Reddit reviews Civil War Soldiers

There is a section in this book that talks about the behavior of soldiers in combat and how they justify their actions. One thing that really stood out was that soldiers with combat experience generally respected the enemy, and that was especially notable in the prison camps. Soldiers who had not faced combat tended to dehumanize their opponents and treat them worse whereas those who had been in battle tended to treat the prisoners better.


It was really eye opening. You don't think of people in the context of combat and humanized both sides.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a good idea of the reasons soldiers went to war and also just some exposure to some of the ideologies that underpin modern society. It's actually pretty crazy how wrong public perception is regarding the war; everyone is wrong. There's also an uncomfortable number of problems that were present then that are still present now.

https://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Soldiers-Reid-Mitchell/dp/0140263330