Gettysburg Battlefield: The Definitive Illustrated History [Hardcover]

David J. Eicher (Author), James M. McPherson (Author), Lee Vande Visse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

Gettysburg Battlefield is the definitive illustrated history of the largest and deadliest military campaign ever waged in the Western Hemisphere. It was fought 140 years ago this July, in the farmlands of Pennsylvania. Years in the making, it draws together the most complete collection of Gettysburg imagery ever published in a single volume along with a robust narrative. The author takes the reader on a day-by-day journey through the battle, illustrated throughout with more than 480 photographs, many of them rare, including shots of Robert E. Lee and George Meade. Two visual features of this book are particularly compelling: Period photographs of key battlefield sites - taken just as the guns stilled - are juxtaposed with images of those same sites today. Three-dimensional maps were created especially for this book and offer a distinctive perspective on military strategy. Essays by civil war experts and a foreword by historian James M. McPherson complete this handsome and authoritative history. An essential addition to the Civil War library, Gettysburg Battlefield is a compelling chronicle of a legendary conflict and the ultimate pictorial record.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Civil War changed the course of America, and, the battle that changed the course of the war was fought on farmland at Gettysburg, Pa. That battle is re-created in "Gettysburg Battlefield: The Definitive Illustrated History" by David J. Eicher, with a foreword by Civil War historian James M. McPherson. In three days, July 1-3, 1863, nearly 8,000 died and another 38,000 were missing or wounded.
With essays by 15 Civil War historians and nearly 500 illustrations, the book takes readers from the Confederate army's northward march, through three days of fierce fighting and to the Union victory and Confederate retreat.
Among the visuals are maps with cutaway views to show the role topography played, side-by-side photos of key sites at battle's end and the same sites today, and thumbnail photos and sketches of monuments and sites, and of the battle's key participants. - Chicago Tribune

Here is one of the most exciting and best-executed Civil War picture books to be published since the American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War by Bruce Calton 40 years ago. It's a new benchmark against which future volumes of its kind will be judged. David J. Eicher's Gettysburg Battlefield is just what the title claims it to be: definitive. This is surely one of the most attractively designed books about a Civil War battle ever published, blending contemporary and period photographs to create the most complete photographic coverage of Gettysburg to date.

The work owes a debt to Gettysburg, A Journey in Time by William A. Frassanito, and, indeed, Eicher acknowledges Frassanito's groundbreaking research again and again as he compares views of the battlefield taken in the 1860's and afterward with gorgeous color photographs shot in the past few years. There is no attempt to duplicate Frassanito's work; Gettysburg Battlefield updates and supplements it. One delightful surprise is the large number of photos that many readers will not have seen before. Also welcome are the photos enlarged to show obscure detail.

Gettysburg Battlefield is a thorough and meticulously researched history as well. Eicher retells the story of the battle in vibrant prose, offering the best and latest Civil War scholarship to sort the considerable amounts of legend that the battle has accreted over 150 years. Assisting in the storytelling are handsome, full-color, three-dimensional maps by Lee Vande Visse. They recall the work in the American Heritage history of four decades ago. Visse's maps are profusely labeled and greatly enhance understanding of the complex battle.

Perhaps Eicher's greatest achievement is communicating that special, indefinable something that you feel when you visit Gettysburg in person. Lincoln described the ground as "consecrated...far above our poor power to add or detract." No volume has ever transmitted that sensation better than this one. This is a must have book. - Civil War Times

About the Author

David J. Eicher is the author of several books on the Civil War, among them The Longest Night and Civil War High Commands. He lives in Wisconsin.

James M. McPherson is a professor of American history at Princeton University and the author of numerous important books on the Civil War, including the Pulitzer Prize winning Battle Cry of Freedom.

Lee Vande Visse is a professional illustrator and graphic designer with a longtime interest in Civil War history.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811828689
• ISBN-13: 978-0811828680
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 10.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,620,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars FORTY-NINE Errors and Problems with this Poor Book, January 14, 2007

By 

Garry Adelman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gettysburg Battlefield: The Definitive Illustrated History (Hardcover)

This book is full of errors. Here are some, but not all:

P.12 Buford commanded a division not a brigade
P.17 A.A. Humphreys is neither a major general in this image nor at Gettysburg. He was a brigadier.
P.21 Meade took command three, not four days before the battle.
P.22 There were eight Union Corps commanders at Gettysburg, not seven.
P.30 Sykes did not command all the regular army infantry units at Gettysburg. There were US sharpshooters in the 3rd Corps.
P.32 Buford commanded a division, not a brigade, at Gettysburg.
P.34 and 141 The same image is used twice in the book with slightly different captions.
P.41 Image was recorded in 1867, not 1865.
P.47 The photo of the railroad cut at Gettysburg is in fact a photo of Fredericksburg.
The author even provides a modern view of the site at Gettysburg!
P.50 Buford's monument was erected in 1892 not 1895
P.60 Early's Division did not have nearly 6,300 men at Gettysburg, it's closer to 5,500.
P.63 The light bulb atop the Peace Light memorial was replaced in the 1980s not the 1990s.
P.68 Robert E. Rodes was killed outright at Third Winchester, not mortally wounded.
P.77 John Burns and Abraham Lincoln did not attend services in Gettysburg. It was a political rally.
P.78 The view from the square to the Courthouse, is south, not west.
P.82 This image was recorded in July 1886 not c. 1861-1865. More than TWENTY YEARS off.
P.83 The photo was taken in 1886, not "ca. 1861-1865."
P.84 View was taken in 1867 not 1865.
P.85 View was taken in 1867 not 1865.
P.101 The Confederate attack did not swing past the Sherfy house "on the way toward" Devil's Den.
P.112 Confederate movements against the Round Tops did not occur to the north of Devil's Den.
P.112 The other branch of Plum Run fronts Cemetery, not Seminary Ridge.
P.113 Van Horne Ellis was not a fireman before the war; he was a Sea Captain, amongst other things.
P.117 The map key places the fighting at Devil's Den at least a mile away from where it took place.
P.117 On p. 126, Eicher calls it "unfortunate" when Samuel Crawford's middle name is misspelled, yet he spells Vannoy Manning's first name as "Vanney." Unfortunate, indeed.
P.121 The John T. Weikert House is not a wartime structure.
P.122 The photo was taken from Houck's Ridge not from "the area of the Stony Hill." It was recorded in the 1880s, not "ca. 1860s." Any Gettysburg author should know that there were no monuments on the field outside the cemetery until 1878. As to location, to not know that Rose Woods would be in the photographer's way from the Stony Hill to the Round Tops demonstrates a significant lack of understanding about Gettysburg.
P.123 This image is referred to as a variant of that on page 121, yet author is uncertain whether it was Mathew Brady's crew. Of course it is--it's a variant.
P.123 Ellis Spear was a Captain, not a Lt. Col. at Gettysburg. Off by two ranks.
P.124 The 93rd Pennsylvania Monument pictured was erected in 1884, not 1888.
P.128 The 1st Texas fought with the 15th Georgia in Rose Woods, not the 15th Alabama, which was on Little Round Top. Even the most popular regiments at Gettysburg are subject to inaccuracies in this book.
P.131 The white buildings in the distance, clearly on Seminary Ridge, are not those of George W. Weikert which were near Rose Woods.
P.132 The view looks east-southeast, not northeast.
P.135 The map key places the fighting at Devil's Den at least a mile away from where it took place.
P.135 Dan Sickles did not visit his leg at the Army Medical Museum every year.
P.138 and 166 There are two of the EXACT same historic photos of Little Round Top in two different places labeled as different photos. There are TWO DIFFERENT MODERN views roughly 150 feet apart for the SAME PHOTO! Finally, he labels one of the views as July 6, 1863, and the other as July 6 or 7, 1863. How could someone writing a book of this sort not know that he had two of the exact same photo? How can there be two different moderns?
P.139 The map key places the fighting at Devil's Den and Little Round Top at least a mile away from where it took place.
P.142 In speculating that this image is among the last recorded by Gardner's crew at Gettysburg, the date given is July 6, 1863. Yet, elsewhere in the book, Gardner views are dated as late as July 9 (p.78).
P.143 The two images were not recorded from different angles. They are the same angle but with different cameras.
P.145 Photographer (Gardner), location of the image (crest of LRT) and month (July) of both images are all known. All are listed as questionable or "unknown" in the book. Incredibly the famous "Warren Rock" and the distinctive tree next to it appear in the image on the right.
P.146 The photo labeled as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is in fact it is a photo of General Edwin Stoughton. Of all of the people to not recognize at Gettysburg Joshua Chamberlain!
P.158 While so many modern images are poorly recorded in this book, this one is among the weakest. See pp. 157, 161, 167, 172, 179 and others for more flawed examples.
P.169 This book claims to be definitive yet is missing many, many, known images of wartime Gettysburg. On this page, this series is represented by but three of five different, known images.
P.195 Top view was taken in 1867 not 1865.
P.195 Bottom view was taken in 1867 not 1865.
P.201 Top left view was taken in 1867 not 1865.
P.202 All four historic Tyson views on this page were taken in 1867 not 1865.
P.212 The Copse of Trees is in the wrong place. It almost seems a deliberate effort to make mistakes on Gettysburg's most well-known features.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful photographic guide to Gettysburg, April 29, 2005

By 

lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gettysburg Battlefield: The Definitive Illustrated History (Hardcover)

I found this book to be an useful photographic guide to the battlefield of Gettysburg. The text appears to be well written and I enjoyed the comparsion photos between how the battlefield look back then compared to modern time. There have been comparison made between this book and William A. Frassanito's Gettysburg: A Journey in Time. I think both books got a lot of merit. Difference lies in presentation. Frassanito's book is all in black and white. Eicher's book got color photos. I liked color photos since it gives a more "modern" look in comparison to the old. Many of the color photos seem to be pretty well shot as well. It would be great if we can somehow combined both books together. I think both books supplement each other very nicely.

Eicher's book got a lot of flak for some its numerous errors and typos. I supposed most readers can overlook that to a certain degrees. But the critics is right about one thing, that isn't Joshua Chamberlain above his name. Its rather surprising that this author would make such an error since Chamberlain is well known thanks to that movie. As for the photo sizes, yes they are rather on the small size. I can lived with it but I wondered why they were arranged in such a way?

But overall, this book proves to be well worth the time and effort for anyone interested in the Gettysburg campaign. Its an overwritten subject matter but the interest carrys on generation after generation.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Did I miss something?, July 14, 2005

By 

Chip (Tucson) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gettysburg Battlefield: The Definitive Illustrated History (Hardcover)

Brilliant - not reliable - superb - buyer beware - excellent - a total disappointment - gorgeous - design flaws - beautiful - didn't pass the laugh test - struck gold. What's going on here?

When I read these reviews, I marveled that so many people could see the same thing so differently. Naturally I had to buy this book to find out for myself.

Frassanito set the standard, no question, and Eicher gives great deference to him throughout, but Frassanitos work is not without fault. His "modern" pictures are always irritatingly taken ten steps to the left or fiften to the right instead of precisely where the original photographer stood. His theory about the soldier being drug uphill to the snipers den pretty well put him on the map, but compelling new evidence now indicates O'Sullivan drug the soldier downhill to prevent Waud from scooping him in Harpers Weekly. My point is that nobody's perfect and nobody "owns" Gettysburg's history.

I loved the "modern" color shots in Eicher's book as well as his obvious attempt to position his camera in exactly the same location as his counterpart. The mini-essays by the notible scholars added greatly.

It's obvious to me that there is something going on of which I'm not aware. No one without a grudge, an ulterior motive or a pecuniary interest would ever give this book one star. It's way too good for that.

The small pictures and the numerous tickey-tac errors are legitimate criticisms however, and anyone with a serious interest in Gettysburg couldn't, in all honesty, give it five stars either.

My advice: Buy it used for $15 and you wont be disappointed.