Best U.S. Civil War Women's History Books of 2025

Master Slave Husband Wife is a captivating true story of Ellen and William Craft's daring escape from slavery. The couple posed as a wealthy white man and his slave, traveling over 1,000 miles on steamboats, carriages, and trains to reach freedom in the North. Their journey made them celebrities, speaking alongside abolitionist luminaries like Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown. But with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, they were forced to flee again, this time from the United States. This book is an American love story that challenges the nation's core precepts and is a must-read for anyone interested in African American history.

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams is a masterpiece that takes readers on a journey through the life of one of America's most essential Founding Fathers. Stacy Schiff has done an outstanding job of capturing the transformation of Samuel Adams from an aimless son to a tireless, beguiling radical who mobilized the colonies. The book is an arresting, original, and deliriously dramatic chapter in the history of our nation. With its high-minded ideals and bare-knuckle tactics, Adams's campaign of civil resistance is an inspiration to all. This biography is a must-read for anyone interested in the American Revolution and the people who made it happen.

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack by Tiya Miles is a National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling book that tells the story of three generations of Black women through a single object, Ashley's sack. The book is a testament to the resilience and love of people who preserved family ties when official systems refused to do so. Miles carefully traces these women's faint presence in archival records and turns to objects, art, and the environment to write a singular history of the experience of slavery and the uncertain freedom afterward in the United States. This book is a poignant and visionary illustration of how to reconstruct and recount their stories today.

"They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South" is a thought-provoking book that sheds light on the role of white women in American slavery. The author, Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers, uses a variety of sources to show that slave-owning women were sophisticated economic actors who actively participated in and benefited from the South's slave market. This book challenges the conventional narrative of slaveholding America and forces readers to rethink the economics and social conventions of that time. Jones-Rogers has done an excellent job of presenting a compelling argument that makes a vital contribution to our understanding of our past and present."

"Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad" by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard is a groundbreaking work that sheds light on the role of quilts in the Underground Railroad. The book offers the first proof that certain quilt patterns were essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad. Tobin and Dobard's research, combined with the narrative of African American quilter Ozella Williams, tells an amazing American story that traces the origin of the Charleston Code from Africa to the Carolinas. This captivating read is a must-read for those interested in American history, quilting, and the fight for freedom. The illustrations and photographs throughout the book, including a full-color photo insert, add to the intrigue of this mesmerizing tale."

Voice from the Confederacy is a historical book about the Civil War from the Southern point of view. Samuel Mitcham brings to life the stories of the heroic, scoundrels, clever, vanquished, and hungry. The book shares hundreds of poignant and revealing moments during the war between the states. This book is unique because it provides a different perspective on the Civil War that is often overlooked. Overall, this book is an excellent read for those interested in American history, particularly the Civil War.

A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom is a powerful memoir by Brittany K. Barnett, a young lawyer and advocate for criminal justice reform. The book tells the inspiring true story of how she fought to free Sharanda Jones, a single mother and victim of America's war on drugs, who was serving a life sentence without parole for a first-time drug offense. Brittany's harrowing journey through the criminal justice system transformed her understanding of injustice and the definition of freedom. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in the movement to transform the system.

Celia, A Slave is a powerful and compelling account of the life of a young black woman who was repeatedly molested by her abusive master and fought back, landing herself in a landmark courtroom battle in 1855 that threatened the institution of slavery in the South. Based on court records, correspondences, and newspaper accounts, this book is a remarkable achievement that sheds light on one of the darkest periods in American history. The author, McLaurin, succeeds in using Celia's story to raise larger issues about the meaning of American slavery for both blacks and whites, for both women and men. Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of slavery in America.

What You Have Heard Is True is a powerful memoir that tells the story of Carolyn Forché's encounter with a mysterious stranger who invites her to El Salvador to learn about his country. As she becomes enmeshed in something beyond her comprehension, she witnesses the poverty and violence that plagues the country. Pursued by death squads and sheltering in safe houses, Forché's journey towards social conscience in a perilous time is a remarkable story of empathy and resistance. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of El Salvador and the power of human compassion.

The book "Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War" by Karen Abbott tells the true story of four women who risked their lives to become spies during the Civil War. The author seamlessly weaves the adventures of these four heroines throughout the tumultuous years of the war, using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies' descendants. The book is a gripping page-turner that moves at a breathtaking clip through the dramatic events of the Civil War, and the real-life characters, including Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, make it even more engrossing. Overall, this book is a fascinating and unique look at the role of women in the Civil War and their contributions to the war effort.