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The Illustrated Confederate Reader
Here is the Southern story of the War Between the States—in the words of the men and women who experienced it. Enhanced with almost 200 period photographs and illustrations—including many never before published—this is a personal, firsthand account of the Southern soldiers and civilians caught in the deadliest, most destructive war ever to be fought in America.
From the war's romantic, heady first days, when the men of the South rushed to don the gray, to the final collapse of the Confederacy, when much of the South lay smoldering in grim ruins, The Illustrated Confederate Reader captures the reality and the drama of that terrible, memorable era of American history.
The book opens with a parade of period photographs depicting the soldiers of the South as they appeared, and concludes with a pictorial essay on the South's aging veterans—young Confederates grown old, holding on to the memories of the Lost Cause. In between—in the words of the participants, accompanied by contemporary photographs and illustrations—are depicted the daily life of Johnny Reb, the sacrifices and perils of the South's civilian population, the unforgettable elements of combat in the nation's bloodiest war, the agony of Northern prison camps, and the fiery destruction wrought against the South by Sherman's victorious, vengeful army. Featured, too, is a biographical album of famous Confederates—Lee, Jackson, Cleburne, Morgan, Semmes, Stuart, Davis, Longstreet, and Forrest—first-person accounts of the Legends in Gray.
Unique in the historiography of the War Between the States, The Illustrated Confederate Reader is a handsomely designed, freshly researched study of the epic Southern struggle for independence. It will enthrall and delight Civil War buffs, fascinate partisans of the South, and captivate anyone interested in real-life stories from American history.
From the war's romantic, heady first days, when the men of the South rushed to don the gray, to the final collapse of the Confederacy, when much of the South lay smoldering in grim ruins, The Illustrated Confederate Reader captures the reality and the drama of that terrible, memorable era of American history.
The book opens with a parade of period photographs depicting the soldiers of the South as they appeared, and concludes with a pictorial essay on the South's aging veterans—young Confederates grown old, holding on to the memories of the Lost Cause. In between—in the words of the participants, accompanied by contemporary photographs and illustrations—are depicted the daily life of Johnny Reb, the sacrifices and perils of the South's civilian population, the unforgettable elements of combat in the nation's bloodiest war, the agony of Northern prison camps, and the fiery destruction wrought against the South by Sherman's victorious, vengeful army. Featured, too, is a biographical album of famous Confederates—Lee, Jackson, Cleburne, Morgan, Semmes, Stuart, Davis, Longstreet, and Forrest—first-person accounts of the Legends in Gray.
Unique in the historiography of the War Between the States, The Illustrated Confederate Reader is a handsomely designed, freshly researched study of the epic Southern struggle for independence. It will enthrall and delight Civil War buffs, fascinate partisans of the South, and captivate anyone interested in real-life stories from American history.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 1998
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March 19, 2020
So I read this book twice about 28 years ago, being a lifelong Civil War buff. The author Rod Gragg, in my opinion, made these "first hand stories" up from his own fertile imagination. Just read some of them--they smack of inauthenticity. There is NO WAY one could cull so many intimate letters from said soldiers. They are too...interesting, if you know what I mean. They are too "juicy" if you will--the stuff of which pulp fiction is made. So, while entertaining the same way cotton candy is...ultimately, it will make you sick if you take in too much. Intellectually, that is. You will begin to get the same sense I did. It's hard to explain. But I think even Rod Gragg is aware of its' inauthenticity--just Google "Rod Gragg List of Books" and every single book he's ever authored is listed...EXCEPT EXCEPT this one. Because--I think--he's ashamed of it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review