Registration for CWI 2026 is Now Open!
About the Civil War Institute Summer Conference at Gettysburg College …
Those who know me are well aware that while my interests are quite eclectic, my background is in history and in that arena my chief preoccupation for many decades has been the American Civil War. That certainly will come as no surprise to readers of the Regarp Book Blog, which has featured reviews of so many books in the Civil War genre, as well as in the related field of African American history.
Over the years, I have visited a number of battlefields and participated in various Civil War events. But without a doubt one of my 
That summer, I was thrilled to attend lectures with two of today’s most iconic figures in the field of Civil War studies, Gary Gallagher and Edward Ayers—and later to spend some quality time chatting one-on-one with both Ed and Gary. I was in the audience for a wonderful presentation by Patrick Breen, author of The Land Shall be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt. I had an outstanding dine-in experience with acclaimed historian Amy Murrell Taylor, author of Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps. But the real highlight of the week was a battlefield tour of Antietam with then CWI Director Dr. Peter Carmichael, who paused at various spots on the killing fields to read letters home from the men who had been there—some written in the very vicinity we walked that day! There were lots of opportunities to bond with other Civil War enthusiasts off hours, plus an ice cream social, book signings, and a truly memorable tour of the Gettysburg battlefield under the expert guidance of CWI Assistant Director Dr. Ashley Whitehead Luskey. It was a week I will truly never forget!
I had planned to return the following year, but COVID intervened. As it turned out, I did not make it back until June 2023, but again had an equally amazing time that included a battlefield tour of Harpers Ferry with the legendary Dennis Frye, and another with historian Kevin Levin that traced the paths of the enslaved at Gettysburg, plus presentations by Harold Holzer, Catherine Clinton, Megan Kate Nelson, and David Silkenat, as well as a dine-in discussion with author Angela Esco Elder! And once more Pete Carmichael, Ashley Luskey and their team demonstrated that it is possible to combine the very best in Civil War scholarship with an exciting and fascinating public history experience.
The CWI Summer Conference returned in June 2024 and I was there once again! And for the second year, CWI offered a 15% discount on registration for readers of the Regarp Book Blog—which makes a great deal an even better one! CWI is the gold standard for Civil War conferences! CWI 2024 had an exciting lineup of Civil War scholars that included Ronald White, Harold Holzer, Jonathan White, Jennifer Murray, D. Scott Hartwig, Elizabeth Leonard, Robert S. Levine, Aaron Sheehan-Dean, and many others—over 40 distinguished speakers and tour guides! The 2024 CWI Conference featured lectures, roundtables, battlefield tours, and dine-in discussions on a wide range of topics, including Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain; Lincoln, race, and American immigration; atrocity during the Civil War; General Benjamin Butler; the 1913 Gettysburg reunion; the Civil War in Missouri; interpreting race at Civil War sites; and much more! In addition to touring the Gettysburg battlefield, participants had the opportunity to visit a variety of other battlefields and historic sites. Make it a point to attend CWI one of these years. And let me know if you do—if I’m there perhaps we can grab a beer off-hours and talk about books and the Civil War!—Stan
I have reviewed the following books by authors who participated in past CWI conferences that I attended:
Review of: The Calculus of Violence: How Americans Fought the Civil War, by Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Review of: Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life, by Elizabeth D. Leonard
Review of: Love & Duty: Confederate Widows and the Emotional Politics of Loss, by Angela Esco Elder
Review of: Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth, by Kevin M. Levin
Review of: Tara Revisited: Women, War & The Plantation Legend, by Catherine Clinton
Review of: Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, by Catherine Clinton
Review of: Harpers Ferry Under Fire: A Border Town in the American Civil War, by Dennis E. Frye
In Memoriam: Dr. Peter Carmichael
I was deeply saddened by the sudden, tragic loss in 2024 of Dr. Peter Carmichael, Director of the Civil War Institute (CWI) at Gettysburg College, a brilliant historian, talented writer, inspirational figure, and someone I called friend. He is sorely missed. Pete passed shortly after the 2024 CWI Summer Conference, and I vividly remember him smiling and chatting with me and other attendees on the closing night of the conference. I am devastated that he is gone. He was a great man. I will never forget him.
I reviewed one of Pete Carmichael’s books, a magnificent addition to Civil War historiography, here: Review of: The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought and Survived in Civil War Armies, by Peter S. Carmichael
Civil War Institute Summer Conference 2026
NOTE: Neither I nor the Regarp Book Blog are affiliated with the Civil War Institute or Gettysburg College, and I am not receiving any compensation for promoting the CWI Summer Conference. CWI is offering this discount as an incentive to like-minded individuals who follow this blog to participate in their celebrated conference experience.