Gettysburg

“It is an awesome symphony Chadwick arranges for us, invoking the depths of human passion and reminding us, shamingly, of our generation’s literary poverty.” – Law & Liberty
“The Battle of Gettysburg was a dramatic combination of pathos and absurdity, according to this remarkable selection of primary sources from historian Chadwick. Soldier’s letters and journalists’ on-the-ground reporting creates rapidly shifting panoramic views of the battle’s most famous moments. A stellar look at the folly, valor, and happenstance of war.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review
Praise for Bruce Chadwick

“Mr. Chadwick has achieved the effect of a living—and momentous—dialogue with history by carefully selecting quotes from dozens of participants in that fraught time and skillfully binding them together. His swift, absorbing, wholly coherent narrative gives a sense of immediacy to the travails of those who thirsted for a fight, and those who groped after peace, as the nation moved toward a terrible test of arms.” * The Wall Street Journal *
“The genius of Bruce Chadwick’s oral history of the road to Ft. Sumter is that it reveals the emotions, the uncertainties, the fears, the rumors, the excitement, the hopes, the pride, the courage, and the animosities of the men and women involved in the Civil War.” * New York Journal of Books *
“Highly recommended. A gripping narrative of the critical year of 1858 and the nation’s slide toward disunion and war…Readers seeking to understand how individuals are agents of historical change will find Chadwick’s account of the failed leadership of President James Buchanan especially compelling.” * G. Kurt Piehler, author of Remembering War the American Way *
“Chadwick’s excellent history shows how the issue of slavery came crashing into the professional, public, and private lives of many Americans…Chadwick offers a fascinating premise: that James Buchanan, far from being a passive spectator, played a major role in the drama of his time. 1858 is a welcome addition to scholarship of the most volatile period of American history.” * Frank Cucurullo, Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial *

Bruce Chadwick is a former journalist and author of eight works of history, including The First American Army, George Washington’s War, The General and Mrs. Washington, Brother Against Brother, Two American Presidents, Traveling the Underground Railroad and The Reel Civil War. He lectures in American history at Rutgers University and also teaches writing at New Jersey City University.

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