020 @ 6:31

    Love bibliographies – thank you so much! As a Virginian my Civil War knowledge was centered on the East Coast, and Shiloh and Vicksburg were about all I knew about the Western Front. Until I moved to Illinois!! So thank you for including Jo Ann Daly Carr’s book.

    • Kevin Levin Jan 5, 2020 @ 6:35

      Glad to hear it is helpful.

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