Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War

Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War Review

Ed Bearss is quite simply a phenomenon! Ed is in his 80s but still going strong on leading almost 300 historical tours each year to Civil War and other historical sites. He is the retired historian emeritus of the National Park Service, a combat wounded veteran of the Pacific theatre in World War II and holds a Master's Degree in History from Indiana University where his thesis was on General Pat Cleburne C.S.A.
In this 400 page guide to major Civil War battlefields such as Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Grant's Virginia Overland Campaign and the Appomattox battles we follow in Ed's footsteps as he tells us the story of the battle as the soldiers from general officers to privates saw it unfold. Ed recounts anecdotes about the leading figures in the battles, gives troop movements and explains the battle easily understandable to someone who has never been on a real battlefield or read one book on the Civil War. Ed has the ability to make military history come alive!
This battlefield guide is published by the National Geographic Society and is quite useful as a handbook to take with you on your own battlefield tour. The book includes several black and white period photos and maps of each battle. The maps could be much better so get a good Civil War Atlas to supplement your study of the Bearss book!
Ed is the Pied Piper of Civil War military historians but don't read this book thinking you will get a sociologica or political study of the American Illiad. This is strictly a blow by blow military history tour of major battles. I would suggest Ed consider a second volume and include more battles from the Western theatre of the War Between the States such as Perryville, Chickamauga, Franklin and Brice's Crossroads. This book along with the American Heritage book on the Civil War would be an excellent gift for the neophyte in Civil War studies.

Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War Overview

Few historians have ever captured the drama, excitement, and tragedy of the War Between the States quite like Edwin Bearss. The acclaimed "Homer of the Civil War," has won a huge, devoted following with his extraordinary battlefield tours and eloquent soliloquies about the heroes, scoundrels, and little-known moments of a conflict that still fascinates America. Antietam, Shiloh, Chickamauga, Gettysburg: these hallowed battles and more than a dozen more come alive as never before, rich with human interest and colorful detail culled from a lifetime of study.

Illustrated with detailed maps and archival images, this 448-page volume commemorates the 140th anniversary of the war's end with a unique narrative of its most critical battles, translating Bearss' inimitable delivery into print. As he guides readers from the first shots at Fort Sumter to Gettysburg's bloody fields to the dignified surrender at Appomattox, his engagingly plainspoken but expert account demonstrates why he stands beside Shelby Foote, James McPherson, and Ken Burns in the front rank of modern chroniclers of the Civil War, as the Pulitzer Prize-winning McPherson himself points out in his admiring introduction.

A must for every one of America's countless Civil War and history buffs alike, this major work will stand as an important reference and enduring legacy of a great historian for generations to come.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 13, 2010 16:57:05