McPherson or Foote?

[Major Tom]

For a different sort of book, I absolutely LOVE my American Heritage Battle Maps of the Civil War. http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Maps-Civil-American-Heritage/dp/0831713720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234298730&sr=1-1

This coffee table book is built around 15 beautiful illustrations that were done in the 1960's for American Heritage. I may be biased because I knew these maps from childhood (anyone else remember the great American Heritage hardcover history magazine from the 1960's?)

The maps are really not what you think of as battle maps, but very nicely rendered bridseye paintings of 15 major battlefields, complete with little figures of the soldiers, and illustratating major events in each battle (but all at the same time, so for Gettysburg you're seeing Pickett's Charge, Little Round Top, and Devil's Den all on illustrated on the same map.

I found these maps endlessly fascinating as a child, and I still love them. In this recent (but now out of print) book, the map-illustrations are supplemented with brief descriptions of the 15 battles plus more traditional battlemaps, some from the era. I have a whole shelf of Civil War books and this is one of my favorities to just pull out and leaf through.

Ignore the 3-star average review on Amazon, since there are only 2 reviews and one is a 1* gripe form someone who didn't get the book he ordered!

[Sarkus]

McPherson would also be my choice if you could only choose just one. Just keep in mind that most of the classic works on the war are biased in some way or another. It's best to read several to get different perspectives and to always keep in mind that no one is completely unbiased. I find that reading the rare non-American authored book on the war or one of its subjects is refreshing as well. McPherson is a great way to start, but the others mentioned here (Catton, Foote, and Freeman) are good places to go after that will keep you occupied for some time.