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The American Civil War
Hallowed
Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg by James M. McPherson $11.20
*
The country's most distinguished Civil War historian, a Pulitzer Prize
winner (for Battle Cry of Freedom) and professor at Princeton, offers this
compact and incisive study of the Battle of Gettysburg. In narrating "the
largest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere," McPherson walks
readers over its presently hallowed ground, with monuments numbering into
the hundreds, many of which work to structure the narrative. They range
from the equestrian monument to Union general John Reynolds to Amos Humiston,
a New Yorker identified several months after the battle when family daguerreotypes
found on his body were recognized by his widow. Indeed, while McPherson
does the expected fine job of narrating the battle, in a manner suitable
for the almost complete tyro in military history, he also skillfully hands
out kudos and criticism each time he comes to a memorial.
Brigades
of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg by Bradley M. Gottfried $35.00
*
The first comprehensive chronicle of every Union and Confederate brigade
at the Battle of Gettysburg--where they fought, how they fought, and who
led them. While the battle of Gettysburg is certainly the most-studied
battle in American history, a comprehensive treatment of the part played
by each unit has been ignored. Brigades of Gettysburg fills this void by
presenting a complete account of every brigade unit at Gettysburg and providing
a fresh perspective of the battle
Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote $115.50 *
In 1954, Shelby Foote was a young novelist with a contract to write a short
history of the Civil War. It soon became clear, however, that he had undertaken
a long-term project. Twenty years later Foote finally completed his massive
and essential trilogy on the War Between the States. His three books are
prose masterpieces with lively characterizations and gripping action. Although
Foote never sacrifices the truth of what happened to his penchant for artistry,
his skills as a novelist serve him well. Reading all three of these books
will take some time, but they are worth the investment.
Stars in Their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign
June-July 1863 by Shelby Foote $11.17 *
This careful study of the 1863 Gettysburg campaign assumes the contours
of a classical tragedy. Foote positions readers on the field of battle
itself, among swirling smoke and clattering grapeshot, and invites us to
feel for ourselves its hellishness: "men on both sides were hollering as
they milled about and fired, some cursing, others praying ... not a commingling
of shouts and yells but rather like a vast mournful roar." Foote's fine
book is history as literature, and a welcome addition to any Civil War
buff's library.