Bruce Catton - A Stillness at Appomattox

Pros: Beautifully written and thoroughly researched

Cons: Might be out of print

The Bottom Line: A terrific history of the Union Army of the Potomac as it drives toward victory in the Civil War.

Review: Here in Virginia, the Civil War aisle at the bookstore -- any bookstore -- will be one of the bigges ...

Pros: The Civil War battles of the Eastern theater and the daily life of the Union Army in staggering, vivid detail.

Cons: Hard to find, particularly the first volume (Mr. Lincoln's War)

Review: Thanks to Ken Burns, Shelby Foote gets a lot of good press, and James MacPherson and Kenneth Stampp are no slouches either, but to my mind Bruce Catton is the forgotten historian of the Civil War. His powerful trilogy, The Army of the Potomac, is...