Selected Readings on the American Civil War (1861–1865)

Introductory Readings

For a general introduction into the research of gender and war, see the Oxford Handbook of Gender, War and the Western World since 1600, edited by Karen Hagemann, Stefan Dudink and Sonya O. Rose (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2020). A general overview of the development of the research on gender and war can be found in its “Introduction: Gender and the History of War” by Karen Hagemann.

Part II of the Handbook entitled “Wars of Nations and Empires” includes several chapters on gender and war in the nineteenth century. Chapter 9, “War and Gender: Nineteenth Century Wars of Nations and Empires—An Overview” by Stefan Dudink, Karen Hagemann and Mischa Honneck offers an informative general introduction.

Further recommended readings from this chapter can be found in:

• the select bibliography of the chapter 
   
• the extensive bibliography of the chapter

See also the handbook chapter:

• Greenberg, Amy S. “Gender and the Wars of Nation-building and Nation-keeping in the Americas, 1830s–1870s.” In Oxford Handbook of Gender, War and the Western World since 1600, ed. by Karen Hagemann et al., Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2020, 289-308.

Many more titles you will find in GWonline. For our suggestions go here:

• Book Chapters and Journal Articles
• General Literature
• Literature on Gender, War & Revolution
• Methodological Introductions

Book Chapters and Journal Articles

• Giesberg, Judith Ann. “Women.” In A Companion to the U.S. Civil War , ed. by Aaron Sheehan-Dean, vol. 2. 779–94. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
   
• Miller, Brian Craig. “Manhood.” In A Companion to the U.S. Civil War , ed. by Aaron Sheehan-Dean, vol. 2. 779–94. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
   
• Martinez, Jaime Amanda. “Slavery in the Civil War.” In A Companion to the U.S. Civil War , ed. by Aaron Sheehan-Dean, vol. 2. 949-964. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
   
• Sadow, Robert M. “Northern Homefront.” In A Companion to the U.S. Civil War , ed. by Aaron Sheehan-Dean, vol. 2. 891–908. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
   
• Sheehn-Dean, Aaron. “Southern Homefront.” In A Companion to the U.S. Civil War , ed. by Aaron Sheehan-Dean, vol. 2. 909–26. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
   
• Sternhell, Yeal A. “Emancipation.” In A Companion to the U.S. Civil War , ed. by Aaron Sheehan-Dean, vol. 2. 987–1002. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.

General Literature

• Adams, Michael C. C. Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.
   
• Barney, William L. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Civil War. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
   
• Clampitt, Bradley R. The Civil War and Reconstruction in Indian Territory. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2015.
   
• Doyle, Don Harrison. The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War. New York: Basic Books, 2015.
   
• Gallman, J. Matthew. Defining Duty in the Civil War: Personal Choice, Popular Culture, and the Union Home Front. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015.
   
• Mitchell, Reid. The American Civil War, 1861-1865. New York and London: Routledge, 2015.
   
• Sheehan-Dean, Aaron. A Companion to the U.S. Civil War. 2 vols. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
   
• Tulloch, Hugh. The Routledge Companion to the U.S. Civil War Era. London and New York: Routledge, 2006.

Literature on Gender & War

• Attie, Jeanie. Patriotic Toil: Northern Women and the American Civil War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998.
   
• Blanton, DeAnne, and Lauren M. Cook. They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2002.
   
• Cashin, Joan E. The War Was You and Me: Civilians in the American Civil War. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.
   
• Clinton, Catherine and Nina Silber (eds.). Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
   
• Clinton, Catherine and Nina Silber (eds.). Battle Scars: Gender and Sexuality in the American Civil War. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
   
• Faust, Drew Gilpin. Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
   
• Foote, Lorien. The Gentlemen and the Roughs: Manhood, Honor, and Violence in the Union Army. New York: New York University Press, 2010.
   
• Harper, Judith E. Women during the Civil War: An Encyclopedia. London and New York: Routledge, 2004.
   
• Schultz, Jane E. Women at the Front: Hospital Workers in Civil War America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
   
• Silber, Nina. Daughters of the Union: Northern Women Fight the Civil War. Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Press, 2005.

Methodological Introductions

Women’s and Gender History

• Rose, Sonya O. What is Gender History? Cambridge: Polity Press 2010.

Military History

• Morillo, Stephen, and Michael F. Pavkovic. What is Military History? Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.

Film History

• Thompson, Kristin and David Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003.

War in Film

• Chapman, James. War and Film. London: Reaktion, 2008.

Film Analysis

• Monaco, James. How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond: Art, Technology, Language, History, Theory. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009 (4th ed., completely rev. and expanded).