Category: Civil War

In Memoriam: Distinguished Historian Peter S. Carmichael

We are saddened by the passing of Professor Peter S. Carmichael, a remarkable historian who made significant contributions in the field of Civil War studies. UNC Press is honored to have worked with him on many projects over the years, including most recently The War That Made America: Essays Inspired by the Scholarship of Gary W. Gallagher. The new fall issue… Continue Reading In Memoriam: Distinguished Historian Peter S. Carmichael

New This Week

It’s Tuesday which means: new books! Today The War That Made America: Essays Inspired by the Scholarship of Gary W. Gallagher edited by Caroline E. Janney, Peter S. Carmichael, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean is officially on-sale wherever books are sold. This collection of original essays reveals the richness and dynamism of contemporary scholarship on the Civil War era. Contributors are William A. Blair, Peter… Continue Reading New This Week

Medicine, Science, and Making Race in Civil War America: An Excerpt

The following is an excerpt of Medicine, Science, and Making Race in Civil War America by Leslie A. Schwalm, available wherever books are sold. Race and the U.S. Military: Black Soldiering Early in the war, congress, the Lincoln administration, and the War Department’s leadership first rejected then moved very cautiously toward Black enlistment. By 1863, it was military necessity and… Continue Reading Medicine, Science, and Making Race in Civil War America: An Excerpt

New This Month: March

We’re kicking off our Spring/Summer 2023 season with a stellar line up of new titles! Browse this list to see new books publishing this month, and you can find the full list, including a bunch of new in paperbacks here. The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Women: Stories of Landscape and Community in the Mountain South edited by Kami Ahrens “These… Continue Reading New This Month: March

Happy Birthday, General Butler: Remarks for Butler Birthday Commemoration

The following are remarks given by Elizabeth D. Leonard, author of Benjamin Franklin Butler: a Noisy, Fearless Life, at the annual Benjamin Butler birthday commemoration at the cemetery in Dracut, MA, where he and many of his family members are buried. As you may or may not know, I am the author of a new biography of General Butler: Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy,… Continue Reading Happy Birthday, General Butler: Remarks for Butler Birthday Commemoration

Book Talk with Angela Esco Elder: Love and Duty

Between 1861 and 1865, approximately 200,000 women were widowed by the deaths of Civil War soldiers. They recorded their experiences in diaries, letters, scrapbooks, and pension applications. In Love and Duty: Confederate Widows and the Emotional Politics of Loss, Angela Esco Elder draws on these materials—as well as songs, literary works, and material objects like mourning gowns—to explore white Confederate… Continue Reading Book Talk with Angela Esco Elder: Love and Duty

Toward a Nightmare

The following is a guest blog post by Jeffry D. Wert, author of The Heart of Hell: The Soldiers’ Struggle for Spotsylvania’s Bloody Angle, available now wherever books and ebooks are sold. May 4, 1864, dawned across central Virginia with spring’s promise of life and war’s portent of death. A day in which “all nature seems smiling” had been anticipated for… Continue Reading Toward a Nightmare

A Vision Place of Souls

The following is a guest blog post by Jeffry D. Wert, author of The Heart of Hell: The Soldiers’ Struggle for Spotsylvania’s Bloody Angle, on sale Tuesday, July 12th wherever books and ebooks are sold. It was a cold February afternoon five years ago when I stood inside the Mule Shoe on the battlefield of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia. Man,… Continue Reading A Vision Place of Souls

What Ever Happened to Sheppard Mallory, Frank Baker, and James Townsend?

The following is a guest blog post by Elizabeth D. Leonard, author of Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life. Benjamin Franklin Butler was one of the most important and controversial military and political leaders of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Remembered most often for his uncompromising administration of the Federal occupation of New Orleans during the war, Butler reemerges… Continue Reading What Ever Happened to Sheppard Mallory, Frank Baker, and James Townsend?

Let’s Stop Calling Him ‘Beast’

The following is a guest blog post by Elizabeth D. Leonard, author of Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life. Benjamin Franklin Butler was one of the most important and controversial military and political leaders of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Remembered most often for his uncompromising administration of the Federal occupation of New Orleans during the war, Butler reemerges… Continue Reading Let’s Stop Calling Him ‘Beast’

Data Denial and America’s Epistemic Crisis

Guest blog post by Stephen Berry, author of Count the Dead: Coroners, Quants, and the Birth of Death as We Know It. In Count the Dead, Stephen Berry shows how a network of coroners, court officials, and state and federal authorities developed methods to track and reveal patterns of dying. These officials harnessed these records to turn the collective dead… Continue Reading Data Denial and America’s Epistemic Crisis

2022 Society for Military History Annual Meeting

UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting in-person at SMH 2022—we hope you’ll stop by booth 207 and say hello to Debbie Gershenowitz! And if you can’t join us in-person, please visit our virtual booth! Forthcoming The Whartons’ War: The Civil War Correspondence of General Gabriel C. Wharton and Anne Radford Wharton, 1863–1865 Edited by William C. Davis and Sue… Continue Reading 2022 Society for Military History Annual Meeting

Richard Strand’s Play, “Ben Butler”

The following is a guest blog post by Elizabeth D. Leonard, author of Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life. Benjamin Franklin Butler was one of the most important and controversial military and political leaders of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Remembered most often for his uncompromising administration of the Federal occupation of New Orleans during the war, Butler reemerges… Continue Reading Richard Strand’s Play, “Ben Butler”

How Civil War Financial Agents Sold the World on the Union

The following is an excerpt taken from Bonds of War: How Civil War Financial Agents Sold the World on the Union by David K. Thomson, which demonstrates how Europe, and ultimately all corners of the globe, grew deeply interdependent on American finance during, and in the immediate aftermath of, the American Civil War.  More than any other financial instrument, the… Continue Reading How Civil War Financial Agents Sold the World on the Union

2022 Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting

It was so good to be back in-person at OAH 2022! If you missed seeing us in Boston, please visit our virtual booth to browse our recent American history titles, learn more about our great book series, or connect with one of our acquisitions editors. Congratulations to all of our award winners from this weekend! Recasting the Vote: How Women… Continue Reading 2022 Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting

Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Ann Bingham)

Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this historical month, we’ll be sharing reading lists curated by our staff featuring all authors who identify as women. Today we’re sharing a list from our Exhibits and Awards Manager Ann Bingham. Click here to see the previously shared lists and learn more about how Women’s History Month came about. If you’re interested in purchasing any of… Continue Reading Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Ann Bingham)

Colin Powell’s funeral was a missed opportunity for the country

The following is a guest blog post by Sarah J. Purcell, author of Spectacle of Grief: Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era, reposted from the Washington Post. This illuminating book examines how the public funerals of major figures from the Civil War era shaped public memories of the war and allowed a diverse set of people to contribute to changing… Continue Reading Colin Powell’s funeral was a missed opportunity for the country

Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Susan Garrett)

Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this historical month, we’ll be sharing reading lists curated by our staff featuring all authors who identify as women. Today we’re sharing a list from Susan Garrett, our Sales Manager. Click here to see the previously shared lists and learn more about how Women’s History Month came about. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these books,… Continue Reading Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Susan Garrett)

Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Cate Hodorowicz)

Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this historical month, we’ll be sharing reading lists curated by our staff featuring all authors who identify as women. Today we’re sharing a list from Cate Hodorowicz, one of our newly promoted Editors. Click here to see the previously shared lists and learn more about how Women’s History Month came about. If you’re interested in purchasing any… Continue Reading Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Cate Hodorowicz)

Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Sonya Bonczek)

Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this historical month, we’ll be sharing reading lists curated by our staff featuring all authors who identify as women. Today we’re sharing a list from Sonya Bonczek, our Director of Publicity. Click here to see the previously shared lists and learn more about how Women’s History Month came about. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these… Continue Reading Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Sonya Bonczek)