Confederate Citadel

In Confederate Citadel: Richmond and Its People at War, Mary A. DeCredico makes an important contribution to the underexplored topic of Confederate urban history.... A welcome addition to Civil War historiography that will appeal to broad audiences.

~Journal of Southern History

DeCredico presents a compact, readable, and well-researched synthesis of Richmond's Civil War years.... For the reader seeking a concise history that sets Richmond's people in the context of the wider Confederate war effort, DeCredico's book is a suitable place to begin.

~Virginia Magazine of History & Biography

[This book] helps the reader understand the complexities of daily life and how these affected morale as the city came find itself on the front lines by mid-1864.

~Strategy Page

Confederate Citadel offers a thoroughly researched and well-written account of Richmond's painful years as a wartime capital. Civil War buffs will definitely want to add this book to their military libraries.

~The Journal of America's Military Past

Confederate Citadel: Richmond and Its People at War is a masterpiece of meticulous and deftly presented scholarship.... Especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library American Civil War collections.

~Midwest Book Review

Confederate Citadel provides a vivid portrait of the day-to-day experience of the Civil War within the capital of the Confederacy.  The brisk narrative showcases the voices of many Richmonders—from Confederate authorities devising policy, to starving women demanding action in the streets.  The book effectively traces the tensions between Confederate national ambitions and the capital's local needs over the course of the conflict.

~Catherine A. Jones, author of Intimate Reconstructions: Children in Postemancipation Virginia

Confederate Citadel is rich with the words of Richmond's occupants, including residents and wartime visitors. DeCredico evokes the hopes and fears of both Confederate and loyal Richmonders, as well as their privations and occasional indulgences, even as booming battlefield cannon sometimes rattled the windows of their houses and government offices.

~Brent Tarter, author of Virginians and Their Histories

DeCredico has crafted a fresh and—more important—highly personal view of the city that was literally the heart of the Southern Confederacy. Here is a good example of humanizing history.

~James I. Robertson Jr., author of Robert E. Lee: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works