Organized into twelve thematic sections, a visual history of the American Civil War presents more than five hundred illustrations from the Library of Congress, including an array of period drawings, lithographs, and woodcuts; iconic photography by Mathew Brady and others; important manuscripts; political and theatrical posters; memoirs and journal
Margaret E. Wagner, The American Civil War: 365 Days form the Library of Congress (Abrams, 2006) It took me a very long time to get through this. A good deal of the reason is that the book is, despite its relatively small dimensions, massive; this is not one you'll be carrying with you on your morning commute or reading in the park. You may want to get it a podium of its very own. It's probably worth it. Wagner selected, as the subtitle tells you, three hundred sixty-five (actually, closer to five hundred; there are a number of small inset pictures, and many pages have more than one picture) photos, handbills, posters, and other ephemera from the Civil War era, and presents them here with some framing text. Actually, "some framing text" is an understatement-- you'll spend as much time reading as you will contemplating photographs, and Wagner's charm is that she spends a good deal of time illuminating dark corners of the war neglected in history books, or shining different lights on them than we're used to seeing. The result is a quite different look at the war than we're used to, and that makes this absorbing and worth reading. Just make sure you have someplace sturdy to set it while doing so. ****
Makes the Civil War a reality
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
This book was wonderful. I have never been overly interested in the Civil War until reading/looking at this book. The division of the book into topics helped me analyze different general aspects of conflict and concern at the time, and the phenomenal selection of photos, maps, drawings, cartoons humanized the time period and the war itself and made it very real. The book also filled in some historical holes for me: The picture of George Armstrong Custer as a young officer, for example, gave me a sense of Custer as a man, as well as of how the history of the Old West fits together with that of the North and South. I borrowed the book from the library, couldn't put it down, rushed right out and bought it.
American Civil War: 365 Days
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Very easy to read for someone with a limited amount of time. Excellent information and photos.
Great gift for dad!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
I gave this to my dad for father's day and he LOVED it! I'd say this one is a winner ;-)
Excellent pictoral and written history of the war
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
The American Civil War: 365 Days provides an excellent pictoral history of the war backed up with a brief written history. I added this to my classroom civil war collection as soon as I saw finished reading it. Recommended.
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