Published to coincide with the 150th anniverary of the battle of Gettysburg, features both familiar and rarely seen Civil War images from such photographers as George Barnard, Mathew Brady, and Timothy O'Sullivan.

Gathers photos of arsenals, barracks, stables, railroad depots, prisons, forts, pontoon bridges, blockhouses, and Alexandria, Richmond, and Washington.

In presenting the Photographic Sketch Book of the War to the attention of the public, it is designed that it shall speak for itself. The omission, therefore, of any remarks by way of preface might well be justified; and yet, perhaps, a few introductory words may not be amiss. As mementoes of the fearful struggle through which the country has just passed, it is confidently hoped that the following pages will possess an enduring interest. Localities that would scarcely have been known, and probably never remembered, save in their immediate vicinity, have become celebrated, and will ever be held sacred as memorable fields, where thousands of brave men yielded up their lives a willing sacrifice for the cause they had espoused. Verbal representations of such places, or scenes, may or may not have the merit of accuracy; but photographic presentments of them will be accepted by posterity with an undoubting faith. During the four years of the war, almost every point of importance has been photographed, and the collection from which these views have been selected amounts to nearly three thousand.

This set of essays by twenty-seven historians of the Civil War describes a wide array of the war's photographs, examining them in unfamiliar ways.

Great Photographs of the Civil War brings together in one volume the most evocative Civil War photographs ever published. The images--selected by Time Life editors from thousands of photographs preserved in museums and collections around the country--tell the epic story of a nation divided. Reflected here are the tireless efforts of pioneering photographers who used heavy equipment and portable darkrooms mounted on wagon beds to record this fateful struggle. The editors have assembled 300 gripping images, some of them recognized classics and others rarely seen, into 20 chronological photo essays. Here, the crucial events of the war, from the bloodiest day at Antietam and the Confederate high tide at Gettysburg to the battles for Atlanta and the climactic siege of Petersburg, are conveyed with power and precision in the defining photographs of the conflict that redefined our nation.

In 1861, the art of photography came of age just as Civil War erupted and tore the United States apart. As a result, more than 2,000 photographers covered the conflict, making it the first historical event captured fully by the camera. Noted historian William C. Davis has chosen the finest of these images, enhancing the pictures with illuminating text that places them in context. Many of these evocative photos are rarely seen, and portray not only the battles and their tragic aftermath, but also the people caught in the devastation. "

Retells the Civil War through the eyes of photographer Mathew Brady and other field photographers as they record a brutal and deadly time.

Chronicles the Civil War using photographs taken by Mathew Brady and his employees.

Collects the best artwork created before, during and following the Civil War, in the years between 1859 and 1876, along with extensive quotations from men and women alive during the war years and text by literary figures, including Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. 15,000 first printing.

Alexander Gardner's photographs are among the most memorable images of the Civil War, and they fill this powerful biography, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in History. "This album of Gardner's work is nothing less than sensational " -- "Booklist"