Civil War Talk Radio

You've seen him in movies, TV, and on the cover of Confederates in the Attic. Now he researches and produces his own Civil War films. Spend a fascinating hour with Robert Lee Hodge.

Dr. Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses her prize-winning study of Lincoln and his Cabinet, Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. NOTE: The interview was originally recorded in three segments, of which the first has been lost. This episode includes segments 2 and 3 of the interview.

Beyond the CSS Hunley, the Civil War saw the invention of other submersible warships, and Dr. James P. Delgado has found one of them intact.

Dr. Thomas J. Brown, author of The Public Art of Civil War Commemoration, analyzes the meaning of monuments

James A. Morgan III, A Little Short of Boats: The Fights at Ball's Bluff and Edwards Ferry

The legendary Ed Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service.

Out of the more than one hundred people who make all or part of their living portraying Abraham Lincoln, none does it better than Richard "Fritz" Klein.

Mark Bradley, author of This Astounding Close: The Road to Bennett Place, discusses the North Carolina campaign of 1865.

Shane Seley and Ed Leydecker of Wide Awake Films describe the process of making Civil War battle documentary videos.

Unlike the soldiers themselves, author Thomas Lowry, MD, is happy to discuss The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War. Most CWTR programs unavoidably make reference to the massive bloodshed that marked the Civil War. This program discusses not only violence but also sex, using plain language. Educators and parents may wish to preview this show before recommending it to students or children.

Dr. Michael Vorenberg, author of Final Freedom: The Civil War, The Abolition of Slavery and the Thirteenth Amendment, analyzes the politics of the 13th Amendment.

Dr. Richard P. McMurry, author of The Fourth Battle of Winchester and Two Great Rebel Armies, presents a fresh approach to Civil War history.

Dr. Elizabeth Leonard, author of Lincoln's Avengers and All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies, covers topics from the Lincoln assassination to the participation of women soldiers

Carolyn Texley, Director of Collections at the Lincoln Museum, Fort Wayne, Indiana talks about the challenges of preserving the Lincoln story.

Dr. Donald E. Collins, author of The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis describes the remarkable postwar career of the Confederate president.

Richard F. Miller is the author of Harvard's Civil War, a history of the 20th Massachusetts that goes beyond battles and campaigns to reveal the inner workings of a Civil War regiment.

Prolific Civil War author Dr. Gary Gallagher discusses why the South lost, black Confederates, how battlefields should be interpreted, and other controversial topics.

Learn about the latest communications channel for Civil War students from Dimitri Rogov, creator of the weblog (blog) Civil War Bookshelf

Lonnie Speer, author of Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War and War of Vengeance: Act of Retaliation Against Civil War POWs, reveals some harsh realities of the war.

Dr. Kenneth Noe, author of Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, traces the course of the war's least-remembered major battle.

Karen Winnick explains the challenges of communicating important stories of the past in the format of the children's picture book, as she has done in Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers and Cassie's Sweet Berry Pie, both set in the Civil War era.

Mark H. Dunkelman has spent a lifetime researching the story of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In Brothers One and All: Esprit de Corps in a Civil War Regiment, he uses his findings to shed light on the social world of the Civil War soldier

Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer presents a new look at a long overlooked work by Abraham Lincoln, as described in his fascinating book, Lincoln At Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President

Eric J. Wittenberg, author of Little Phil: A Reassessment of the Civil War Leadership of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, shares his thoughts on Union cavalry.

Civil War artist Don Troiani discusses his work

Ronald Christopher, Chairman and Project Manager of the USS Arizona Civil War Gunboat Foundation, details the remarkable history and recent discovery of a Civil War ship.

Dr. Thomas F. Schwartz, Illinois State Historian, describes the creation of the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

Join CWTR for a fascinating conversation with Keith Poulter, ex-British intelligence, former wargame designer, and the founder and publisher of North & South magazine.

Dr. John M. Coski of the Museum of the Confederacy talks about the subject of his book, The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem.

James Loewen, author of Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong, talks about distortions, errors and outright falsehoods to be found at many Civil War sites.

Frank J. Williams is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, a member of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and author of Judging Lincoln.

Larry J. Daniel, author of Days of Glory: The Army of the Cumberland, 1861-1865, shares his thoughts on where the war was decided.

Donald C. Pfanz, author of Richard S. Ewell: A Soldier's Life, talks about his role as historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

Dr. Lesley J. Gordon, author of General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend, crosses boundaries by combining contemporary academic methodology and theory with traditional military topics.

From his father's The Killer Angels to his own best-selling novels, Jeff Shaara discusses the craft of historical fiction.

Dr. Craig L. Symonds, history professor emeritus at the United States Naval Academy and author of the Battlefield Atlas of the Civil War, talks about a range of topics from Confederate generals to Union ironclads.

Prolific Civil War author William C. "Jack" Davis shares observations based on a lifetime of research, and talks about new directions for the future

Dr. Steven Woodworth, author of many Civil War titles, including Jefferson Davis and His Generals, brings to light a rarely mentioned facet of life in Civil War armies.

Dave Powell explains how he designs simulation games based on Civil War battles

Visit with Daniel R. Weinberg, owner of Chicago's legendary Abraham Lincoln Book Shop.

Dr. Mark Grimsley, author of the Lincoln Prize-winning The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians, 1861-1865, talks about the motivations and actions of the men who fought for the North.

Dr. John Y. Simon, editor of the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, tells us what's wrong with the way Abraham Lincoln is presented to the public.

Albert Castel, author of the award-winning Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864, challenges some widely held beliefs about the war.

Dr. John Marszalek, biographer of William T. Sherman and Henry Halleck, shares his views on some famous (and infamous) generals.

Eric Caren describes how he and Steven Goldman assembled a remarkable collection of Civil War era newspapers, and made them available in print as a Smithsonian Headliners series book.

Dr. David Long discusses Lincoln's re-election in 1864 and its impact on American history.

Professor Jim Janke brings us the strategy and drama of naval warfare between the Union and the Confederacy.

Ken Burns discusses his Civil War insights with historian Harold Holzer.

What thoughts were going through the minds of Johnny Reb or Billy Yank as he approached battle? Join us for insights on these questions and more in a rare and personal interview with Dr. James Robertson.

Learn about the Library of Congress's resources and hear the stories behind them from curator John R. Sellers.