Civil War book series

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  • December 5, 2011 at 8:33 pm
    Sue
    Participant

    Has anyone read Joseph A. Altsheler’s series of American Civil War books, which start with The Guns of Bull Run? What did you think of them? There are 8 in the series, I believe, but I’m thinking we’ll only read one of the series right now. I’m looking for a rather light read somewhere in the 4th to 7th grade level (as a read-aloud) to add to our Civil War studies.

    I know we’ll be fairly busy during the next few weeks, and that’s why I don’t want anything too extensive or too heavy, but I also don’t want to carry it over too far into January. But I also feel that our reading on Abraham Lincoln didn’t really give much detail on the Civil War itself.

    Of course, if anyone has anything else to recommend, I’d love to hear about it. I’m partial to historical fiction, but it could be non-fiction as well.

    December 5, 2011 at 9:55 pm
    Karen Smith
    Moderator

    We love Altsheler’s books here! We are currently reading his World War I series. Altsheler’s books are not what i consider light reading. His books tend to be very detailed. They are historical fiction and are well researched. I read his series on Texas’ fight for independence from Mexico to my son. We later read about that fight in history and were amazed at how accurate Altsheler’s story was to what actually happened. 

    Altsheler’s Civil War series starts with two cousins who live in Kentucky choosing to be involved in different sides of the war. The first book then follows the cousin who chooses to fight for the South. The second book follows the cousin who fights for the North. The books alternate sides, giving a good picture of Army life for both North and South and covering several of the major battles, until the final book when the war is over and all the story lines running through the series are brought together. I don’t recommend just reading one because you will miss a lot of the story. 

    As for other recommendations, have you read The Boys’ War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War by Jim Murphy?

    December 5, 2011 at 11:09 pm
    nerakr
    Participant

    This isn’t exactly a light read either and may be too much for a 4th grader, but you may want to look at Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. It’s more about a family on the homefront, but the main character has brothers fighting on both sides. I also thought of Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith, but that may be for slightly older.

    December 6, 2011 at 6:29 am
    Sue
    Participant

    @Karen – We read Jim Murphy’s book, A Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy, last year and enjoyed it. I’ll have to check out The Boys’ War…

    I looked at a very small Amazon sample of the first of Altsheler’s Civil War series, and it looked appealing, but I’m afraid I’ll want to read every last book in the series. That might carry us too close to the end of the school year, and my kids would hang me if I told them we were going to spend the summer covering the remaining 145 years of American history! Maybe I’ll just leave them as a free reading suggestion for my 13yo dd who has a greater interest in the Civil War than her younger siblings.

    Anyway, I just realized that I had received the book, Robert E. Lee: Gallant Christian Soldier, from Paperback Swap, and it has been sitting on my bookshelf for the past several months. I picked it up tonight and skimmed through a few chapters, and I believe I’m sold on the idea of leaving historical fiction in favor of a biography to expand upon this era. And to think it won’t have cost me a cent!

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