1. The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940, William L. Shirer. Not as popular as Shirer’s other work The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich but every bit as interesting. How political elites precipitated a moral breakdown which permitted the country to rot from the inside to a point where an aggressive neighbor subjugated a once proud people.
2. Island of Fire: The Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad, Jason D. Mark. Remarkably detailed squad level account of the savage fight for the factory complex in central Stalingrad.
3. Where the Red Fern Grow, Wilson Rawls. Great story about friendship and loyalty. (See I can be an old softy.)
4. The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command, Coddington.
5. History of the Fifth Massachusetts Battery. I like this history because it contains a good number of personal letters from members of the battery.
6. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye. Novel of the British in India during the 1800’s. I read this when I was poor and going to college in 1979 and love it.
7. The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, Barbara W. Tuchman. A great book on the stupidity of government and politicians.
8. The Gleam of Bayonets, James V. Murfin. Not the best book on the Maryland Campaign but the first one I ever read.
9. On War, Carl von Clausewitz. Sun Tzu with and attitude.
10. Galloping Thunder: The Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion, Robert J. Trout. Flat out the best work on Stuart’s horse artillery.

That’s it. I have so many others I would like to add (David M. Glantz’ work on Stalingrad comes to mind) but I will keep it at 10

I think you meant to add Tully as a co-author of Shattered Sword. I agree, by the way – an excellent example of how to research, evaluate, and write “revisionist” history.

My list:

1. “Gettysburg” by Stephen Sears. Combined with my first visit to the battlefield to prompt me to return to college for my History degree.

2. “Downfall” by Richard Frank. Changed my long-held opinion about the atomic bombs.

3. “The Impending Crisis” by David Potter. Cemented in my mind the central role of slavery in causing the Civil War.

4. “The Anatomy of Facism” by Robert Paxton. Stellar analysis of what fascism is and isn’t. One of the most interesting political science books I’ve ever read and I’d recommend it to anyone in this era where the terms ‘fascism’ and ‘communism’ are thrown around so recklessly.

5. “Paris 1919” by Margaret MacMillan. An outstanding history.

6. “Shattered Sword” by Jonathan Parsall. Great fresh perspective on the Battle of Midway, with some of the best and snarkiest footnotes.

7. “The Civil War: A Narrative” by Shelby Foote. I read this trilogy over the course of a year in high school. The experience really stuck with me, although sadly did not motivate me to insist on being a history major in college (at the time).

8. “The First World War” by John Keegan. Fascinating strategic insight. I should note that this really needs to be read along with the first chapter of his “Second World War” (which was written first).

9. “A Walk In The Woods” by Bill Bryson. Probably my favorite pure-fun non-fiction read.

10. “A Walk To Remember” by Nicholas Sparks. Fluffy and hilariously out of place with the other 1400+ books in my Goodreads library, but I adored this book for a long time.

1.American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War
2. Miller’s Photographic History of the Civil War (1911) – a book my great-great uncle apparently bought when he was in the GAR
3. Mr. Lincoln’s Army by Catton
4. Glory Road by Catton
5. Stillness at Appomattox by Catton
6. Gettysburg by Kantor
7. Making of the President 1960 by White
8. Incredible Victory by Lord
9. Now We Are Enemies by Fleming
10. The Game by Ken Dryden

Chris

http://www.yorkblog.com/cannonball/2014/08/24/10-civil-war-books-which-early-on-influenced-my-interest-in-the-civil-war/

TimeLife Civil War Series
Lord of the Rings
Catcher in the Rye
Forgotten Soldier
Ishmael (daniel quinn)
Lee’s Lieutenants
RE Lee (Freeman)
Blue and Gray (Commager)
Battles and Leaders
Man’s Search for Meaning (Frankl)
Company Aytch
Goodbye Darkness (William Manchester)
The Forever War (Sci-Fi- Joe Haldeman)
Aquarian Conspiracy (80s Utopian tome Let’s-all-get-along-cause-we-can – well, not quite yet)
The Stranger (Camus)