150th Anniversary of the Civil War

On April 12th, 1861 the first shot was fired on Fort Sumter, S.C. and thus began the American Civil War. It has remained a steadfast interest in the minds of many Americans, through research, the reading of old diaries, and through re-enactments of actual battles. ABC Libraries has over 1200 items listed from a keyword search, "History--United States--Civil War, 1861-1865" and this list includes, audiobooks, movies, fiction titles for adults and children, non-fiction titles and genealogical materials currently located at the Main Library 2nd floor.

A sampling of a few of our newest items include:

--A new 3 volume DVD set titled The American Civil War.

--The Crossing by author Gilbert Morris. It is a new Christian fiction series subtitled "The Last Cavaliers" with Stonewall Jackson as one of it's main characters.

--A children's novel titled Will at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 by Laurie Calkhoven. There are also several well-known and not so well-known titles that you can check out.

--You Wouldn't Want to be in the First Submarine!: An Undersea Exploration You'd Rather Avoid: The story of the H.L. Hunley geared to juvenile audiences.

--The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, considered to be one of the best novels ever written about Gettysburg and a Pulitizer Prize winner. A prequel novel Gods and Generals was written by Shaara's son Jeff and centers around four leaders, Joshua Chamberlain, Winfield Scott Hancock, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and the journey each of them takes from 1858 to the battle of Gettysburg in 1863. You can also check out the two movies based on these books, Gettysburg, starring Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee, Jeff Daniels as Joshua Chamberlain and Tom Berenger as James Longstreet and the follow-up movie Gods and Generals with Robert Duvall as Robert E. Lee, Stephen Lang as Stonewall Jackson and Jeff Daniels reprising his role as Joshua Chamberlain.

--The three volume set The Civil War, a Narrative by Shelby Foote. Volume 1 is Fort Sumter to Perryville, Volume 2 is Fredericksburg to Meridian and Volume 3 is Red River to Appomattox. The link will allow you to choose which volume you would like to check out.

--The Confederate War by Gary Gallagher is a history and social work on the Confederacy.

--Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson is a one-volume history on the war that can be read by novices and academics alike.

--Glory is a story of the 54th Massachusetts regiment from it's inception by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw to it's demise at Fort Wagner is a compelling movie starring Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Denzel Washington.

--The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane was published in 1895 and has long been read by millions of students throughout the country. You can also watch the DVD directed by John Houston, starring Audie Murphy as the young soldier Henry Fleming.

--New Mexico had a crucial, if not limited role in the Civil War; some of the works we have include Pati Nagle's works The Guns of Valverde and Glorieta Pass as well as Distant Bugles, Distant Drums by Flint Wheelock, to name a few.

--Of course no list would be complete without mentioning Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell and the equally brilliant DVD, starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

This list is just a sampling of the large collection the library has of the Civil War and if you need something that ABC libraries does not have, be sure to check out Interlibrary Loan program to see if we can find it for you.