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AR15.COM
1/24/2012 8:59:50 AM EDT
What books do you recommend about the battle?  Why?  Long, short, overview, indepth... it doesn't matter.






1/24/2012 7:22:39 PM EDT
[#1]
One of the best:

The Killer Angels

1/25/2012 12:39:19 AM EDT
[#2]
I agree with Howlin_Mad, but keep in mind it is a novel.

It actually is one of my favorite books, period.
Pretty good movie, too.
1/26/2012 2:01:21 PM EDT
[#3]
Glenn Tucker's book, High Tide at Gettsburg.  Very balanced account.
1/27/2012 2:53:48 AM EDT
[#4]
Quoted:
I agree with Howlin_Mad, but keep in mind it is a novel.

It actually is one of my favorite books, period.
Pretty good movie, too.


Good point about it being a novel. There are some significant changes from history. For example, someone on Arfcom said that the 5th Maine joined the 20th  Maine a week or two before the battle, not the morning of the battle as the book and movie state.
It was an awesome book though, very worth the read.
1/27/2012 3:08:46 PM EDT
[#5]
Those look pretty good, guys.  Thanks.  Keep the recommendations coming.
I'm primarily interested in Gettysburg right now but if there are any
other titles relating to the Civil War that you like, feel free to share
them.


1/27/2012 4:13:17 PM EDT
[#6]
If you like The Killer Angels, the author's son also wrote Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure. Those cover the rest of the War.

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1/27/2012 11:00:07 PM EDT
[#7]
This one is quite good, by one of the country's most famous Civil War historians:

Stars in Their Courses : The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 [Hardcover]
Shelby Foote

The above book is actually excerpted from his three volume series on the Civil War.

Another more recent book is this one:

Gettysburg
Stephen W. Sears


This book is about the last attack of the battle and it was the "high water mark" of the Confederacy:

Pickett's Charge
George Stewar


All of the above are non-fiction.  Foote's book is an excellent place to start.  Sears book is longer and more complex.
1/28/2012 2:44:15 AM EDT
[#8]
This one is quite good, by one of the country's most famous Civil War historians:


Stars in Their Courses : The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 [Hardcover]
Shelby Foote



Foote is largely regarded as one of, if not the best, expert on the Civil War. He wrote a huge 3-volume epic history of the CW:

The first of 3 volumes
1/28/2012 10:13:15 AM EDT
[#9]
I couldn't read Foote's books.  As a writer, I like Bruce Catton better and really enjoyed his works on Sam Grant and on the Army of the Potomac.

I have a shelf of books on Gettysburg.  Glen Tucker's High Tide of the Confederacy is still my favorite.  The other books I have are Brigades of Gettysburg and Maps of Gettysburg.  Both are published by Savas-Beattie and they allow you to follow any unit on the battlefield.  That Maps book is a great guide book to carry on the field when you're at Gettysburg.  Other books on my shelf are specialized books.  There's on one Henry Hunt, the Union artillery commander.  I also have Norton's The Defense of the Round Top.  Norton's work is good, but there are some inaccuracies in it.