Really liked the structure of this book. Done in a top 10 style that gave enough information to let you decide if you want to read more on a subject without weighing you down with too many details. ( )

Irresistible collection of Civil War-themed lists that seems to hit a very wide range of topics from causes of the war to best and worst generals to the soldier's food fare to the home front. All in bite-sized bits I was able to read while waiting at MacDonalds and that sort of thing. Too bad its too late to add The Free State of Jones to be added to the Best Civil War films. ( )

A good place to begin for those who have only a tenuous grasp of the American Civil War. However, it is composed entirely of lists which can be daunting. Also, it is truly impossible to get an accurate representation of the Civil War while at the same time compressing everything into such neat lists. In addition, I disagreed with some of the author's choice of entries. Finally, though the entries are generally well-written, they are just that, short little snippets of information, a condensed version of history. In order to get more indepth information it would be necessary to do further research. Unfortunately, though there is a diminutive bibliography, the author didn't appear to use a footnoting system, making it difficult to determine where he acquired his information and the validity of the source materials. This lack of a substantial bibliography and of footnoting pretty much guarantees that I would not use this book in writing a serious research book.

The negative traits aside. "The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War" is a very compact way to be introduced to the Civil War and as such might serve as an introduction to the conflict. In addition, the short subjects might also be useful in providing ideas for independent discussions and topics for research papers. But should be used with caution! ( )

A good place to begin for those who have only a tenuous grasp of the American Civil War. However, it is composed entirely of lists which can be daunting. Also, it is truly impossible to get an accurate representation of the Civil War while at the same time compressing everything into such neat lists. In addition, I disagreed with some of the author's choice of entries. Finally, though the entries are generally well-written, they are just that, short little snippets of information, a condensed version of history. In order to get more indepth information it would be necessary to do further research. Unfortunately, though there is a diminutive bibliography, the author didn't appear to use a footnoting system, making it difficult to determine where he acquired his information and the validity of the source materials. This lack of a substantial bibliography and of footnoting pretty much guarantees that I would not use this book in writing a serious research book.

The negative traits aside. "The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War" is a very compact way to be introduced to the Civil War and as such might serve as an introduction to the conflict. In addition, the short subjects might also be useful in providing ideas for independent discussions and topics for research papers. But should be used with caution! ( )

A good place to begin for those who have only a tenuous grasp of the American Civil War. However, it is composed entirely of lists which can be daunting. Also, it is truly impossible to get an accurate representation of the Civil War while at the same time compressing everything into such neat lists. In addition, I disagreed with some of the author's choice of entries. Finally, though the entries are generally well-written, they are just that, short little snippets of information, a condensed version of history. In order to get more indepth information it would be necessary to do further research. Unfortunately, though there is a diminutive bibliography, the author didn't appear to use a footnoting system, making it difficult to determine where he acquired his information and the validity of the source materials. This lack of a substantial bibliography and of footnoting pretty much guarantees that I would not use this book in writing a serious research book.

The negative traits aside. "The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War" is a very compact way to be introduced to the Civil War and as such might serve as an introduction to the conflict. In addition, the short subjects might also be useful in providing ideas for independent discussions and topics for research papers. But should be used with caution! ( )