The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War: The best, the worst, the largest, and the most lethal top ten rankings of the Civil War (History Buff's Guides)

Strong research makes a series of lists resonate for anyone interested in the Civil War. It can be taken individually by listing or list of comprehensively as a whole. The lists are helpful in seeing some of the depths of different topic areas.I would have liked more about some of the personalities but the best and worst generals caught a good portion of the varied humanity of the participants.An enjoyable read with footnotes and other ways to connect with this most American war.

Unable to evaluate

Bought this as a gift for my husband who is a major history buff, especially the Civil War Era. My Coach J really really enjoys it. In fact, I'm even going to read it because of his enthusiasm!! I found this book in a giant souvenir store while visiting Gettysburg Pennsylvania and I immediately pulled up Amazon and found it at a much better price. I do that a lot and Amazon never lets me down. And in fact I've stopped going to eBay for the same purposes. Thank you very much. Huge fan. Very pleased. God bless America!!~ Joyful Judi

This book is a great way to jump into the Civil War (at least it was for me). It has just the right amount of detail and allows me to continue my investigation (which was limited to the battle at Gettysburg). It came up a little short is style and approach but it gets the job done. Speaking as one who always wanted to give more time to this epoch but did not know where to go next, this covered the battles, the people, and the country before and during the war. It also piqued my interest in other battles and put a couple more sites on my "Must Visit" list. At the current price, it is a good deal and does what it purports to do.

This book is based on lists (top 10 etc.) and their detailed descriptions. While it could have appeared to be just a jumble of stuff, the author provided great context and uses the numerous lists to cover much more ground than just the battles (social, economic, political etc.). If there was a category or 2 that a reader found tedious, you could skip them. Overall this book provided better context on 'what things were like' than any other I've read on the Civil War.

A fantastic read. I was greatly impressed with the author's take of the Civil War. Each chapter covered ten different things that occurred during the was. It covers the similarities between Abe Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, The best and worst generals on both sides. The percentage of slaves to whites in each of the seceding states. What occurred during the various major battles. Plus numerous other areas of the war. You can see that fantastic research went into the book I have also read the authors both on Worl War II and would highly recommend it,, Again read this book and you will learn a lot.

For beginners or new high school students just now learning about the civil war this is an excellent beginning read. I love his rankings but may not agree with all. Being a buff of civil war history this is not for the experienced student or reader but I enjoyed it. And hey, he's a professor at a state college about 40 miles from me. So I'm going to get his other one on World War II.

I don't know what I expected, but I think it was probably a dry and studious book. This book is not that. It is very interesting and I am learning more than I ever dreamed I didn't know without any pain. It is far from boring, but rather, it is informative and entertaining. Mr. Fagel writes for the common man with an easy to understand style.