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For historians: Suggested C.W. reading?

Belisarius

Belisarius

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I'll be the first to admit that I'm one of the three Americans interested in American history who has almost no interest in the Civil War--the most written-about topic in the field by far.* That said, I also really, really want to beef up on my history of said conflict, as one cannot understand post-C.W. history without pertinent information on said conflict.

What I'm really looking for is:

--Something single-volume (as opposed to multivolume like Shelby Foote's magnum opus).

--Something that talks more about the repercussions of the war throughout society rather than the tactical aspects (though I love military history in all its forms).

True, there are other ways of figuring these things out, but I'd just like to hear some ops from anyone else jazzed about American history.

Mods: Feel free to move to C&U if you feel it would be more pertinent there...

*I care even less about pre-Civil War history. God, was getting through Johnny Tremain in MS a pain...
 
Man, Revolutionary War history is fascinating... especially if you care at all about biographies. If you're basing all your reasoning for disliking RW history on Johnny Tremain you're really doing that subject a disservice. ;) That said, I amazingly made it through my undergrad program without talking about the U.S. Civil War at all. 8o It wasn't intentional but nonetheless I don't have any recommendations for you.
 
Oh, it doesn't have anything to do with Johnny Tremain, really. :) It's just not a time period that grabs me the way say, Late Antiquity or the early 20th century does.
 
I have read a lot of books on the Civil War, but my absolute favorite and one that I picked up randomly last night is this one:

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What They Didn't Teach You About the Civil War by Mike Wright. and there is a lot "they" didn't teach you about. every chapter is unique and has information that you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else. my favorite chapter was about prostitutes.
 
Well a fine "mainstream" text is Ordeal by Fire by McPherson. The work has alot on the plight of minorities, native american participation in the conflict and discusses in depth the period of the failed reconstruction.

My prof is a west point grad, no way I'm gonna get a revisionist text in this class me thinks D:
 
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