Don Troiani's Civil War [Hardcover]

Brian Pohanka (Author), Don Troiani (Author), William C. Davis (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995

Featuring renowned artist-historian Don Troiani's careful research, painstaking attention to detail, and dramatic style.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although he has been painting the War Between the States since 1980, Don Troiani's Civil War is the first book to collect this historical artist's work in one volume. Troiani is at his best in the battle paintings--his attention to detail and insistence on historical accuracy help him capture the valor and confusion of combat--but the book includes more bucolic depictions of camp life, as well. Brian Pohanka's accompanying text illuminates the stories behind the paintings. For example, he describes a famous episode from Second Manassas where Confederate soldiers ran out of bullets during a Union assault; the beleaguered Rebels resorted to throwing rocks at the Union lines. Troiani captures this desperate action magnificently. Because the narrative focuses on these small stories, it sometimes misses the big picture; so while the text and paintings are presented in chronological order from 1861 to 1865, it makes for only a so-so recounting of the war overall. But this is not a book you read so much as experience. --Thomas Prowell --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"Don Troiani is unsurpassed at recreating, with absolute fidelity, the decisive moments of great battles." -- Stephen W. Sears, author of Chancellorsville

"Don Troiani probably knows more about how Civil War soldiers looked and were equipped than anyone else since the veterans themselves. His paintings are unparalleled in evoking Civil War military culture both on the battlefield and in camp." -- Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Confederate War --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1st edition (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081170341X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811703413
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 11.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,097,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hell Isn't Half a Mile Off..., September 15, 2000

By 

Kevin F. Kiley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don Troiani's Civil War (Hardcover)

Don Troiani is undoubtedly the best military artist in the United States today and his Civil War paintings accurately portray the armies of that most terrible of wars. Colorful, realistic, and full of movement, action, and the terror of combat, they have moved up to fill a void that was created with the passing of the older generation of great American military painters such as H. Charles McBarron and Clyde Risley.

This book is a noteworthy compendium of his Civil War paintings, and, accompanied by authoritative text by Brian Pohanka, is a valuable addition to the growing crescendo of Civil War literature. Accurate, gritty, and covering the subject from muzzle to buttplate, this account and the paintings it describes bring the war to life on your bookshelf or coffee table. No other painter today, with the exception of Keith Rocco and his Napoleonic paintings, has captured the world of the combat soldier as Troaini has.

If you don't own this book, you are definitely missing out on a part of history.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing History Alive, June 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Don Troiani's Civil War (Hardcover)

There is a temptation to think that history prior to this century was in black and white. The faces and landscapes of the American Civil War have so often come to us through the revolutionary photo journalism of Matthew Brady or the newsprint of contemporary periodicals. These are unprecendented chronicles of the time, yet colorless and (until Ken Burn's wonderful documentatary) largely static, lifeless. The carefully researched works of Don Troiani remind us that the principals of that sad time saw the world as we do -- with color, life! I am fortunate to own two Don Troiani art prints and, after leafing through "Troiani's Civil War" I wish I owned more. Not only is it a wonderful collection of the artist's work, but a fair cross section of major moments in the war. More than any of his contemporary artists, Troiani is a historian first. This, and his attention to the common soldier commend this work and his most highly.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic in Civil War Literature, November 21, 2000

By 

Eduardo J. Tellez A (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Don Troiani's Civil War (Hardcover)

This Book is not only regiments history and a lott of beautiful accurate illustrated uniforms, is history alive. The only thing this book lack off is sound but thanks to the hands of Don Troiani the paintings are so full of live you can hear it in the back of your mind. Art by Don Troiani, text by Brian C. Pohanka. This book presents in a beautiful landscape format his unique view of the war and the men who fought it. Each painting is accompanied by an extensive background text by noted historian Brian Pohanka The good thing about this book is that if you consider yourself a Civil War historian or reenactorss a just a fan beginning to study the civil war, you won't find the typical error of other authors, this would help you enjoy the painting one by one so you can understand better who and how was this War fought. One last thing DO NOT PUT THIS BOOK ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE people fall in love with this book so fast that they can even stole from you, believe me this is the third time I buy this book. If you enjoy this book you would love Don Troiani's Soldiers In America, 1754 - 1865.