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M. David Detweiler
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Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle with Maps Kindle Edition

by The Editors of Stackpole Books (Author, Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 524 ratings
A unique visual account: “The hour-by-hour maps of the maneuvering and fighting provide the clearest cartographic picture of the battle in existence.” —James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom
 
In this extraordinary book, seventy crystal-clear color maps and insightful text tell the hour-by-hour story of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. Each map shows the same three-and-a-half-by-four-and-a-half-mile view of the battlefield, allowing the reader to visualize the battle as it developed over the entire area, including key engagements, troop movements and positions, and locations of commanders. It sheds new light on important events such as the first clash west of town on July 1, the fighting for Cemetery Hill, the defense of Little Round Top, Pickett’s Charge, and more.
 
“The accompanying text brings the battle alive and nicely compliments the maps.” —D. Scott Hartwig, author of To Antietam Creek
 
“The movements are depicted clearly, and in full color, so that even a complete newcomer to the battle can follow the action easily.”—Craig L. Symonds, author of The American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg
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  1. Print length
    142 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Stackpole Books
  4. Publication date
    June 1, 2013
  5. File size
    80.9 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

""Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle with Maps" is a unique exploration of the battle. The maps are very easy to follow. Each one shows the entire battlefield, making it possible to understand the context of each movement, attack, and counterattack during the three days. The accompanying text brings the battle alive and nicely compliments the maps."--D. Scott Hartwig, author of To Antietam Creek (03/19/2013)

"This map-supported narrative of the Battle of Gettysburg will appeal to neophyte and expert alike. The hour-by-hour maps of the maneuvering and fighting provide the clearest cartographic picture of the battle in existence. Of especial value is the integration of the cavalry fight east of Gettysburg on July 3 into the main battle story."--James M. McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom (03/05/2013)

"Just as the Battle of Gettysburg sprawls over three days, the Gettysburg battlefield sprawls over 25 square miles, which means that there's no way to understand this climatic conflict without a good set of maps. This book meets people coming to the battlefield just where they are, with concise and uncluttered maps that clearly and accurately lay out the major movements down to brigade level, on an hour-by-hour basis, and with a straightforward and easily followed narrative of each map's actions. Take it in the car, take it on foot, combine it with digital apps, or study it in advance--you will have the Battle of Gettysburg in easy grasp."--Allen C. Guelzo, author of Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (03/18/2013)

"Many attempts to depict the course of fighting on America's most iconic battlefield are either so general as to be misleading, or so specific as to be incomprehensible. This cartographic display is a nice compromise. The movements are depicted clearly, and in full color, so that even a complete newcomer to the battle can follow the action easily."--Craig L. Symonds, author of The American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg (03/11/2013)

About the Author

M. David Detweiler graduated from Yale and has worked as a journalist and editor and published short stories and novels. He was the key editor for Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle with Maps. Detweiler is an amateur military history buff, composer, and sometime fly angler. President and CEO of Stackpole Inc. for the past quarter century, he lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with his wife and enjoys chasing the unsolvable what-ifs of history.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00EJTIIP2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stackpole Books; Illustrated edition (June 1, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 1, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 80.9 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 142 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 524 ratings

About the author

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M. David Detweiler

M. David Detweiler

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David Detweiler graduated from Yale, where he published fiction and wrote and performed in musical reviews. After working as a journalist, investigative reporter, and editor, he became president of Stackpole Books, a position he has enjoyed for thirty years.

As an amateur military history buff, Detweiler developed and wrote the acclaimed GETTYSBURG, The Story of the Battle with Maps, with co-editor David Reisch. His most recent book, THE CIVIL WAR, The Story of the War with Maps, similarly presents a unique comprehensive overview of 1861-1865, describing and mapping the flow of our great national conflict from beginning to end as events unfolded. The books came to life as the result of his long and fruitless search for such a guide.

Detweiler enjoys fly fishing, hunting, sports, composing, and writing fiction. He lives in Harrisburg, PA with his wife and son, and cannot resist chasing the fleeting what-ifs of history.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
524 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book provides an excellent explanation of the Gettysburg battle, with staggering detail that makes it easier to understand. Moreover, the included maps effectively illustrate and explain the events, and customers find it extremely helpful for understanding the battle's complexities. Additionally, they appreciate its readability, with one customer noting it's a great place to begin learning about Gettysburg, and its visual quality, with one review highlighting its colorful presentation.

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107 customers mention "Narrative quality"95 positive12 negative

Customers praise the book's narrative quality, describing it as an excellent explanation of the Gettysburg battle with staggering detail that makes it easier to understand.

"...It is clear, insightful, brings a great deal of important quotes in context, offers sharp analysis and interacts with the abundant maps effectively...." Read more

"...resource for even the most knowledgeable person, for not only clarifying events and refreshing memory, but also for filling in blanks on everything..." Read more

"...The book with 6,7,8 hundred or more pages may be well written, perfectly constructed and well researched, but I find them dry reading and I tend to..." Read more

"...will be going to the battlefield, this would also be a valuable reference to visualize events related to specific locations and better understand..." Read more

76 customers mention "Map quality"67 positive9 negative

Customers appreciate the maps in the book, noting they are excellent and included to illustrate and explain the battle, with one customer highlighting the clear sequence and another mentioning the full-page layout on facing pages.

"...quotes in context, offers sharp analysis and interacts with the abundant maps effectively...." Read more

"...book is just what I was looking for... Short and to the point with a BIG map every time you turn the page...." Read more

"...The maps make the action more comprehensible and I appreciate the breakdown of the armies to the brigade level...." Read more

"This book has an innovative way of presenting the battle, with lots of maps. It presents the battle in a step by step progression...." Read more

57 customers mention "Understanding"57 positive0 negative

Customers find the book extremely helpful for understanding the complexities of the Battle of Gettysburg, serving as a valuable guide with easy-to-follow reference material.

"...brings a great deal of important quotes in context, offers sharp analysis and interacts with the abundant maps effectively...." Read more

"...to begin learning about Gettysburg and an excellent resource for even the most knowledgeable person, for not only clarifying events and refreshing..." Read more

"...or more pages may be well written, perfectly constructed and well researched, but I find them dry reading and I tend to lose my concentration...." Read more

"...place on the battlefield, as well as the positioning and movements of forces and artillery hour by hour as if in a chess match...." Read more

49 customers mention "Value for money"49 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be worth the purchase, describing it as an excellent companion volume.

"...right amount of information for me, i.e., not too much and yet more than adequate...." Read more

"...A great price as well." Read more

"...Even if you aren't using this book on the battlefield it is a wonderful book to have for any civil war of Gettysburg history buff...." Read more

"This is a great book and you'll love it, as long as you keep in mind what it is and what it isn't...." Read more

48 customers mention "Readability"34 positive14 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as one of the best books on Gettysburg, with one customer noting it serves as a perfect field guide for the battle.

"...Nevertheless, if you are only going to get one, easy to read book about the battle, this would be a good choice...." Read more

"This book is both a great place for anyone to begin learning about Gettysburg and an excellent resource for even the most knowledgeable person, for..." Read more

"...written, perfectly constructed and well researched, but I find them dry reading and I tend to lose my concentration...." Read more

"...It is reasonably fast to read...." Read more

23 customers mention "Visual quality"23 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the visual presentation of the book, noting its colorful and enlightening contrasts, with one customer specifically praising the excellent drawings.

"...It's about as clear and colorful a presentation as I can imagine...." Read more

"...Very, very nice and worthy of five stars. However, the narrative leaves a lot to be desired...." Read more

"...between the generals on both sides and the contrasts shown are quite enlightening...." Read more

"...Clearly illustrates who was doing what and when with full page graphics and supporting text...." Read more

A drawing is worth a thousand words.
5 out of 5 stars
A drawing is worth a thousand words.
EXCELLENT. Get also Stephen W. Sears book. You do not need anything else to understand the battle. Fans of the ACW from a historical point of view are spoiled for choice! Enjoy... I did... it is a map turner if I can use the pun.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Frederick N. Bosworth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, only...
    Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I was so pleased with this book I bought a copy for others. It is clear, insightful, brings a great deal of important quotes in context, offers sharp analysis and interacts with the abundant maps effectively. There is appropriate respect for both armies, but a slight favoritism for the Northerners shows through: why Lee's army lost despite valiant efforts by the troops is made very clear, but unflattering leadership issues in the Army of the Potomac are not given the same spotlight. Meade comes off looking very good, but there was a reason Lincoln brought Grant east to micromanage him after Gettysburg: the last sentence in the book is "Meade has won," but his army's mission was not to sit on hills with more troops and more cannon and defend Pennsylvania, it was to crush the Army of Northern Virginia and end the war, in which Meade failed, not even pursuing Lee aggressively. As Porter Alexander, Longstreet's trusted artillery chief wrote, Lee's army sometimes failed to drive the Army of the Potomac from a position, but the latter never succeeded in driving Lee's army from a position until the very end. Meade was competent at Gettysburg, but he failed to break that pattern. Nevertheless, if you are only going to get one, easy to read book about the battle, this would be a good choice. Don't expect fine literature from the author's efforts at emotive prose, but the use of the effective, clear maps is key.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Just the thing I've been looking for
    Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This book is both a great place for anyone to begin learning about Gettysburg and an excellent resource for even the most knowledgeable person, for not only clarifying events and refreshing memory, but also for filling in blanks on everything one could care to know about at the brigade level. For those purposes, at 140 pages this is just the right amount of information for me, i.e., not too much and yet more than adequate. Every other page is a map of the entire battlefield with each map representing chronological developments all over the field, including the relevant generals, brigades, and their movements. There are numerous supplemental inserts on the facing pages filling in details that otherwise would overload the larger maps (or just adding entertaining asides). It's about as clear and colorful a presentation as I can imagine. The accompanying text is a present tense narrative directed at those looking for good entertainment and is certainly not for the scholarly. In fact I would imagine academics would be quite embarrassed to be caught with this sort of material, as a high school teacher would with a Cliffs Notes. It's very melodramatic, complete with sorrows, triumphs, and exclamation marks. That said, as to facts, the narrator is accurate and informed. And has an infectious enthusiasm. I would think for many people this style would transform what otherwise might be dry material into a memorable story. I also found it reassuring, as far as reliability, that there were no individual author credits (except in a short note on the last page) and the book is simply "by the editors of STACKPOLE BOOKS," a reputable publisher with many Gettysburg histories to it's credit. There was clearly no individual ego spinning history, it instead being a team effort. To give some context to this review, I'm the kind of person who has always used Cliffs Notes without apology. I have a large, diverse collection on Gettysburg. I find this book is terrific as far as putting minute events at Gettysburg into their larger context, such as while I'm reading The Bachelder Papers or OR reports. This book is a great skeleton from which to hang all the blood and guts, etc. (hey, it's almost Halloween).
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Tom Miller
    5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY!!!!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I have this one BIG frustration when reading books about the Civil War and especially the Battle of Gettysburg. For me the frustration is not knowing where the troops were located on the battlefield. Most authors use to many words in describing where they were, when for me a map or chart would work so much better. I've tried to follow the troop movements using guide books or tour maps and even Google Earth, but the constant going back and forth is inconvenient. I'm a Nuts and Bolts kind of guy and man of few words. The book with 6,7,8 hundred or more pages may be well written, perfectly constructed and well researched, but I find them dry reading and I tend to lose my concentration.I have a touch of AADD so I have to reread what I just read or the day before. There is to much time, for my taste, spent on biographies and where some might find the flowery insights of the soldiers personal accounts insightful, for me they are included far to often, slow my reading time and I have a difficult time understanding what some are saying because they talked differently back then. This book is just what I was looking for... Short and to the point with a BIG map every time you turn the page. You know exactly where the troops are, how the battles were progressing, the troops are clearly labeled and there is just enough of the soldiers personal accounts to add some insight. The best part is I don't need to constantly turn back to another page for the map or my other reference sources to know where the troops are, or as often in my case, give up altogether and put the book away. Because of it's size, weight and quality of paper stock it can easily go with me to the battlefield to tour what portion of the battle I've read. I'm less than an hour away from Gettysburg and it's good to be able to follow the action without the expense of a tour guide. I could not be more pleased with this purchase. The only complaint I might have is that the authors could use a few less of those $.25 words. Now my problem is what to do with the big thick books of Battle of Gettysburg by Sears, Coddington, Pfanz, and so many other partly read books on my shelf???
    14 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Dominique Sevigny
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gift
    Reviewed in Canada on December 23, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    My hubby read it in 3 days.
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  • Renato Piovesano Bartolamei
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in Brazil on February 4, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I visited Gettysburg and the book helped a lot.
    This book helps a lot in understanding how the battle went.
    Very well illustrated.
    I recommend.
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  • Philip Ryan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very happy with this product, great maps, and written in a unique style, would recommend.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The maps are Exelent, very detailed, the tex is unique but very enjoyable read.
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  • Mr. R. Hippman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gettysburg, a graphic explanation
    Reviewed in Canada on December 22, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    After having read many books on the battle, this one comes along and pulls it all together. If I were an author, this is exactly how I would have done it. Using the same map for every page, it demonstrates the fluid movement of troop movements very well. The timeline of the battle also comes alive. What it did for me was show me how Lee's subordinates didn't act in concert with each other. Other books have decribed this but this book illustrates it with impact. Flicking through the pages, you vividly see how some Confederate units who were supposed to attack in conjunction with others, didn't. It shows how very disjointed the battle was from the rebel side. Where you see action in one part of the map, you see inaction in another (Ewell's Corps - day two) At times, you can see how entire corps did nothing while others needed support. This book brings that to the fore. The only down side, and it's minor, is the occasional interjection of emotion and flowery description. 90% of its pages are succinctly written, excellently describing the map next to it. However, there are a few pages that don't seem to describe anything from the map opposite. It's as if the authors felt they needed to add a little emotion to complete their book. They needn't. The book stands alone. The 'what ifs' were interesting but without them, the book would still hold its own. I wonder if the editor/authors had a supervising editor who wanted it spiced up a bit. No need. This book will always be at my side whenever I read anything about the battle. It's a reference document that can explain through the timeline of maps what others have tried to do with 20+ chapters of narrative.
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  • W K Gleeson
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great visual narrative of the Battle of Gettysburg
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    A great book which steps through the course of the Battle of Gettysburg with beautiful maps on every other page, with supporting notes on the opposite page. This book offers a good introduction to Gettysburg and an easy to follow overview as to how the battle unfolded.
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