The Gettysburg Companion: A Guide to the Most Famous Battle [Hardcover]

Mark Adkin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2008

Unlike any Gettysburg book now available with comprehensive, blow-by-blow account of the celebrated Civil War battle

Lavishly illustrated with color maps, diagrams, charts, drawings, paintings, and period photos along with modern-day photos that are overlaid with markings to show troop movements

Covers uniforms, equipment, and weaponry as well as orders of battle and tactics

There have been many books about Gettysburg, but never one to rival this in scale or authority. Based on extensive research, The Gettysburg Companion describes the battle in detail, drawing on firsthand accounts of participants on all sides in order to give the reader a vivid sense of what it was like to experience the carnage at Gettysburg in early July 1863. The many full-color maps--all specially commissioned for the book--and the numerous photographs, charts, and diagrams make this book a feast for the eyes and a collector's dream.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

500 color illustrations, 9 x 12

About the Author

Mark Adkin, a former army officer, is the author of several books on military history.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (October 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811704394
• ISBN-13: 978-0811704397
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #499,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Book! Absolutely A Must For Civil War Buffs!, October 8, 2008

By 

David M. Dougherty (Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Gettysburg Companion: A Guide to the Most Famous Battle (Hardcover)

This is simply an incredible book with outstanding organization, graphics, maps, photos, and narrative. It is large, 11-1/2" x 9", thick, 1-5/8" and long, 554 pages. Forget the cost. BUY IT!

The Chapters (Sections) are as follows:
Chancellorsville -- The Rebels Lose a General, the Yankees a Battle
Orders of Battle
The Infantry
The Artillery
The Cavalry
Other Arms and Services
Command and Control
The Road to Gettysburg
The Battlefield
The Battle -- Day One
The Battle -- Day Two
The Battle -- Day Three
The Aftermath
The 50th Anniversary Reunion

Author Adkins starts with Chancellorsville, Jackson's death and Hooker's defeat. The organization of both armies, the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, follows in five chapters; Orders of Battle, Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, and Other Arms and Services.

In the Orders of Battle Chapter, photos of all the main commanders are shown on organizations charts, all the statistics with respect to strength and losses are given, and commanders are noted on the charts down to regiments and batteries. The charts include narratives of unit actions prior and during the battle of Gettysburg.

In the Infantry Chapter rank insignia is given along with a number of pages with photos and graphics of equipment, armament, uniforms, organization, tactics, formations with positions of officers and NCOs, marching organizations, and many, many details of interest. The Artillery and Cavalry chapters are organized similarly, and these chapters provide a wealth of information in one book that specialists would otherwise have to spend many hours to extract from other references. If one wants to know the sequence of steps to firing a cannon, it is here. If one is interested in seeing how a cavalry picket system is organized and conducted, this book has it. Signal stations, hospital locations and wagon train parks are shown and fully discussed in the Other Arms and Services Chapter. The coverage is comprehensive and all that anyone could want in a single book.

Then comes Command And Control, giving brief biographies of the principal commanders and the organizations of the various services. Chaplins, couriers, escorts, slave usage, intelligence and civilians are included to complete the picture.

The Road to Gettysburg Chapter gives the military situation in May, 1863, Lee's plans and preparations, the Battle of Brandy Station, and the movements of both armies from Virginia to Pennsylvania. The maps are simply outstanding and easy to follow.

The Battlefield Chapter discusses the actual battlefield with maps, photos, various features, and even a detailed map of the town. Little if anything is overlooked.

Day One starts the actual battle, July 1, 1863. The movements of the two armies are shown in detail with maps, graphics, photos and narratives. I checked some of the 1st day maps and graphics with reports in the Official Records (OR), and I was unable to find anything arguably in error. My conclusion, therefore, is that the author has been extremely thorough in his research and one can assume the presentation to be accurate. This chapter alone contains 56 pages, 17 multi-colored maps showing terrain, unit positions, movements, times, and various notes, and 7 photographs, 6 of which are annotated to point out features and the presence of formation locations.

Day Two is even more extensive over 66 pages and the reader can easily understand the conduct of the battle and the terrain over which it was fought. Maps, graphics, photos and narrative are similar to those in the Day One Chapter.

Day Three centers around Pickett's Charge in a 62 page presentation of very comprehensive maps and graphics showing almost every detail of the charge.

The Aftermath Chapter gives the casualties and statistics, then follows with Lee's withdrawal back to Virginia. The maps show how Lee escaped from the Union pursuit, and the narrative includes the various communications and comments on both sides.

Without belaboring the point, this is a wonderfully produced book with more color than often found in coffee-table art books, and can be always be used in conjunction with any other book on Gettysburg. So often Civil War narratives are poorly furnished with maps and assume the reader is familiar with the arms and tactics used. This book solves all such problems with respect to Gettysburg.

This book is a bargain at three times the price.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good addition to the Gettysburg coverage, March 18, 2009

By 

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

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This review is from: The Gettysburg Companion: A Guide to the Most Famous Battle (Hardcover)

I brought this book after reading all the fireworks that went before. Being caught in several myself, I can kind of understand how self-interest, passion and logic can be so acrimonious at times. But having read all the author's previous books, buying this one based on the author's reputation was a no brainer for me.

Still, I have to say that I enjoyed going through this book. Its not exactly perfect but I dare say that no book does a better job accessing all aspects of Gettysburg from uniforms, leaders to tactics. The narrative proves to be well written and easy to read. I enjoyed the maps, even the questionable one that seems to dragged this book through some little mud. The modern photographs were very nice but as one previous reviewer wrote, it would be nice if the author were more exact in his description of what happened and from where the shot was taken in some of the photos. However, unlike some other reviewers, I can live with minor errors and nitpicking mistakes. None of the mistakes noted can be considered devastating in nature. I have yet to read a perfect history book. All history books are imperfect in some way. We humans do err quite a bit.

But overall, I was very pleased with this book and what it offer. I think most people who enjoy this subject will be happy with this book. Of course, price tag not withstanding here.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for any Civil War collector, July 22, 2009

By 

R. L. Grant (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Gettysburg Companion: A Guide to the Most Famous Battle (Hardcover)

This book is about so much more than Gettysburg. It contains amazing background information on every aspect of tactics, drill, army organization, supply, weapons, transport...and not the usual toss-away, two paragraph information you find in big books like this, but detailed information with wonderful illustrations that explain how you clothed, fed, marched, armed and commanded 100,000 men (and several thousand horses and mules) in 1863. The battlefield photographs and maps are fantastic.

I have 200 Civil War books -- if my house was under fire from a 3-inch ordinance rifle, this is the book I would grab and save.