Gettysburg (Landmark Books) by MacKinlay Kantor

by MacKinlay Kantor

Excellent Book

Paperback

Published January 1, 1813

About the author

Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel Andersonville

Kantor was born in Webster City, Iowa, in 1904. His mother, a journalist, encouraged Kantor to develop his writing style. Kantor started writing seriously as a teen-ager when he worked as a reporter with his mother at the local newspaper in Webster City.

Kantor's first novel was published when he was 24.

During World War II, Kantor reported from London as a war correspondent for a Los Angeles newspaper. After flying on several bombing missions, he asked for and received training to operate the bomber's turret machine guns (this was illegal, as he was not in service).
Nevertheless he was decorated with the Medal of Freedom by Gen. Carl Spaatz, then the U.S. Army Air Corp commander. He also saw combat during the Korean War as a correspondent.

In addition to journalism and novels, Kantor wrote the screenplay for Gun Crazy (aka Deadly Is the Female) (1950), a noted film noir. It was based on his short story by the same name, published February 3, 1940 in a "slick" magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. In 1992, it was revealed that he had allowed his name to be used on a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood Ten, who had been blacklisted as a result of his refusal to testify before the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) hearings. Kantor passed his payment on to Trumbo to help him survive.

Several of his novels were adapted for films. He established his own publishing house, and published several of his works in the 1930s and 1940s.

Kantor died of a heart attack in 1977, at the age of 73, at his home in Sarasota, Florida.

Reviews

[Sara Hollar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal, literary read aloud for my boys on the battle of Gettysburg. I learned more from reading this aloud than in my college history class.

[Romie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven’t read much about the battle at Gettysburg, so this was an introduction to it for me. Parts were really wonderful in setting the scene and really helped me picture what was going on. Parts were difficult for me to keep track of all the names of officers, where they were, and the timeline. I suspect as I read more about the battle it will become more familiar. There was a lot going on.

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with the kids before a trip to Gettysburg. It is the same book my mom read before she visited. It is pretty dry but ends with Lincoln’s speech and that was enjoyable.