Women of the Civil War

by Darlene Funkhouser

Women, spies and nurses tell the true stories of remarkable women who served during the War Between the States.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Civil War

172 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Nicole Broome · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is at the writing level of a high school English Class. Most of the sources in the author's bibliography are from websites, and it shows. There are several women who seem like they may be genuinely interesting, but the author doesn't share enough about them for the reader to really get a story of who they were. Every section is just a summary of their lives, and a poorly written summary at that. Some of the sentences throughout the book are just thrown in there as random facts that are completely unrelated to rest of the paragraph. Sentences and paragraphs seemed to jump around; it was often a little hard to follow. There are several sections in the book that aren't about women at all, but about random plantations. The time and effort to really research a good Civil War Non-fiction book was just not put into this project. This book could possibly be used as a jumping off point if someone was looking for a woman of the Civil War that they wanted to learn more about.

[hale]

This was a good starting point, nothing more

[Cat. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to me, a Yankee to the bone, to read a book written from a more Southern viewpoint about the Civil War. There's nothing really earth-shattering here, but I did learn a few new names, and that was good for kids' assignments in the future. This was what I would consider a 'typical museum book' in terms of reading level and depth; just enough to give you the basics, and perhaps whet your appetite for more. I would've liked more bibliography, but that's asking a bit much.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting read but I felt like I was reading a High Schoolers report on women of the civil war, not a book.

It does give some insight and information on women that I knew nothing about before, and it's a good starting point for anyone wanting to learn more about women during the Civil War.

Over all, I feel it was lacking intrigue and was a little dry.

[Dana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting stories but poorly written! The author glosses over slavery by inaccurately referring to SLAVES as "domestic servants". Many of the summaries deviate from each woman's role in the Civil War and instead focus on their suitors and "interesting" or "fascinating" memoirs. Clearly the author pines for that era of southern belles. This reads like an 8th grade child's book report.

[Dionne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book at the Carthage Civil War Museum. It's a nice, starter book for learning more about women of the civil war.