Customer Reviews

The Matthew Brady's Illustrated History of the Civil War

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Any buff of the US Civil War knows there is a BIG question on just how much Matthew Brandy actually shot with his camera. There is little doubt he often took credit for those working under him, and showed a bent at making the Brady name linger in history as the first to photograph a war from beginning to end. But that question pushed aside, forget who took what pictures, unless arguing that particular point, and simply sit back and get blown away by the sheer numbers of photos! Over 500 pages (often with half a dozen or more photos per page) of portraits, landscapes and even some illustrations in colour plates, this is a wonderful companion to the writings of Bruce Catton or Henry Steele Commanger.

Instead of just reading about the people and places that were the stage of the War Between the States, see them! Pictures of People, informal and formal portraits, pictures of encampments, riverboats, fortifications, bridges, of troops and the bloody aftermath of war. Brady and his contemporaries were often accused of 'stage' pictures, but it does not take away the power to move you. It was sad, 'the battles lost' often depicted Confederate dead, showing a distinct bias to further to belief the Union was invincible and the South doomed.
Regardless of the taint or copyright/ownership of the period, regardless of the yellow journalism of staging the photos, you cannot deny the value to casual historians, to writer of the period or to people wishes to see these places and the people that created some of the bloodies battles in history.

A wonderful collection.

The most annoying this about this collection is the lack of index, which turned out to be incredibly annoying.

Matthew Brady's photos are fabulous, but the "history" by Benson Lossing is dreadful at best. It's evident that Lossing was a rabid Union sympathizer and not a soldier, and that he only interviewed high-ranking Unionists after the war for his "research." Among the phony jewels: Lincoln's assassination was a massive plot led by Jefferson Davis; Union prisoners of war were deliberately mistreated while Confederates were well-fed and housed by their captors; Jefferson Davis was gently treated after his arrested and housed in (quote) comfortable quarters during his captivity instead of the rancid, wet cell that Northern and Southern people alike criticized; no atrocities were ever committed by Union generals such as Sherman. Don't even think of using this for your book report!

This book should have never been reprinted. The author has some pretty unique views on The Civil War, almost all of which have no factual historical basis. He misrepresents battles to the point of making gross historical errors and does not seem bound to even a modicum of historic reseach. If I could, I would give it 0 stars. Save your money.