Customer Reviews

The Soldier's View: The Civil War Art of Keith Rocco

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A must-have for any Civil War Buff! As one of the premier Civil War Artists of this generation, a mere compilation of Keith Rocco's work would be satisfying enough, but the accompanying text highlights the outstanding clarity and depth of his work. The concise but detailed explanations help the amateur historian more fully understand the context and background of each painting, while the introduction and interview with Mr. Rocco gives the reader insight into the artist's perspective and intent. As beautiful on display as it is to read, I highly recommend it!

I've got to say, as a graphic artist and a history buff, this Rocco book sets really high marks. I'm impressed with almost everything about it. It has the feel of a book that is a real keeper, maybe even a kind of cult classic. I appreciate the "montage" effect of image and text -- it's a real tribute to Rocco as an artist that he can evoke so much emotional impact in his work.

This is the best American Civil War art book I have ever seen - incredible color and design, captivating and well written vignettes accompany each beautiful page of art - kudos to the publishers. This book is an ABSOLUTE MUST for any Civil War enthusiast. A perfect christmas gift that will earn you many happy returns, to be sure!

I reviewed Keith Rocco's previous book, "On Campaign" some time ago... and my review of 'The Soldier's View" will pretty much reiterate what I said in my review of the former....

Keith Rocco's painterly style is what makes him my absolute favorite Civl War/military artist out of the whole lot of artists depicting Civil War scenes these days. My Rocco Civil War prints share my walls with Don Troiani prints, but Keith's are my favorite.

This book is like "On Campaign" in that it contains some of Keith's best work on The Civil War, but covers these works much more extensively. There are peices shown that are not available from his limited edition print catalog, but only in his personal collections. I recently acquired a copy of his canvas giclee print of "Gettysburg" which depicts the evening assault on the Union lines on Cemetary Hill by the Louisiana Tigers of Starke's Brigade. It was taken from his mural which adorns a portion of the Lincoln Museum in Illinois. For those of us who have yet to visit this museum, we ge to see the FULL mural that this print was derived from. Awesome!

The accompanying text for each work gives the reader a fairly indepth description of the art they are viewing. I also like how the book is set-up chronologically, so you view each peice by year of the war.

Also included are many examples of the artist's preliminary sketches and studies of figures that would eventually end up in the major work. This gives an excellent glimpse into how the artist works.

If you've been lamenting the out-of-print status of "On Campaign" lament no further! Grab this book and let yourself become consumed by some of the greatest - if not THE greatest - Civil War art being produced today!

I've been interested in Keith's painting "THROUGH THE CORNFIELD" depicting the 6th Wisconsin Infantry at Antietam in 1862. Since it is out of print, this was the "next best thing" I could do to obtain a copy. Of course, an added bonus was getting copies of many of his other Civil War paintings and murals.......some of which I had not seen before.
The text that accompanies each reproduction is excellent as well and you can follow the history of the war throughout the book. I would recommend it to anyone with a love of Civil War art and literature.

Loved this book, which I purchased for a gift. I ordered my item about a week before Christmas and was delighted to have it arrive in time for Christmas, which I did not expect.