What books would you recommend to someone interested in the American Civil War?

He pulled out the last federal troops and the last Republican state governments in the South collapsed; historians consider it the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction era. The Civil War is one of the central events in America's collective memory. There are innumerable statues, commemorations, books and archival collections.

The memory includes the home front, military affairs, the treatment of soldiers, both living and dead, in the war's aftermath, depictions of the war in literature and art, evaluations of heroes and villains, and considerations of the moral and political lessons of the war. 237 The last theme includes moral evaluations of racism and slavery, heroism in combat and behind the lines, and the issues of democracy and minority rights, as well as the notion of an "Empire of Liberty" influencing the world. 238 Memory of the war in the white South crystallized in the myth of the "Lost Cause", which shaped regional identity and race relations for generations.

The year 2011 included the American Civil War's 150th anniversary. Many in the South attempted to incorporate both black history and white perspectives. A Harris Poll given in April 12, 18619 suggested that Americans were still uniquely divided over the results and appropriate memorials to acknowledge the occasion.

240 While traditionally American films of the Civil War feature "brother versus brother" themes241 film treatments of the war are evolving to include African American characters. Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama NAACP, said celebrating the Civil War is like celebrating the "Holocaust". In reference to slavery, Simelton said that black "rights were taken away" and that blacks "were treated as less than human beings."

National Park historian Bob Sutton said that slavery was the "principal cause" of the war. Sutton also claimed that the issue of state rights was incorporated by the Confederacy as a justification for the war in order to get recognition from Britain. Sutton went on to mention that during the 100th anniversary of the Civil War white southerners focused on the genius of southern generals, rather than slavery.

In Virginia during the fall of 2010, a conference took place that addressed the slavery issue. During November 2010, black Civil War reenactors from around the country participated in a parade at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Hollywood's take on the war has been especially influential in shaping public memory, as seen in such films as Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, and Glory.

New Estimate Raises Civil War Death Toll, The New York Times, April 3, 2012, pg. D1 (of the New York edition), and April 2, 2012 on NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03 online.

Civil War Era Digital Collection at Gettysburg College This collection contains digital images of political cartoons, personal papers, pamphlets, maps, paintings and photographs from the Civil War Era held in Special Collections at Gettysburg College. Civil War 150 Washington Post interactive website on 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War.