The Civil War

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Grade 6-10–The variety of topics addressed in this set will give students a wide perspective on the conflict, showing how it changed virtually every aspect of life in the U.S. While the alphabetically arranged entries cover such traditional topics as strategies, battles, and leaders, other articles examine civilian and military life during the War, costume and dress, finance, politics, literature, trade, and the Union and Confederate home fronts. Many incorporate material on the lives and war efforts of women and free and enslaved African Americans. The clearly written, objective entries, ranging in length from one to six pages, all offer basic analysis. Some, such as those that cover the legacy of the war, the blockade, and important leaders, offer differing historical interpretations of their subjects. However, a line about what happened to the slaves owned by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson at the time of their deaths is a bit misleading. The cross-referenced text is supplemented with battle maps as well as numerous period photos and illustrations, many in color, and all have captions with information not found in the text. Sideboxes highlighted in pastel colors offer information on a range of topics from spar torpedoes and "Camp Punishments" to "The Raid as Strategy" and "Moving and Firing Field Artillery." Each book includes a set glossary. The set index, also in every volume, is adequate, but coverage is not always complete for topics mentioned within the body of entries. This attractive, up-to-date set will replace such resources as The American Civil War (Grolier, 1994).–Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO
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This set, intended for students in grades five through nine, features detailed, multipage articles that address significant individuals, battles, events, and conditions of the American Civil War. The alphabetically arranged entries, written by a team of editors, feature fairly sophisticated vocabulary and presume that readers have a basic understanding of contemporary historic, social, and political scenarios. See also references direct researchers to related entries. A common glossary, full-set index, and further reading list (print materials and Web sites) complete each volume.

What makes this resource noteworthy is the breadth of coverage. There are the expected offerings: biographical entries on both Union and Confederate generals, politicians, and activists; detailed accounts of fortifications, battles, and campaigns; and descriptions of various lifestyles, Northern and Southern, rural and urban. Standard research topics are included: Abolition, Ku Klux Klan, Pacifism, Plantation life, Slavery, and so on. There are also entries on each state and its course throughout the conflict. The roles women played are addressed not only in the entry Women and the war effort but also Home front and Nurses and nursing and in biographies for Belle Boyd, Dorothea Dix, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Mary Edwards Walker, to name a few. There are entries on authors, musicians, artists and illustrators, photographers, and newspaper reporters. Underreported stories are covered, such as the sinking of the Sultana steamship and Native American participation in the war. Finally, there are a number of topics sure to catch the interest of browsers, such as Espionage and counterespionage, Mascots, and Smugglers and piracy.

The double-column text is accompanied by boxed inserts containing primary source material (eyewitness accounts, excerpts from letters and diaries, contemporary newspaper reports, etc.). Colorful graphics appear on every page and include archival photographs, political cartoons, maps, broadsides, and other vintage illustrations.

Most middle-school collections should already own UXL's five-volume set, The American Civil War (2000). Another standard is the one-volume Civil War and Reconstruction: A Student Companion (Oxford, 2001). The current offering is an appealing and accessible choice for school and public libraries that want to provide updated and expanded coverage. RBB
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