- Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (May 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312309368
- ISBN-13: 978-0312309367
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 13.5 x 3.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #849,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This well-executed alternative history imagines a Confederate victory at Gettysburg. Former House speaker Gingrich (Contract with America) and historical fiction author Forstchen (Down to the Sea) create a plausible scenario: Robert E. Lee resolves to command, rather than merely coordinate, the efforts of that gaggle of prima donnas known as the high command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Thus, when he leads them into battle against the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, he does not commit his soldiers to a desperate head-butting on the ground chosen by the Union's General Meade. Instead, he maneuvers around the Union flank, placing his tightly run army between Meade and Washington, D.C., scooping up Union supplies and forcing Meade to launch desperate attacks with disastrous results for the Union cause. The authors show thorough knowledge of the people, weapons, tactics and ambience of the Civil War, though their portrayals of historical figures like Lee, Meade, James Longstreet and Richard Ewell betray a certain bias (the Confederate men are noble and wise, the Union leaders hot-tempered and vindictive). The novel has a narrative drive and vigor that makes the climactic battle scene a real masterpiece of its kind (it's not for the weak of stomach). The military minutiae probably makes the book inaccessible to anyone who's not a Civil War buff or military fiction fan, but those two sizable groups will find this a veritable feast.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
The 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, the universally acknowledged turning point in the Civil War, by which the forces of Robert E. Lee were turned back from their invasion of Northern territory and from which the Confederacy was never to recover, is endlessly studied, most recently in the definitive, compelling Gettysburg by Stephen Sears [BKL My 1 03]. Historian and former speaker of the House of Representatives Gingrich and cowriter Forstchen, a veteran author of historical fiction, present an alternative version of this famous and consequential battle; in their intriguing scenario, General Lee finds success in routing the Union army. The authors' thorough understanding of what did actually happen at that fateful confrontation obviously stands behind their imaginative revision; what went right for the Union army and wrong for the Confederate forces is believably switched here. How the real turn of events could have turned out otherwise is carefully offered in vivid battle descriptions and well-considered alternative strategies. Readers should be forewarned, though: they may come away from this exciting novel believing events really did happen this way. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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The shadows of twilight deepened across the orchards and wheat fields of the Cumberland Valley. Read the first page
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The shadows of twilight deepened across the orchards and wheat fields of the Cumberland Valley. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Please Listen General Lee,
By
This review is from: Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War (Hardcover)
When I first visited Gettysburg I found myself looking out at the distance that Pickett's division had to go in the face of cannon and musket fire and thought, "No Way." This place was exactly like Fredericksburg: uphill, against an entrenched enemy that was waiting for them, only the attacking uniforms were Butternut Grey rather than Blue. The result couldn't have turned out any different. I looked south, towards Washington, there had to be a place down there where Lee could find a hill for the Union to have to charge. Lincoln wouldn't have let the Army of the Potomac not attack.I looked, I thought, I didn't do anything about it. Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen looked at the same situation and researched it some more. They found that Meade had really wanted Lee to attack him at Pipe Creek. They found that Longstreet had told Lee that going around to the south and letting Meade attack them, but was overruled.==Then instead of forgetting it, they wrote a book where Lee responded to Longstreet with an "OK, let's do that." -- Excellent reading, obviously this is the first of a series. I'm anxiously awaiting to see what happens when Gingrich and Forstchen bring Grant back east.
4.0 out of 5 stars
What if General Lee Had Triumphed?,
By I ain't no porn writer (author, "Crippled Dreams") - See all my reviews
This review is from: Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War (Hardcover)
What if the South had won the American Civil War? That is the question and the premise of this novel. Even though as a Canadian my knowledge of the particulars of the war were a bit hazy, I found this well-researched speculative work of fiction highly engrossing and believably written. For whatever some people may have thought of Newt Gingrich in office, he's since certainly proven himself to be a fine novelist!David Rehak
4.0 out of 5 stars
Honest...,
By Ben K. (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War (Paperback)
I don't think this book rewrites history at all. The guy below is mad. The North kicked the crap out of the South? That's going a bit far. Indeed, the North won the war. No one disputes that. But..."kicked the crap out of?" I mean, the fact remains that families in the North had a lot more graves to visit after the war was over. Despite having about 1,500,000 more men enlisted than the South had, the North still managed to have about 16,000 more combat casualties. But when a side has over 2.5 million men going up against 1 million, they SHOULD win the war for crying out loud. The South had arguably better generals though... It shouldn't have even been a fight. How so few men managed to keep in a heated war with an army twice as big is to me, win or lose, rather stunning. That's what makes these stories interesting. Not who won or who lost...
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