The Boys' War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War

Very readable account of the service of boys on both sides of the war. Lots of interesting photos. Technically a book for young adults, but it does contain some very shocking and sad photos of dead soldiers. Children have always fought in wars, but I think the American Civil War was perhaps one of the first times that people were developing a sensitivity to the idea. Certainly the ancient Romans and Greeks thought that a ten-year-old was plenty old enough for service. We forget, I think, that the concept of childhood--that children are not just short, untrained adults, is relatively new. In some parts of the world, this is still the case. These children fought with honor and bravery and their stories should not be forgotten.

I really appreciate this book. It will work well in the classroom as I teach Across Five Aprils. Once again Jim Murphy has brought primary sources to readers in a way that is both engaging and informative. The book is an excellent way to present the young ages of the Civil War fighting "men" to students. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because I would have liked to see the sources more completely documented. If I tried to have my students find the sources of each young soldiers writing, I'm not sure they (or I) could do it.

Good notes about kids in the war I liked it and would recommend reading it if you don't know much about the Civil War

Enjoyed reading this brief overview of young recruits lives (12 to 16 years old) that participated in the American Civil War. It's very readable and makes you wish the author would write a longer and more detailed version. My 6th grader and High School freshman both enjoyed the information it covered. We've given away a copy of the book to a Civil War reenactor friend who works with young Cadets in his unit.

Our 14 yo son really enjoyed this book. So much so, that he is interested in reading some of the other full length accounts of the boys who servedin the civil war. We study a lot of history in our homeschool, but he learned a lot from this book. First-hand accounts are always best!

My son loves this book

For older children, this is a great book to bring the conditions of the USA right before the Civil War, and then the war itself, to life. The language is often first-person, and the family situations described really resonated with our 9 year old - almost too much, in fact, because he had some anxious questions about 12 year olds going to war. Relieved to find that many were in the drum corps and other non-fighting units, this gave my son much food for thought/conversation as we read it together. (Note: Younger children might find the stories scary.)

This book was quite interesting, I like that it had a plethora of stories, not just from one perspective.

I really enjoyed this book - it gives you a good insight into the experiences an minds of the boys , it's fairly short I suppose and easy to read and also has pictures.