I am looking to start reading a history of the American Civil War and I was wondering if anyone knew which books are the best on the topic. The two I am looking at are Battle Cry of Freedom and The Civil War: A Narrative. I was hoping someone would be able to tell me which history would be more worth my while.

Thanks

__________________
"If God can work through me, He can work through anyone."--St. Francis Assisi

"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."--St. Francis Assisi

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. "--St. Augustine

Battle Cry of Freedom, is TOPS. I read it back in 92. There's a surprising wealth of info on Thomas Jefferson as well.

Thanks. It also appears to be more manageable than The Civil War: A Narrative---about 900 pages compared to about 3000 pages.

__________________
"If God can work through me, He can work through anyone."--St. Francis Assisi

"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."--St. Francis Assisi

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. "--St. Augustine

I agree, Battle Cry of Freedom is an excellent book. It's written more like a novel than a text, and is pretty easy to follow. McPherson does superb job of looking into the regional/cultural influences of the issues as well putting things into perspective for that time period.

__________________
For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.
Thomas Jefferson