Customer Reviews

Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a seminal collection of knowledge that no civil war book collection should be without! Written during the immediate aftermath of the war, it embodies all the sentiments and spirit of the times and is therefore an invaluable addition to the understanding of the civil war and of American history itself. An absolute "must have"!!

Though many contemporary historians have written and enumerated upon the various primary documents that exist in relation to the American Civil War, the reader should certainly understand the advantages and disadvantages in studying a work, such as this, that was written just a few years after the conclusion of the war.

If your interest lies in the minutia of battle, perhaps this is not the book for you. Many of the biggest battles are covered here in a mere handful of pages. Shiloh, for instance, is the subject of entire volumes in contemporary writing, but in this particular work it consumes all of 4 pages. On the other hand, the authors, Guernsey and Alden, take scores of pages to inform the reader of various political developments for each year of the war.

Of particular intrigue is their interpretation of what events are truly significant. After reading Shelby Foote, Edwin Coddington, Stephen Ambrose, or Bruce Catton, we, as readers, develop certain associations with names and places within the Civil War lexicon. Some battles, like Shiloh, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, take on an almost mythical status. With the Harper's Pictorial history, however, Guernsey and Alden speak plainly. They view these engagements for what they really were: just large, costly battles.

One of the more interesting things about reading a primary document versus a contemporary (secondary) work is how matter-of-fact the authors were to these legendary events. There is very little, if any, mythical visions of grandeur that even the most celebrated of modern Civil War historians cannot avoid.

The footnotes and additional material present in this volume is simply the best you will ever find. Transcripts of entire speeches of generals and politicians are included. Official dispatches are reprinted in full between various generals. Most impressively are the facsimile reproductions of official battle reports from generals on both sides; as well as official government testimony given by the combatants at post-war hearings. Again, the strength of this primary document is that you get to actually read the words and letters of real participants instead of getting this information transcribed (albeit cleverly) by modern authors.

This book is probably for those who are seriously interested in the Civil War. If you are new to the genre and have not already read the works by the above mentioned authors, you would probably be best served by doing so.

I used to own the original leather bound 1st edition !
Invaluble referance book !!!!!!!

I have 27 issues of Harpers Pictorial magazines "History of the Civil War" originals. Copyrighted 1866 by Harper & Brothers and copyrighted in 1894 by the Star Publishing Co. of Chichago Illinois, who first ran the series of the contents of this book. The editors were Alfred H.Guernsey and Henry M. Alden. The cover and all of the illustrations were done in beautiful pen & ink. They originally sold for $.25 each and were considered to be worth twice their value at the time of print. This is an awesome collection of this material.

Henry Mills Alden was the beloved step-father of my grandmother, Aline Kilmer. He was an editor of Harper's Magazine. This large and heavy tome is a 1996 facsimile edition of "Harper's Pictorial History of the Great Rebellion in the United States," first published in 1866. It reflects the horrifying bigotry of its times, evident in the writings of some of the most adamant of Northern Caucasian Abolitionists. The text, pictures, and maps are fascinating and invaluable to Civil War buffs such as my husband, Tim Slattery.