Armies of Deliverance by Elizabeth R. Varon provides a sweeping, comprehensive, and eminently readable introduction to the U.S. Civil War. Recently published by Oxford University Press in 2021, Varon’s bold yet unassuming 531-page scholarly tome is no endless catalog of facts and opinions. On the contrary, it is a solid…
If you can buy only one history book to prepare for your bicycle trip to Gettysburg, I recommend that you first consider your needs. Okay, that may sound obvious. But if you have never planned a historical bicycle tour, you may not know what you need. Consider these questions: Do you need…
Sometimes, the best books are written for kids but read by adults. My top pick for the simplest ever introduction to Gettysburg goes to MacKinlay Kantor. Originally written in 1952, this little classic for middle-school children survives as an accurate, high-level summary of the Battle of Gettysburg. As a former teacher and life-long…