History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 - James Ford Rhodes - This Pulitzer Prize winning book remains one of the best histories on the topic of American Civil War to this day. For the purpose of writing this comprehensive work, the author used the most authoritative documents and sources including Personal Traits of Lincoln, Life and Letters of General Meade, Diary of Gideon Welles, The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz and Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies.James Ford Rhodes (May 1, 1848 - January 22, 1927), was an American industrialist and historian born in Cleveland, Ohio. After earning a fortune in the iron, coal, and steel industries by 1885, he retired from business. He devoted his life to historical research and publishing a seven-volume history of the United States beginning in 1850; his work was published from 1893 to 1906. He published an eighth volume in 1920. His work, History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 (1918), won the second-ever Pulitzer Prize for History that year.