• Secret Lives of the Civil War

  • What Your Teachers Never Told you About the War Between the States
  • By: Cormac O'Brien
  • Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly
  • Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (11 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Secret Lives of the Civil War  By  cover art

Secret Lives of the Civil War

By: Cormac O'Brien
Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial reviews

The Secret Lives series from Quirk Books delves into the nooks and crannies of history that most books miss. The results are sometimes surprising, sometimes comical, and always entertaining. Cormac O'Brien, who also penned Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents and Secret Lives of the First Ladies, has a gift for snark and the telling detail. In Civil War he reveals little-known, amusing facts about the War Between the States without belittling the gravity of the war's many battles and their gruesome death toll. Allen O'Reilly performs these biographical details - with subjects divided into Union and Confederate - with depth, intensity, and a mature voice that forms the perfect vehicle for these revealing historical facts.

Publisher's summary

Legendary Heroes of U.S. History - As You’ve Never Seen Them Before!

Secret Lives of the Civil War features irreverent and uncensored profiles of men and women from the Union and the Confederacy - complete with hundreds of little-known and downright bizarre facts.

You’ll discover that:

  • Mary Todd Lincoln claimed to receive valuable military strategies from ghosts in the spirit world.
  • Jefferson Davis once imported camels for soldiers stationed in the American southwest.
  • Ulysses S. Grant spent much of the Vicksburg campaign on a horse named “Kangaroo.”
  • James Longstreet fought the Battle of Antietam wearing carpet slippers.
  • William T. Sherman was the victim of two shipwrecks on the same day.
  • Harriet Tubman experienced frequent and bizarre hallucinations.
  • Stonewall Jackson was a notorious hypochondriac (he always sat up straight, fearing that slouching would compress his vital organs).

With chapters on everyone from William Quantrill (a guerilla leader whose skull later ended up in the basement of a fraternity house) to Rose O’Neal Greenhow (perhaps the South’s most glamorous spy), Secret Lives of the Civil War features a mix of famous faces and unsung heroes. American history was never this much fun in school!

©2007 Cormac O'Brien (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Secret Lives of the Civil War

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

no secrets here

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

a new reader to the topic

Has Secret Lives of the Civil War turned you off from other books in this genre?

information was not "secret" Not even odd, a book for a beginner

What aspect of Allen O'Reilly’s performance would you have changed?

adequate

Any additional comments?

if you have read Foote, McPherson or Catton you wont like this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!