Robert I. Girardi

Robert I. Girardi has a master’s degree in Public History from Loyola University of Chicago. He is a past president of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago, a fellow of the Company of Military Historians, and is on the Board of Directors of the Illinois State Historical Society. He is a popular speaker and consultant on all aspects of the American Civil War. He has written or edited ten books on the American Civil War, including The Military Memoirs of General John Pope, Campaigning with Uncle Billy, The Civil War Memoirs of Sgt. Lyman S. Widney, 34th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and Gettysburg in Art and Artifacts.


6 entries by Robert I. Girardi

Book Review

A Fierce Glory: Antietam — The Desperate Battle that Saved Lincoln and Doomed Slavery

This thoughtful retelling of the epic fight focuses on the human cost of war.

Book Review

S.C. Gwynne

Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson

A new look at the man behind the myth of Stonewall Jackson and his role in the Civil War

Book Review

Thom Hatch

Glorious War: The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer

Seemingly unfairly judged for the way he died, this biography of George Armstrong Custer argues he was a legend with a long and valiant military career.

Book Review

The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South

Did the Confederate leaders’ own actions, through secession and the Civil War, cause and accelerate the fall of slavery? The author tackles this question.

Book Review

James Oakes

Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865

On the heels of the popular film Lincoln comes this in-depth and well researched narrative of the passing the 13th Amendment.

Book Review

Steven Lubet

John Brown’s Spy: The Adventurous Life and Tragic Confession of John E. Cook

A compelling narrative presenting the story of John E. Cook, the accomplished liar and quick thinker who served as advance man for abolitionist John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry.