Book Review - "Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg"

James McPherson has done it again, just when I think that there is nothing more to be said about the battle of Gettysburg, he goes ahead and proves me wrong. "Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg", is not intended to provide a thorough examination of this penultimate Civil War battle, instead it serves as historical guidebook.

While taking readers on a tour of the Gettysburg National Park (as well as areas of the town itself), McPherson provides the history of those sites, detailing the events that transpired on this ground, the leaders, the ordinary participants, the fighting and the outcome. It is helped in this by being presented in chronological order, from the first shot fired by a Union infantryman at a Confederate, through the near disaster due to General Sickles' mistake and the fierce battle for Little Round Top, down to Meade's decision not to attack the Confederates on 4 July 1863.

In addition, McPherson's way with words and his ability to make fascinating events all the more fascinating and compelling, leads to the success of this "historical Guidebook", bringing even me to tears at several points.

"Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg" is an excellent read. I would recommend it enthusiastically for readers who are only familiar with the basics of the battle of Gettysburg and wish to learn more, as a good place to start their exploration. I would also recommend it for even the most knowledgeable researcher, for the new light being shed on very old events, ones which should not be forgotten. And thanks to James McPherson, they never will be.

Book Review - "Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution"

"Lincoln's Assassins:   Their Trial and Execution", byt James L. Swanson & Daniel R. Weinberg, is an excellent addition to any Civil War historian's collection.  Many of the items and pictures included have either never been seen before in book form before or are presented in a new light.  Most interesting is the series of photos taken by photographer Gardner.  They are a series of shots of the hanging, beginning with the empty gallows, the arrival of the condemned, the reading of the sentences, the hooding and the tying of the legs of the condemned, and concluding with a rare action shot of the victims struggling in their nooses and one final shot taken of the dead and now still conspirators.  The last two are especially chilling.  These photographs, along with the obsessive collecting of souvenirs done, illustrate perfectly the ghoulish Victorian obsession with memorializing death.

All in all, a very illustrative view of the assassination, the conspirators, the trial, the hanging and the aftermath of all four.  As a side note, the main author of this book, "James L. Swanson" would write additional books in the Civil War canon.  The first is "Manhunt!" all about John Wilkes Booth's flight from Washington and the subsequent manhunt to find him.  The other is "Bloody Crimes" which concerns the funeral train of President Lincoln and the last days of President Davis' presidency.  Both are very exciting and would look at home on any Civil War historian's bookshelf.

This book is easily available to one and all via a paperback addition through Amazon.com.