(American Civil War)

The companion volume to the PBS documentary of the same title, this book is a collection of visual and textual essays which allow the reader to imagine what the documentary would have been like if it had been made up of more episodes. Its large dimensions allow for the photographs within to be blown up for greater detail. My favorite section is part of an interview with Civil War historian Shelby Foote in which he explains why the two geniuses of the American Civil War were Abraham Lincoln – and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

An excellent book of Civil War era photographs. The companion volume to the PBS series. ( )

The American Civil War is one of those things we concentrated on (repeatedly) in my K-12 education, but I haven't thought much about it since then. I bought this book when it first came out in paperback and I was a freshman in High School on a camping trip in Gettysburg. It took me twelve years to open it. However, this book, based on the Ken Burns PBS documentary on the Civil War from the 1990s, reminded me of what I had forgotten over the years (or never learned because I wasn't paying attention).

Without going into excessive detail, the authors walk the reader through the Civil War from its political beginnings through the last battles. Although I missed the depth I've come to expect from history books, I felt this was an excellent primer for someone looking to learn more about the American Civil War elsewhere. It help me comprehend and realign the fragments left from my earlier education. ( )

Nothing is as good as Ken Burns PBS documentary, but this book, upon which much of the film was based, is as good an alternative as you'll find. ( )