Battle of Gettysburg, The: A Guided Tour [Paperback]

Edward J. Stackpole (Author), Wilbur S. Nye (Author), Bradley M. Gottfried (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

A fully revised and updated version of the 1960 classic. A must for Civil War buffs, amateur and professional alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert W. Black, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, is a member of the Ranger Hall of Fame and a combat veteran of Korea and Vietnam. His other books include The Battalion (9780811701846), Cavalry Raids of the Civil War (9780811731577), and Rangers in World War II (9780804105651). --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; Rev Sub edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811726762
• ISBN-13: 978-0811726764
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #981,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > Reference & Tips > Tourist Destinations & Museums
  • #97 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > United States > Regions > Northeast
  • #98 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise yet complete tour guide with great graphics, February 27, 2003

By 

Instrumentalist (Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Battle of Gettysburg, The: A Guided Tour (Paperback)

The editorial reviews on this paperback are right on the mark. It is an excellent 124-page booklet that follows the formal tour guide route.
The front tour section starts by providing just the right amount of "selected" detail (with some well-cropped and selected photos)on each of the 16 stops (36 pages). I was able to take the book out and use it as a quick stop tour. I found the positons easily (as they were concisely marked), then read the short, but complete narrative. I really got the context of the complete battle by putting all the tour stops together because the "important details" were included at each stop.

After the tour, an account of the fighting is described by day, hours and short descriptor, e.g."Action of Buford's Calvary, 8:00 to 10:00 am, July 1" (78 pages). Superb graphics that clearly sketch out positions with key topography markers help you fix on the formations. They are very distingushable as they are marked with reference to the modern day road structure in he park (e.g. you can tell the bulk of Pickett's division-by brigade-was originally lined up much farther south than the positon of Lee's statue in their charge by the Spangler house).

The final pages of the book summarize the strength and losses by unit (i.e. numbers by brigade level, but specifying the regiments included) and a good one-page suggested reading list (that shows the better Gettysburg books).

I have been to this field five times. It is a very good book for new and repeat visitors.

5.0 out of 5 stars Ghost, Thunderbolt and Wizard: How and why Confederate Rangers Excelled, December 29, 2011

By 

John C. Thompson - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Ghost, Thuderbolt, and Wizard: Mosby, Morgan, and Forrest in the Civil War (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

This is the best book I've read concerning the War Between the States (WBTS) in ages. And certainly the greatest book on tactics and strategy used by Confederate Rangers,as author Col. Robert W. Black, himself a former Army Ranger, terms John S. Mosby, John H. Morgan, and Nathan B. Forrest and the men they successfully led. What Col. Black brings forth in his exquisitely well-written and meticulously researched book is information that special operations units and shock troops such as Marines and Army Rangers can still aptly apply today in combat.
The quote by Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor on page 216 is a dandy: "Take a boy of sixteen from his mother's apron strings, shut him up under close supervision for four years at West Point--where half of his time will be taken up with pure mathematics and chemistry and the humanities and optical mirage, and all that God-dammed stuff--no use at all to a soldier. Then send him out to a two-company post on the frontier where he does little but play seven-up and drink whiskey at the sutler's, and by the time he's forty-five years old he'll furnish the most complex illustration of suppressed mental development of which human nature is capable." His plain-spoken remarks about, "all that G..-damn stuff," at West Point helps explains why many West Point educated officers did not perform as expected in the Big War of their life-time. General Taylor's observations also shows why some fearless and gifted "amateurs" such as General Nathan Bedford Forrest exceeded all expectations; and regarding only Gen. Forrest himself, how he out-performed all West Point graduates he joined in combat from either side of the Mason-Dixon line during the WBTS, except for his last engagement in 1865 Alabama, when Confederate resources were totally nil.
Too much predictable, often stagnant, regimentation in peace-time service has often caused, literally, the deaths of many otherwise fine officers once they were thrown into the truly, chaotic, melee of a great war of intensity and scope. Unfortunately, the soldiers of these same officers, suffer more when the peace-time transition of their commanders to combat goes haywire.
I highly recommend this book. This is Col. Black's third book; his other books dealt exclusively with operations of the U.S. Army Rangers. For sure, Col. Black knows his stuff. "Mosby's Rules for Rangers Operations," on page 299 and "War according to Nathan Bedford Forrest," on page 300, should be required reading for all American light infantry. Indeed this entire book should be on the required list to read for Rangers and on the Commandant's required reading list for Marines.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great guide and summary, September 5, 2008

By 

Diane Boggs (MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle of Gettysburg, The: A Guided Tour (Paperback)

The book was small, but great! It filled in all the blanks and gave an excellent tour of the sights of Gettysburg. I want to actually go there after reading this book.