This guide identifies published books on the American Civil War that are in the Library of Congress Main Reading Room Reference Collection. The purpose of this guide is to present researchers with selected reference sources readily available in the Main Reading Room through which they can begin and expand their scope of study of the American Civil War. Many of these sources should also be available at academic and public libraries.
This guide does not include unit history sources. For that topic, please see Civil War Regimental Histories: A Guide to Finding Unit Information. This guide is also not meant to serve as an exhaustive source for Civil War reference sources accessible through the Library of Congress or elsewhere.