Here is another good book I was fortunate enough to find listed on PBS. And it's another good reason I continue my membership here. The book contains the story of a North Carolina husband and wife team who actually served in both the Confederate (for a short time) and Union armies. The story has value not only in their own experiences, but in the story of the conflicting allegiences of people in the mountains of North Carolina, a topic not often fully covered in most books on the Civil War.

Rebels in Blue : The Story of Keith and Malinda Blalock

If you are interested in the mindlessly bloodly---no other words could describe it---war in Kansas and Missouri, then read:

Civil War on the Western Border : 1854-1865.

In fact, the author maintains that the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, in terms of number of casualties to the number of men fighting, was at Wilson's Creek in August, 1861. And of the Unions officers who participated in this early battle, before the War's end seven would become major generals and 23 would become brigadier generals.