Time Gettysburg: Turning Point of the Civil War

by The Editors of TIME

Overview

History was made on the first three days of July 1863 at Gettysburg, Pa., where Confederate General Robert E. Lee waged a final desperate gamble to win the Civil War — and lost. Now TIME celebrates the 150th anniversary of this pivotal battle in a freshly reported, incisively written and beautifully illustrated volume. TIME has enlisted a brilliant roster of writers to offer fresh perspectives on this iconic battle. Best-selling novelist Jeff Shaara will create a fictional portrait of a Southern soldier in the ranks, and military historian David Eisenhower will examine the strategy of the battle. Noted TIME weekly writers include Richard Lacayo on photography in the war, Jeff Kluger on medicine on the battlefield, David Von Drehle on Lincoln and his generals, and critic Richard Corliss on the war on film, while veteran TIME cartographer Jackson Dykman is creating all new maps for the book. This oversized hardcover edition will offer a magnificent canvas for classic war photographs and other images from the period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781618930538
Publisher:	TIME USA
Publication date:	04/30/2013
Pages:	186
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 11.10(h) x 1.20(d)

Editorial Reviews

This oversize volume encompasses both battle narrative and historical responses to Gettysburg. James M. McPherson's introduction is followed by a prolog by Jeff Shaara in which he "explores the thoughts of a fictional Confederate fighter as he prepares his troops for Pickett's Charge." (Gene Tunney was a "fighter"; these combatants were soldiers and officers.) Next comes "The Road to Gettysburg," followed by one section for each day of battle, and "Gettysburg in Memory." While the main narrative and helpful profiles and time lines are by editor Knauer, there are interpretive essays throughout, including pieces by Drew Gilpin Faust and filmmaker Ric (not Ken) Burns and by Time magazine subject editors, on medicine, death, war photography, etc. The book is chock-full of illustrations, both the photography from the time (and some comparisons to the same sites now) and paintings. The paintings by today's artists, for all the attention to detail, come across as schoolbook hero worship compared to the somber day-of-battle renderings by Edwin Forbes also reproduced here. Last, Richard Corliss assesses four Gettysburg-related movies, calling Gone with the Wind "a woman's picture" and excusing D.W. Griffith as "racist politically, but…a cinematic humanist." There are only three maps; those in Stackpole's book, above, are far superior. VERDICT A hodgepodge, but it may stir high school students and novices to further research.—Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal

Library Journal