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Gettysburg

A masterful, single-volume history of the Civil War's greatest campaign.  Drawing on original source material, from soldiers' letters to official military records of the war, Stephen W. Sears's Gettysburg is a remarkable and dramatic account of the legendary campaign. He takes particular care in his study of the battle's leaders and offers detailed analyses of their strategies and tactics, depicting both General Meade's heroic performance in his first week of army command and General Lee's role in the agonizing failure of the Confederate army. With characteristic style and insight, Sears brings the epic tale of the battle in Pennsylvania vividly to life.

Paperback: 640 pages

Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (November 3, 2004)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0618485384

ISBN-13: 978-0618485383

Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.6 x 9 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (196 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #88,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Campaigns & Battlefields > Gettysburg #818 in Books > History > Military > United States

There are two Civil War writers who concentrate on the Eastern Theater of the war, and are prominent enough to garner attention outside their field. One is Stephen W. Sears, the other is Noah Andre Trudeau. Sears has concentrated on the first half of the war, mostly writing about the campaigns of George McClellan, while Trudeau has worked in the last half of the war, making a name for himself as the best-known chronicler of Grant's Overland Campaign in 1864. Last year, Trudeau presented us with Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage, a long and very good account of the battle and its consequences. It seems these two historians have met in the middle of the war, because we are now presented with Stephen W. Sears' simply titled Gettysburg.Sears is a different writer than Trudeau, and he presents the battle in a different fashion, the book in a different manner. While Trudeau's book is long and dense (no illustrations, ca. 600 pages of text), Sears' book is considerably shorter, and more accessible. It has illustrations, either photographs of the participants or artwork done by participants or witnesses. Since they take up space on the page, and I would judge the font to be a point or two larger, my guess is this book is a good 25% shorter than Trudeau's. That makes it more accessible (as does the inclusion of illustrations, one shortcoming of Trudeau's book) and easier to read. It's not, however, a book for beginners.Sears is of course interested in the battle and why it came out the way it did, not just recounting what happened during the fighting. He echoes many of Trudeau's judgements, differs with some others, but makes some of his own. Most of his verdict on the battle and the performance of the generals involved is nothing new to Civil War buffs, and won't make fans of R.E. Lee happy.

I'm not exactly sure why every book on Gettysburg "has" to plow new ground in order to be accepted. Perhaps its because the grognards feel they have to read everything written about the battle and are disappointed if they don't learn something new. Not everyone wants, or needs, to delve into new research. New research, after all, can be flawed. Unless you follow Civil War scholarship through the peer review process, you may take as gospel something that doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Sears' _Gettysburg_ doesn't have much in it that's new, but that's not necessarily a bad thing! Those of us who have studied the Civil War for some time tend to forget that every few years we _need_ an easy to read, single volume history of important battles that utilizes current research. _Gettysburg_ by Stephen Sears is such a book.The first book I read about Gettysburg was _They Met at Gettysburg_ by Gen. Stackpole. It was a bit out of date even when I read it, and it was terribly slanted against certain historical figures, but at the same time it was engaging and very easy to read. That book started me on a 15 year discovery of the American Civil War. Reading _Gettysburg_, I was reminded of how I felt when I read Stackpole's book. I really wish that this book had been my first introduction to the battle. It may not be a must read for every Civil War enthusiast, and it is certainly _not_ as detailed as Pfanz or Hess' books (nor is it meant to be) but it's definitely an important contribution to the field. Someone coming at Gettysburg for the first time could do _much_ worse than this volume.The book begins where _Chancellorsville_ leaves off, with Sears showing the opening moves of Lee and Hooker.

The Civil War, particularly the Battle of Gettysburg, retains its hold on the imagination of Americans. We seek to understand our country by studying the events of these terrible but formative years. The Civil War did indeed lead to a "new birth of freedom" in the United States. We still struggle to understand and to develop the implications of this "new birth".Stephen Sears is a distinguished military historian of the Civil War who has written in this book an outstanding account of the pivotal battle of Gettysburg (July 1 -- July 3, 1863). This battle ended the Confederacy's second invasion of the Union (the first invasion ended with the Battle of Antietam in September, 1862). Coupled with the Confederacy's surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4, 1863, Gettysburg ended the South's ability to wage an offensive war and probaby ended as well its chance of winning the war.Sears gives a full account of the battle and of the events leading to Lee's second invasion of the North, beginning with Lee's victory over the Union Army at Chancellorsville in May, 1863. Sears explains well how the invasion was linked to the impending Confederate loss at Vicksburg. General Lee put forward the invasion to Jefferson Davis as a calculated gamble and a means to counteract this loss.The book offers detailed pictures of the march into Pennsylvania of the preludes to the Battle of Gettysburg, of the battle itself, and of Lee's subsequent retreat into Virginia.

The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 - July 13, 1863 Sickles at Gettysburg: The Controversial Civil War General Who Committed Murder, Abandoned Little Round Top, and Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America (Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library) I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 (I Survived #7) Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? Lincoln's Gettysburg Address From Antietam to Gettysburg: A Civil War Coloring Book (Dover History Coloring Book) The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle with Maps When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg Imperfect Union: A Father's Search for His Son in the Aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg Gettysburg American Treasures: The Secret Efforts to Save the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address The Last Road North: A Guide to the Gettysburg Campaign, 1863 (Emerging Civil War Series) Gettysburg: The Last Invasion Stars in Their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Illustrated The 10 Biggest Civil War Battles: Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Spotsylvania Court House, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, Stones River, Shiloh, Antietam, Second Bull Run, and Fredericksburg The Blue and the Gray: Volume 2: From the Battle of Gettysburg to Appomattox, Revised and Abridged (The Classic History of the Civil War , Vol 2)