Voices of the Civil War

Volumes of this set were first offered in the mid 1990's and they are in my opinion the best of the three sets.

Time Life Books was founded in 1961 as the book division of Time Inc., Time-Life took its name from Time Inc.'s cornerstone magazines, Time and Life, but remained independent of both. By 1966, Time-Life combined its book offerings with music collections (two to five records) and packaged them as a sturdy box set. Throughout the '70s and '80s, the selection of books, music, and then video grew, diversifying into all genres.

Several book sets relating to the Civil War have been published. Additionally a video/book set featuring Shelby Foote is currently being sold.

This set is organized by battle and is made up entirely of first hand accounts, taking letters and journals of the individual soldiers to tell the story of the war. Like the Time Life Civil War set produced in the 1980's this set also includes the classic pictures for which Time Life Productions is so famous.

18 Volumes were produced in all. We have the volumes listed on this page available in "new" condition.

Comments from readers:

This book gives an incredibly accurate and heart-felt description of this key civil war battle through the eyes of those soldiers and citizens who participated or who were touched, in some way, by the fighting and the outcome of this key conflict in 1862.

I used this to help develop a tour of the battlefield and the primary source quotes were perfect!

The books of this Time Life series are very important to anyone who wants to learn about the Civil War. The first series, the gray set, is a good starter, but this set is a great next step. I found it hard to leave, and I also found it somewhat haunting. There is in this book a cold matter-of-factness in the letters and writings of the participants that is unsettling. Death and human destruction are so common, that it matters not to the writer. To losely quote General W. T. Sherman, "I look at the loss of a few thousand men as a morning dash". To read this book is to go back in time, to live as they did, and to feel what they felt. The editors did a fine job of material selection. Can not imporve on the contents at all. Well done to all.

A stunning book for all.