In the Non-Fiction Corner--Women of the Blue and Gray

In the Non-Fiction Corner with Lauren

Okay, so since I graduated in history, I feel like I am a history book snob. I know exactly what interests me, and if it’s the normal ho hum history I need to read, no thank you. The Civil War usually falls under that category for most of us. Who hasn’t been forced to read at least one Abe Lincoln biography in their life? I felt like I knew plenty about the Civil War BUT BOY WAS I WRONG. This is the book that you need that you didn’t know you needed. Seriously, who doesn’t love a well-researched, interesting, thought provoking book? Marianne Monson has created the perfect combination of those three things. Not only does she have stories that most people have never heard, but you can tell that she really knows her stuff and her sources are all cited so beautifully and accurately. So if you love women or history or women in history or spy stories or water or anything else, you should read this book.

Women of the Blue and Gray is all about the women of the Civil War, and I was so impressed with the interesting stories that it contained. I had no idea that women played such a role! Not only does Monson tell tons of stories that I had never heard, but even when she is telling stories of well-known women like Harriet Tubman, she focuses on the lesser known facts of that person’s life. My favorite chapter was the one on women spies. These women were passionate about something and willing to fight for it, no matter the cost. I love that the author focused on that, that the women were involved in their cause, whether that was for the North or the South. Monson did a masterful job with this book, and it made me want to learn more about women’s involvement in history.

Here's the back copy:

Hidden amongst the photographs, uniforms, revolvers, and war medals of the Civil War are the remarkable stories of some of the most unlikely heroes—women.

North, South, black, white, Native American, immigrant—the women in these micro-drama biographies are wives, mothers, sisters, and friends whose purposes ranged from supporting husbands and sons during wartime to counseling President Lincoln on strategy, from tending to the wounded on the battlefield to spiriting away slaves through the Underground Railroad, from donning a uniform and fighting unrecognized alongside the men to working as spies for either side.

This book brings to light the incredible stories of women from the Civil War that remain relevant to our nation today. Each woman's experience helps us see a truer, fuller, richer version of what really happened in this country during this time period.

Download your copy here