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Gettysburg: The Last Invasion
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
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Gettysburg: The Last Invasion
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Summary
From the acclaimed Civil War historian, a brilliant new history–the most intimate and richly readable account we have had–of the climactic three-day battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), which draws the reader into the heat, smoke, and grime of Gettysburg alongside the ordinary soldier, and depicts the combination of personalities and circumstances that produced the greatest battle of the Civil War, and one of the greatest in human history.
Of the half-dozen full-length histories of the battle of Gettysburg written over the last century, none dives down so closely to the experience of the individual soldier, or looks so closely at the sway of politics over military decisions, or places the battle so firmly in the context of nineteenth-century military practice. Allen C. Guelzo shows us the face, the sights, and the sounds of nineteenth-century combat: the lay of the land, the fences and the stone walls, the gunpowder clouds that hampered movement and vision; the armies that caroused, foraged, kidnapped, sang, and were so filthy they could be smelled before they could be seen; the head-swimming difficulties of marshaling massive numbers of poorly trained soldiers, plus thousands of animals and wagons, with no better means of communication than those of Caesar and Alexander.
What emerges is an untold story, from the trapped and terrified civilians in Gettysburg’s cellars to the insolent attitude of artillerymen, from the taste of gunpowder cartridges torn with the teeth to the sounds of marching columns, their tin cups clanking like an anvil chorus. Guelzo depicts the battle with unprecedented clarity, evoking a world where disoriented soldiers and officers wheel nearly blindly through woods and fields toward their clash, even as poetry and hymns spring to their minds with ease in the midst of carnage. Rebel soldiers look to march on Philadelphia and even New York, while the Union struggles to repel what will be the final invasion of the North. One hundred and fifty years later, the cornerstone battle of the Civil War comes vividly to life as a national epic, inspiring both horror and admiration.
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Gettysburg: The Last Invasion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JONAH8208
- 02-08-15
Detailed but easy to follow
Very detailed and easy to follow with a much more realistic analysis of the intense politicing between the union civilian and military
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- timb
- 28-02-20
The politics of war - a revelation
This is a masterly account of the Gettysburg campaign and its marshalling of the details into a clear comprehensible narrative would, alone, make it a classic of military history. But the book is so much more. Guelzo lays out the simmering POLITICAL tensions between the senior commanders of The Army of the Potomac in a way which makes you realise how essential this is to understanding the way in which the battle was fought and why, to take just one example, Lee was able to slip back to Virginia after being defeated. A very different view of Meade emerges when seen through this lens. The book is beautifully written (and read for that matter by Robertson) and the final chapter on Lincoln’s address is deeply moving.
I’ve now read or listened to great accounts of Gettysburg by Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote and Stephen Sears - but it’s Guelzo’s magisterial work I’ll be recommending to friends.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- studav
- 01-04-21
American Civil war
An amazing look into a dark psrt og American history, a real good listen from the start
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mr. N. R. Macmillan
- 05-04-16
Inaccessable
What did you like best about Gettysburg: The Last Invasion? What did you like least?
This is a very detailed book but without a map in front of you or an equally detailed understanding of the ground this book is inaccessable
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
I sadly gave up with this book and did not persist to the end.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
The voice of the narrator was not very animated and made the book harder to listen to that necessary.
Was Gettysburg: The Last Invasion worth the listening time?
No
Any additional comments?
If you are coming to Gettysburg as a battle for the first time or do not have a working understanding of the ground or at least a map in front of you as you listen then go elsewhere.
Not recommended except for Gettysburg enthusiasts.
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