ANHOW Review of Books: "An Illustrated History of the Civil War: Images of an American Tragedy" -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 23:43:03 11/01/02 Fri
Author: Mt. healthy Mountaineer
Subject:

ANHOW Review of Books: "An Illustrated History of the Civil War: Images of an American Tragedy"

Genre: non-fiction
Published: 2000 by Time-Life Books

As a rule, I'm not terribly fond of the "coffee table" history books produced by the editors of Time-Life Books. Usually, they opt for more glitz than substance and you end up with a pretty, but bland piece of history. However, this, I am very pleased to say, is a much better book than their usual effort.

Although this is an illustrated history, the narrative that begins each chapter is very well written. The topics are interesting, especially the chapters on the abolitionists and the seccionists. They do an excellent job of setting the stage for the Civil War.

I have but two complaints - one is serious and one is not. First, the unpleasentness. The text had at least one glaring factual error - they have the Battle of Gettysburg taking place in 1864 rather than 1863. Mistakes like this are easy to make (a stray finger on a keyboard...) but this is the most famous battle of the war! My second complaint is the sheer bulk of this tome - it weighs 5 pounds and is oversized. Yes, I weighed it. Its unwieldiness made it difficult for me to read in my "reading room" (if you get my meaning) due to the difficulty of balancing it on my knees.:)

I give this book an "A" - it would have had a perfect score if not for the error with the date I noted above.

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