A Pocket History of the Civil War: Citizen Soldiers, Bloody Battles, and the Fight for America's Future

Praise for: A Pocket History
“Martin F. Graham's A Pocket History of the Civil War is a font of information that will interest a wide range of readers, including the ardent history buff.”
—Foreword Magazine

Martin Graham, a former associate editor of Blue & Gray magazine, has penned a new book entitled A Pocket History of the Civil War. The book is published in conjunction with The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Each of the books’ eight chapters presents a different theme, ranging from the transformation of civilians into soldiers to the prison systems of North and South. Graham also provides 4-5 page overviews of each of the key battles of war from Fort Sumpter to Appomattox. The final chapter offers brief biographies of eight unusual characters from the war—and an surprising event from its aftermath. An appendix provides a “test your knowledge” section, a glossary, and a list of books further reading.

Civil War buffs will enjoy the many tables that Graham provides. For example, there is a table that lists the greatest percentage of regimental loss in battle (for the Union it was 1st Minnesota which lost 82% at Gettysburg and for the Confederacy it was the 3rd North Carolina which lost 90% at Antietam). Another table lists the higher ranking generals killed in battle and their manner of death. History buffs will relish the information Graham serves up on the economics of the war, camp life, and such lesser-known personalities as Johnny Clem, “the drummer boy of Shiloh.”

For readers new to the war, or who have become interested in it due to the Sesquicentennial, Graham has provided, a concise overview that is sure to inspire further study. In his Foreword to the book, David A. Patterson, CEO of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg writes, “Incorporating all of the fundamental information about the Civil War in one concise, easy to reference and well laid-out volume makes this an essential purchase for the Sesquicentennial Commemoration.”