"Being Canadian, I don't know a lot about the U.S. Civil War."

You're in good company. In my experience, most Americans know very little about the Civil War and also know very little about most other topics or periods of US History. The history curriculum in many schools isn't very good and it doesn't tend to be a popular subject.

Sorry, I can't suggest a book covering the period. I like reading history in nonfiction form but this period isn't one I prefer to learn about. I did read John Ransom's Andersonville Diary, covering the same subject as the fictionalized account you read. I have read some books about Lincoln, said to be the most written about historical figure in the English language. One of better regarded of the tens of thousands of those would provide more insight. See Goodreads for suggestions.

There are so many. This question is a good one for me as I am a literature specialist in precisely this era.

Gone with the Wind is, of course, highly romanticized. I prefer the realism of something like Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty (De Forest) which influenced Crane's Red Badge (interestingly Crane never saw the war and relied only on others' accounts). I also love Shiloh (Foote) and Cold Mountain (Frazier). Back to the romantic, there's Little Women (Alcott) of course.

If you are interested in non-fiction, reading some of the plights of escaped slaves such as Douglas' Narrative and Linda Jacobs' account leading to the War are very powerful. Again back to fiction and the romantic is Uncle Tom's Cabin (Stowe) which is a fascinating and mult-faceted novel. So influential was it on the Civil War that when Stowe met President Lincoln he greeted her as the 'little lady who started this big War.'

It is a rich area of literature.

A thousand years ago, when I was in college, we had some sort of power outage. Can't remember particulars, but do remember NO HEAT in dorm... January or February in the PA Poconos... COLD!! Only thing you could do was bundle up and try to keep warm. I remember wearing sweaters/coat and getting into bed with every possible blanket. Have NO idea where it came from, but I read GWTW straight through... and was in love! I'm in trouble if I come across the movie on TV... just HAVE to watch it.

I found The Killer Angels (Michael Shaara) to be thoroughly engrossing.

Not a novel, but Mary Chestnut's Civil War, seen HERE, is quite engrossing. Also, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant was excellent, very well written by Grant. I learned so much by both of these books, neither of which were dull or dry.

You would have to search for this, and it's not 'a novel'. I couldn't tear myself away from reading "The Eye of the Storm" by Robert Knox Sneden. Sneden was a Union soldier and an artist. He was a Confederate prisoner for years. His story and his sketchbook were discovered after his death and, ironically, published by the Virginia Historical Society. My library was able to order it for me after I'd seen it mentioned in the Chicago Tribune.

One of the things he wrote about early on struck me as one of those 'nothing ever changes' observations: He was bitter about the shoddy uniforms provided by war profiteers. (Remember when the families of soldiers in Afghanistan would send them body armor because what the U.S. government supplied was useless?)

I recently read "Americas' First Daughter"....a novel written by two women after researching Thomas Jeffersons daughters' life and found it to be most interesting. The struggles that began with our Founding Fathers, concerning slavery, eventually led to the Civil War. This thread led me to Good Reads and a surprisingly long list of reading adventures.....much more interesting than much of my current reads. Actually, I was surprised at how many books I have read and spent the whole evening revisiting so many great reads while I was rating them. Who knew?

Wow, some wonderful ideas here! Thank you all, keep them coming. Rhizo, I notice that Mary Chestnut's book won the Pulitzer Prize, as did GWTW and Andersonville. Cassandra, Little Women is a classic that I've never read. Now that I know it's about the Civil War, I'm going to reserve some time to devote to the book because I'm sure it will be a doozy of a read to an avid book lover as myself. GWTW is romanticized about the war, but it also provides a look at the social and political life of the time - very interesting. Elmer, I've been thinking of listening to the audiobook version of John Ransom's Andersonville Diary but might get it in paper instead so I can skip over any disturbing sections.

• I haven't read many novels on the subject. I like to do nonfiction and family research. I don't find the military part so interesting. The events leading up to the Civil War and how that affected things for years afterwards is kind of interesting.
• (Not sure why this is bulleted.) You might read the follow up to 'Gone With the Wind'. .. 'Scarlett' by Alexandra Ripley.

Here are some more for your list. They are from the Christian Science Monitor's 10 Best Novels About the Civil War

The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All---Allan Gurganus

The Red Badge Of Courage---Stephen Crane

The March---E.L. Doctorow

Shiloh---Shelby Foote

March---Geraldine Brooks

The Widow Of the South---Robert Hicks

I also recommend Mary Chesnut's diary. Incidently, reading this left me thoroughly convinced that the war was indeed all about preserving slavery (as opposed to some who argue otherwise). She says so pretty clearly.

Rifles for Watie. Harold Keith

I was 8-9 years old when I first read this fiction book. Based on some actual events, and some fiction, follows a 16 year old through the Civil War.

IIRC, John Jakes trilogy is soft porn.

I'm really loving all these titles! Raee, I've been considering an audiobook The Half Has Never Been Told that makes the point that slavery was enormously important in building and maintaining economic strength and as such, every effort was made to continue the status quo. The book is rated quite highly in Audible.com but from the description, it could be a harrowing read.

Ooops, forgot one, stacey.......

Twelve Years a Slave, by Solomon Northrup. It was used as the basis for a feature film (not a documentary) not too long ago. Unfortunately, as is often the case, many story elements were changed for the movie and the changes weren't faithful to the actual events. I recommend it for its descriptions of Northrup's unfortunate experiences. The parts I think are the most essential to read aren't always pleasant to get through.

This was a lost but recently rediscovered work. It should be required reading for high schoolers, especially in the many parts of the country where people still harbor ignorance and ambivalent attitudes about African Americans and their slavery experiences in the US.

I haven't read this book but dh says it was great. It is The Killing of Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly

I just finished Jubilee by Margaret Walker.

It tells the story of the from the perspective of a slave. It was very good.

Here's the synopsis from Barnes & Noble:

Jubilee tells the true story of Vyry, the child of a white
plantation owner and his black mistress. Vyry bears witness to the
South’s antebellum opulence and to its brutality, its wartime ruin, and
the promises of Reconstruction. Weaving her own family’s oral history
with thirty years of research, Margaret Walker’s novel brings the
everyday experiences of slaves to light. Jubilee churns with the hunger, the hymns, the struggles, and the very breath of American history.

O'Reilly's "Killing" books have been pretty consistently panned for having many errors, factual inaccuracies, and uncited sources. They all also have a co-author and the degree of his involvement is never mentioned because it's thought that information might discourage book purchases by his considerable fanbase (who think these works are produced with his substantial efforts).

There are many better regarded books produced by subject-matter experts on this and other Lincoln topics, they're easy enough to find.

(note for Stacey and other non-Amis who aren't up to date with the US TV scene - O'Reilly is a rather controversial and biased TV personality whose views are reflective one of our two major parties. Those of that party support him and agree with him as consistently as those of the other party don't.)

Wonderful books! I plan to keep a list of the titles on my computer so they're readily available. Elmer, Twelve Years a Slave is another audiobook that I've been considering. I have heard that it is disturbing, but that aspect is maybe tempered somewhat by the happier ending.

I remember years ago I read a series of American History historical novels by John Jakes and some were based on the Civil War. I am Canadian and we were taught a lot of American History in school. Windsor was a stop on the Underground Railroad so there is a lot of history here

Link to Google Search Underground Railroad Books

Not a book, but the most moving thing we've seen on the Civil War was the documentary done by Ken Burns. It inspired DH and I to go to Gettysburg to walk the battlefield and gain a deeper insight into all what happened there...I guess as an emotional release for all that the documentary stirred up in us.

Shelby Foote had a big part in the Ken Burns film and has written extensively about the civil war.

There are many good books about Harriet Tubman, and of course the book that sold 2nd only to the Bible in its day was Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe...said to be responsible for bringing France into the Civil War on the side of the union.

There are also many excellent books on Lincoln one each written by Vidal, Goodwin and White.

Oh YES, I 2nd the Civil War Documentary by Ken Burns. It's quite compelling!

"said to be responsible for bringing France into the Civil War on the side of the union."

I believe France wasn't on the Union side during the Civil War - it was officially neutral and didn't offer favor or support to either side. See link below to Wikipedia.

France and Civil War

I highly recommend March by Geraldine Brooks. Read it after you finish Little Women. It tells the story of the father in Little Women while he is away at the war.

Not based on a book--to my knowledge--but the movie Shenandoah tells the story of one Virginia family during the Civil War. Wonderful actors, but it's a tearjerker--I first saw it as a child, and have cried every time I've seen it since.

JoanEileen and junco, I've never heard of March.--I'll have to look for it. Can't say I was ever curious about the father, or his fate, when I read L.M. Alcott's books.

Twelve Years a Slave, by Solomon Northrup is an excellent book! It is somewhat disturbing, or it wouldn't be true, but very gripping and hard to put down. He tells about the very good and the very bad people, both white and black with whom he comes in contact.

Thanks Elmer, apparently my bad. I thought France sided with the union and never recognized the CSA.

Did anyone mention Cold Mountain by Frazier?

Yes, I did above. Great novel.

I will read Cold Mountain next, to keep my Civil War theme going! I remember that the book was made into a movie - I haven't seen it, and wonder if it closely followed the novel? About GWTW, it continues to be a popular book in my area. I have a paperback copy (small print) and the used bookstores I called didn't have a hardcover. I even had to put a hold on the copies at the public library, since they were out. Thank you again to everyone!

Getting toward the end of GWTW and still enjoying the vivid portrayal of that time and place, but am very thankful that society's attitudes toward racial equality are different now than in the era portrayed. I recently listened to a very compelling nonfiction audiobook that shows positive moves in this area Gentle Giant of Dynamite Hill. It portrays Arthur Shores, who worked very hard to finance his law school education and who was one of the first black lawyers in Birmingham. He was involved in the civil rights movement and successfully pursued the rights of blacks through the court system. He persisted despite his family's fear when their home was bombed twice and, during this time, there was a bombing of a predominantly black-attended church in which several young girls died.