History of the Civil War: Enhanced Edition

In this enhanced edition of James Ford Rhodes’ classic study of the Civil War, the conflict is brought to life through eyewitness accounts, multimedia, and an engrossing narrative that weaves together political, economic and military history. Rhodes’ birds-eye view of the war is interspersed with introductions to topics like: army life, commerce raiding, trench warfare, religion, guerrilla fighting, and medical care. The book also includes: 


– Approximately one thousand contemporary illustrations, paintings, and photographs that provide a visual introduction to the Civil War and the era in general.

– Interactive maps that introduce the reader to antebellum South, blockade-running, Washington D.C. during the war, etc.

– A treasure trove of carefully collected first-hand accounts which document the personal experiences of soldiers and civilians.

– Interactive galleries featuring some of the most notorious guerrilla fighters, spies, and prison camps of the war.

– Instrumental interpretations of classic Civil War songs like ”Bonnie Blue Flag”, ”Tenting on the Old Camp Ground”, and ”Home Sweet Home”.



History of the Civil War: Enhanced Edition is not a detached study of the conflict, but an exploration of how it was experienced first-hand. The war is seen through the eyes of its participants – from privates and generals, Rebel captains of blockade-runners and commerce raiders, deserters, fugitive slaves, prisoners of war, spies, nurses and doctors, to politicians and civilians in both North and South. Through their words we go on a journey through the Civil War that will take us from training camps in the North to the bloody battlefields of Virginia and the West; from Charleston in the grips of secession fever to Vicksburg under siege; and from the horrors endured in Andersonville prison camp to adventures on the high seas on board the CSS Alabama.