audio book (unabridged). Excellent recounting of the Gettysburg Campaign.

This stand alone book is actually Chapter 5 of Shelby Foote’s Civil War: a Narrative Volume 2. After reading Volume 1 (900 pages) I decided to tackle only the chapter about the battle of Gettysburg, the greatest of all battles of the American Civil War and the biggest defeat for the Confederates. Nearly 50,000 men were wounded or killed with the South accounting for the majority of those casualties. The end of the chapter describes Robert E. Lee’s ride back to his headquarters at the end of the day to plan the march back to Virginia the next day. “It’s a sad, sad day” Lee tells his cavalryman with his head held low. ( )

This is a great account of the Battle of Gettysburg. It is written in a narrative style, that is at once educational and moving. I also found it easy to follow the 3 day battle, and while it is written in a narrative style, it was filled with rich detail and quotes that really bring the period to life. One really cannot go wrong with anything Shelby Foote has written. Highly recommended. ( )

Very quick read. Good for an overview but not a lot of detail. Gettysburg by Edwin Coddington has much more detail

Short work, verbatim account of the battle of Gettysburg lifted from the great author's original trilogy ( )