"The Civil War Archive: The History of the Civil War in Documents" by Henry Steele Commager and Erik Bruun

Updated on July 16, 2026: This book has been sold.

Full title: The Civil War Archive: The History of the Civil War in Documents by Henry Steele Commager and Erik Bruun. Published in New York by Black Dog & Leventhal in 2000.

854 pp.

Presents the story of the Civil War through the words of the people who lived through it.

Edited by Erik Bruun and based on Henry Steele Commager’s earlier work The Blue and the Gray, this volume brings together hundreds of primary documents, including letters, memoirs, official reports, public records, family papers, songs, and firsthand accounts.

Arranged chronologically, the book follows the war from the nomination of Abraham Lincoln through Bull Run, Appomattox, Reconstruction, and the years after the war. The documents include accounts from soldiers, civilians, officers, families at home, and others affected by the conflict.

Bruun’s edition adds material not included in Commager’s original work, including documents reflecting the experiences of Black Americans during the war and the period of Reconstruction.

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