Customer Reviews

The Civil War Battlefield Guide, Second Edition

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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If you must only purchase one Civil War battlefield guide, make it this one, a beautifully produced volume by The Conservation Fund, a national battlefield preservation group. Plus, proceeds from every purchase go back to help the preservation effort, so there you go.

The book lists campaigns and battles in chronological order, covering a total of 384 separate engagements. Each campaign/battle has a short but usefully detailed narrative overview, and the most important battles have accompanying maps. These maps are a thing of beauty and a joy to use. The editors wisely took current U.S. Geological Survey maps (complete with highway numbers and terrain features - very useful) of the battle areas and superimposed upon them Civil War- era landmarks and troop movements. This excellent technique makes the maps useful for navigating to and around the battlefields, and standing on the ground to visualize the fighting, especially for the less well-preserved sites where markers and interpretations may not exist. The only recommendation I would make for future editions is for the binding-- putting the book in a ring binding similar to a road atlas, with the larger maps as fold-outs, would make this already outstanding book even more useful.

A series of short essays on various topics, and appendices with statistical information, complete the package. While the battle summaries themselves may not stand alone for analysis, that is certainly not the book's purpose (neither, I might add, is the book designed to interest folks who have "no interest in the trenches"- get real! This is a Civil War battlefield guide!). It succeeds completely and admirably in its guidebook function. I am currently purchasing copies for use by West Point cadets in an intensive Civil War battlefield study and staff ride. Highly recommended.

This book lends itelf as a nice companion to any serious volume of research on the Civil War. It is not meant to be used as the sole study on specific battles but more so as a synopsis of what took place upon the battlefield.

When used in conjunction with other works it's a great read and by itself it will give insight into the struggle that took place all across our Nation.

The essays and maps are well done and to the point. However, don't rely upon these articles if you are planning on doing in depth tours or studies of the battles. Use this work as an overview of the action and then go out and enjoy the talks, lectures and battlefield literature. If there is no park then look online for books pertaining to your interests.

Overall, his book is well written and is recommened for those interested in brief essays of over 350 civil war battles.

This guide covers all of the 384 principle battles of the Civil War, with maps of certain battles and casualty statistics at the end of each essay. Information is also given on the current statis of the battlefields. A must reference guide for your Civil War library.

This is an excellent resource for anyone planning on visiting Civil War battlefields. Even if one does not actually go to the site, this book's detailed maps and readable text helps illustrate the battles described. I recently visited Chickamauga battlefield in Georgia and this guide was very helpful in adding scope and dimension.

Most major engagements are covered by this book, in fact I can think of none that is worth visiting that is not in this book. I have enjoyed this book for a while now (the hardcover is out of print but the paperback is available) and look forward to many more years of use from it.

I bought this book because i was working for a battlefield in the Park Service this summer and I had some free time to see other Battle fields in the surrounding areas: Richmond, Cold Harbor, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Harper's Ferry, Malverin Hill. And this book is just what I needed, because sometimes the best thing is just a concise history to understand with great detailing maps for comprehension and this has it. I value mine on a Civil War Battlefield trips

I do not live near many of the major battlefield sites, and I have never had this guide in my possession when visiting any battlefields so I cannot comment on its "real-time" usefulness, but I can say that having this guide has been quite valuable in personal study. The maps cleverly overlay the North/South troop placements and movements on modern topographic renderings that include today's highways and other developments. So, before or after a live visit to a particular battlefield, these maps will help you to place the precise historic details in the context of, say, the visitor's center or other modern landmarks (like roads) that can be recognized. I have also found the narrative descriptions to be both brief and comprehensive enough to supplement my readings for particular battles. For instance, I am reading Cozzen's difficult study now about Chickamauga. Having this guide at hand, I can refresh myself on the overview of the battle, and thus better absorb and enjoy the expert details of the book that I'm reading. The chronological order of the battles also provides a great overview of the entire war at a glance (in case, for example, you're not sure how the two Bull Run battles fit together, or how Chickamauga relates to Chattanooga, or how either of these relates to Gettysburg or Vickburg). Lastly, this is just a great book for browsing if you are interested in the Civil War.

An expanded 2nd edition of an excellent work. This book provides information about almost every Civil War action, in sequence. The status of the battlefields is listed and the efforts to save them is detailed.

AN ADDITIONAL BENIFIT, PART OF YOUR PURCHASE WILL HELP SAVE THE BATTLEFIELDS!

I Finally found a Civil War atlas that works as a companion to Shelby Foote's "The Civil War - a Narrative". The maps are based on modern color topo maps (perhaps from the USGS?), with troop position and troop movement overlays. Very easy to read. In other Civil War atlases (and I have 2 others) the maps are not nearly as easy to read.

This is one of the best books to have to study the civil war locations, and tour the battles. It has superb topographical maps of the battle area's.

It also has more information on the battles and different topic's on the civil war.

I have never been to any of the battles back east, since I have lived in the Midwest and Arizona, so I wish the book had more pictures of the area's then and now. I have talked to a few people and it is sad that we are losing some of these battlefields to land development

A very well taken care of edition of Civil War Battlefields.Why buy new when books of this quality are available ?