The Civil War Soldier

An anthology of landmark scholarship on the histories of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War

In 1943, Bell Wiley's groundbreaking book Johnny Reb launched a new area of study: the history of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War. This anthology brings together landmark scholarship on the subject, from a 19th century account of life as a soldier to contemporary work on women who, disguised as men, joined the army.

One of the only available compilations on the subject, The Civil War Soldier answers a wide range of provocative questions: What were the differences between Union and Confederate soldiers? What were soldiers' motivations for joining the army—their "will to combat"? How can we evaluate the psychological impact of military service on individual morale? Is there a basis for comparison between the experiences of Civil War soldiers and those who fought in World War II or Vietnam? How did the experiences of black soldiers in the Union army differ from those of their white comrades? And why were southern soldiers especially drawn to evangelical preaching?

Offering a host of diverse perspectives on these issues, The Civil War Soldier is the perfect introduction to the topic, for the student and the Civil War enthusiast alike.

Contributors: Michael Barton, Eric T. Dean, David Donald, Drew Gilpin Faust, Joseph Allen Frank, James W. Geary, Joseph T. Glaatthaar, Paddy Griffith, Earl J. Hess, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Perry D. Jamieson, Elizabeth D. Leonard, Gerald F. Linderman, Larry Logue, Pete Maslowski, Carlton McCarthy, James M. McPherson, Grady McWhiney, Reid Mitchell, George A. Reaves, Jr., James I. Robertson, Fred A. Shannon, Maris A. Vinovskis, and Bell Irvin Wiley.

Michael Barton is professor of American studies and social science at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg and author of Goodmen: The Character of Civil War Soldiers. Logue and Barton are co-editors of The Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader (NYU Press, 2002).Logue Larry M. :

Larry Logue is Professor of History and Political Science at Mississippi College.

Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees.

This is a fine collection which lends itself to classroom use and to the edification of non-specialists.

This type of work would be especially valuable for assignment in the classroom.

Janet Coryell,Western Michigan University:
Understanding what convinced Civil War soldiers to lay down their lives for the cause, North AND South, is perhaps the hardest part of teaching about making sense of the war. This excellent collection of selections from leading scholars on who the soldiers were, how they lived, and why they fought is a fine introduction to years of research that seeks to answer that question.