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1. Andersonville by Mackinlay Kantor.  Their are real and fictional characters intermingled in this absorbing, Pulitzer Prize winning novel, set in the notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp in southwest Georgia.  A longtime Civil War buff, Kantor drew extensively upon prisoner’s memoirs to depict the inhumane conditions at the prison, overseen by the ineffectual Confederate John Walker.
2. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier.  For his first novel, North Carolina native Frazier looked to the wartime experiences of his great-great-uncle, a Confederate soldier, for inspiration.  The amazing result is a gripping narrative that transposes Homer’s The Odyssey to the Blue Ridge Mountains, which the hero Inman must cross to reunite with the beautiful Ada.  A critical and commercial blockbuster, Cold Mountain won the rookie author the 1997 National Book Award.
3. The March by E. L. Doctorow.  While he reportedly chafes at being labeled a “historical novelist,” Doctorow remains best known for Ragtime, his brilliant,kaleidoscope evocation of the turn of the centuryAmerica.  In The March, he spins a richly detailed literary tapestry about General Sherman’s epic march from Atlanta to the Carolinas in the waning days of the Civil War.
4. The Killer Angels by Micheal Shaarra.  A monumental achievement.  Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel tells the story of the decisive Battle of Gettysburg from the points of view of the Union and Confederate commanding officers.  Stirringly written and historically authentic, The Killer Angels inspired filmmaker Ken Burns to make his awesome documentary, The Civil War.