Customer Reviews

Gettysburg 1863: Campaign of Endless Echoes

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I visited the Gettysburg battlefield for the first time in Nov 99. Not being that familiar with the events of Gettysburg, I decided to read a book about it before I traveled to the site. I was very fortunate to have selected Gettysburg 1863 by Richard Wheeler. The book thoroughly explains the events surrounding the battle of July 1863. In addition to the outstanding narrative, Mr. Wheeler has included many drawings and maps that further detail the battles fought and the military strategy of the two armies. The book was very easy to read and extremely interesting. I couldn't put it down. By the time I arrived at Gettysburg, I felt like I had been there before. Thanks to this well written book, my visit to Gettysburg was twice as enjoyable. If one wants a quick, complete and accurate history of the Battle of Gettysburg, this is the book. Any sincere Civil War buff should have this book in his or her library.

Wheeler has written his history of the battle of Gettysburg and the campaign leading up to it in narrative style, without footnotes. This works if you're a great writer like Catton or Foote. But Wheeler is not a great writer; his use of language is quite pedestrian, so the "story" aspect of the book doesn't really work. Also, without footnotes, some of the dialogue and the accounts of individuals' experiences becomes suspect. Is this material accurate, or is he making it up? The depiction of the battle is quite simplistic, giving rather little attention to events on the Confederate left. Wheeler puts great emphasis on General Stuart's activities before the battle, which makes sense when you realize that he has decided to be one of the Stuart-scapegoaters (as opposed to the anti-Longstreet and critical-of-Lee and where-was-Anderson crowds). In pursuit of that thesis, he puts thoughts in Stuart's head in a way which, without corroborating quotes from primary sources, seems unjustified. Overall, this book reads rather like a pamphlet written for battlefield tourists or an indifferent young adult history textbook. It isn't serious scholarship, and I don't recommend it.