The Battle of Peachtree Creek: An Audio Driving Tour [Audio Cassette]

Marianne Mowry Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 1994

This is an audiocassette and map packaged like an audiobook. The audio driving tour takes you back in time to the Civil War in Atlanta. Hear the stories of real people who fought the battle, hear music of the era and sounds of the battle. Cruise through a beautiful Atlanta neighborhood, while you experience history. The tour is an easy drive in a beautiful neighborhood.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Even if you aren't a Civil War buff, you can enjoy the Battle of Peachtree Creek and a leisurely ride through a neighborhood as lovely and dogwood-filled as Druid Hills. Get the family together for a 25-minute audio tour of Peachtree Battle, complete with music from the era, sounds of battle and lively narration. Pop the cassette into the tape player of your car and make the drive. The final stop, Tanyard Creek Park, is a good spot for a picnic. Produced by Marianne Mowry Gardner, the $12.95 tape is available at King's Drugs on Peachtree Road, all Tales, local bookstores and a few other locations. Includes a map. -- Atlanta Magazine, April, 1995, p. 57

Peachtree Road hides its history well. Amid the rumble of traffic and the jumble of signs, there are no cannons or statues to remind passersby of the terrible things that happened here 130 years ago. Now an Atlanta woman wants to revive that memory. Video producer Marianne Mowry Gardner has come up with what may be a first for Atlanta: an audiocassette Civil War driving tour. The route winds seven miles through the hills south of Buckhead before ending in Tanyard Creek Park on Collier Road. It was here, on the afternoon of July 20, 1864, that Confederate troops under Gen. John Bell Hood attacked a wing of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's army as it crossed Peachtree Creek. The rebels were driven back with 4,800 casualties, the first of three defeats that led to Atlanta's capture and destruction. Gardner's Civil War sounds a lot like Ken Burns'. The narration is punctuated with fiddle music and battle sounds she recorded at a re-enactment in Resaca, Ga. An ensemble of voices read from diaries; one Northerner confesses that he couldn't have made it through the battle without a canteen of whiskey. The effect of all this can be unsettling. Driving along Peachtree Creek, you hear the words of a nurse describing the dead ("some, with open eyes, seemed to glare at any who looked upon them") at the same time you try not to add to the carnage by running down a Rollerblader. Though Gardner is the great-granddaughter of a Yankee soldier, she grew up in South Carolina and has lived in Atlanta for years. "I'd like to do more tapes on Atlanta history," she says. "There are lots of ghosts out there." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 1, 1994

About the Author

Marianne Mowry Gardner is an audio/video producer with a passionate interest in the history of Atlanta. Careful research of the history of the area, as well as readings from Civil War diaries, is combined with music and high production values in this audio driving tour.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Ghost Tours (June 6, 1994)
• ISBN-10: 0967629012
• ISBN-13: 978-0967629018
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,857,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to learn about the Civil War, October 27, 1999

By 

Corinne Van Houten (San Rafael, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Battle of Peachtree Creek: An Audio Driving Tour (Audio Cassette)

This is a genuinely fun way to learn about the Civil War while touring a beautiful section of Atlanta. It's especially nice on a Sunday morning when there is little traffic and you have time to really stop and listen to certain stories or look at certain places. The contrast between the sometimes gory narrative and the peaceful beauty of contemporary Atlanta is fascinating and makes you think about how it must have been over a hundred years ago when war ravaged the city and the country. Very strange and very stimulating. Also, the last stop is a great place for a picnic and a chance to walk around and stretch and think about everything the author of the tape has told you. Really great and definitely recommend it for yourself and your family.