Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Civil War [Hardcover]

Jennifer Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

Mathew B. Brady was already a famous photographer by the time the Civil War began. But the war gave Brady something else:

The chance to make a RECORD OF A WAR -- this war -- in a way that had never been done before: WITH TRUE-TO-LIFE PICTURES INSTEAD OF JUST WORDS. He hired field photographers to travel with the troops, equipped them with cameras and wagons filled with supplies, and sent them out with the directive to make a visual record of the war and to show people scenes they could have only read about before.

The pictures the field photographers sent back were HAUNTING, BEAUTIFUL, DEVASTATING, AND TOTALLY UNFORGETTABLE. And thousands of them included the notation "Photo by Brady." Though Brady didn't actually take the photographs, he was the genius behind them. His vision and foresight gave the country images that not only touched the people at the time, but have gone on to leave an indelible mark on the collective memory of this country. And the name of Mathew Brady will always be remembered with them.

In Photo By Brady, Jennifer Armstrong tells the story of the Civil War as seen through the lenses of its recorders. It is a moving and elegant look at the brutal and deadly time.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 6 Up–Armstrong chronicles the Civil War from Lincoln's election to his death with both a storylike narrative of events and a photo-essay. Unlike the war images we see today, Brady's pictures were either posed or they were of still objects. Since exposure in the brightest daylight in the 1860s took up to 10 seconds, even the slightest movement resulted in blurred images. Readers see soldiers, military camps, civilians, farms, battlefields: these same pictures were the first visual representations of war for America's nonmilitary folks. This book is also a look at early photographic techniques and offers a description of Brady's rare collection. The section titles use early photography terminology, referencing the series of steps that the photographer would have followed. All images are greyscale and by today's standards, the pictures are fuzzy and clouded with indistinct lines; when readers remember that the pictures are more than 100 years old, they should recognize their exquisiteness, grandeur, and genius.–Jodi Kearns, University of Akron, OH

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Readers may need some background to fully appreciate this, but Armstrong doesn't disappoint in a slice of Civil War history that uses photographer Matthew Brady as its touchstone. As the book opens, Brady mortgages his thriving business to fund, train, and equip a stable of photographers to document Union troops in Virginia and the East. The text smoothly juxtaposes the complex decisions Lincoln faced as commander in chief and the devastation at places such as Fredericksburg and Gettysburg against the task of taking photographs in the field. The bloody charges and the daily grind are vividly evoked in both words and carefully selected and labeled photos--some familiar, many unsettling. Intriguing, if unnecessary, text insets ("Photos Not Taken") challenge readers to imagine pictures they might have taken had they been part of the history. Packed with well-documented quotes, this truly absorbing account, written with both honesty and surprising grace, will sear the conflict in memory in the same way the photos did--and still do. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (March 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689857853
• ISBN-13: 978-0689857850
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #378,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Photography

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent addition to the genre, January 25, 2006

By 

Fruit Loop (Down South) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Civil War (Hardcover)

Although collections of Matthew Brady's work abound, most are targeted at adults or armchair war historians. The American War Between the States was the FIRST war that civilians could "follow from home" and the first to be photographed. This book brings the war out of dry history books and into harsh reality for young readers. Nice addition to a buff's library as well.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mathew Brady and photos!, December 10, 2011

By 

matthew smith "Matt Smith" (scottsdale, az.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Civil War (Hardcover)

This is a very strange book! I am sure that it contains parts of photo galleries during civiCivil War Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)l war. Most of his work was in the war so that all new galleries of his contained many depressing war scenes!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Photo by Brady, October 21, 2008

By 

Karin L. Klingman "Estel" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Civil War (Hardcover)

This is a well written concise review of Brady's work during his lifetime and focusing on the Civil War. It is a nice size, not too long or too detailed for someone with an interest in the subject, but not needing scholarly detailed knowledge.