John M. Priest
Autor de Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle
Sobre El Autor
Obras de John M. Priest
Etiquetado
Conocimiento común
- Género
- male
- Lugares de residencia
- Clear Spring, Maryland, USA
- Educación
- Loyola College
Hood College - Ocupaciones
- High School Teacher
Civil War Historian
Licensed Guide at Antietam Battlefield
Miembros
Reseñas
También Puede Gustarte
Autores relacionados
Estadísticas
- Obras
- 13
- Miembros
- 527
- Popularidad
- #47,213
- Valoración
- 3.7
- Reseñas
- 2
- ISBNs
- 22
There is no preamble or introductory set up. There is no elucidation of the grand strategy or how the forces came to meet. There is not even an explanation of what each armies’ goals were or what their commanders hoped to accomplish. In fact, aside from a very few almost cameo appearances by General Robert E. Lee, the commanders – in – chief are pretty much absent. Instead, we are placed almost as silent observers in the rank and file of those doing the fighting. The narrative, drawn from meticulously researching thousands of documents, follows along minute by minute from brigade to brigade as the first shots are fired from the West Woods through the Cornfield and across Bloody Lane finally to end in the fields between the Lower Bridge and Sharpsburg. It is a horrible journey through bravery, heroics, confusion, and, above all, extreme carnage. As the battle unfolds soldiers tell their experiences. They come either through journals or letters written directly afterward, in some cases during, or through memoirs and reminisces from later years. Either way, the sensation of being in the thick of the action is palpable.
Throughout the book, the reader has very little idea how the battle is going, much like the trooper in the field. Except, no matter which side is currently being described, the losses are staggering. Also staggering is the compassion. Scenes are described where moments before soldiers were mowing each other down with minie-balls and canister shot, are now offering water and binding wounds.
It takes a while to get into the rhythm of the author’s style but once you get used to it, the story flows very well. There are certain sections of the book that are definite can’t-put-it-down page-turners, particularly the fight at Bloody Lane. The maps, while helpful and abundant, could have been done better; perhaps in color and with more description.
It would be a very difficult task to find a work that better describes and makes the reader actually know and feel what it was like to be a soldier on a 19th century battlefield. I highly recommend this account.… (más)