Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (1 Viewer)

[jazzeum]

Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen Guelzo has just recently come out and the first reaction might be "oh, just what we need, another Gettysburg book." However, this book has gotten some very favorable reviews and some have said Gettysburg: The Last Invasion is among the finest campaign studies of recent vintage. According to some reviews it has "smart and vivid writing, innovative organization, and insightful analysis that manages to synthesize the Gettysburg story in a way that will appeal to the literate novice and the seasoned Civil War history reader alike."

High praise indeed. Allen Guelzo is a Professor of History at Gettysburg College and the head of the Civil War Studies Department there. He has also won two Lincoln Prizes (the highest award you can achieve in Civil War History and studies).

Here is a recent review by David Blight of Yale (himself one of the most distinguished professors of history) that appeared in this past week's New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/b...tysburg-the-last-invasion.html?ref=books&_r=0 Blight does find some fault with the book, mostly Guelzo's literary style.

Guelzo is not only a wonderful writer but a very dynamic speaker. Here is an interview with the Civil War Monitor. The interview is only 22 minutes long but you get a sense of how captivating a speaker he is.

 

[jazzeum]

Professor Guelzo also was at the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop back in May and you can access that interview below. It's in five parts.

You can access the other parts through the ALincolnBookShop on youtube, http://www.youtube.com/user/ALincolnBookShop?feature=watch

 

[lancer]

Brad, thanks for posting these interviews. Caught him on C-Span 3 the other day and was fascinated by him. I will be getting his book soon as a result. Like the way he gave Coddington his due. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Al,

Thought you might enjoy this. If you have a chance, listen to his talk at the Lincoln bookshop. Pretty fascinating. He's a great speaker.

Brad

 

[UKReb]

Brad/Al

Received my copy last Saturday and started reading it yesterday-in a word gripping..... No make that two words-totally gripping- and that's from an ACW nerd who has 27 Gettysburg tomes on his book shelves already ^&confuse

Furthermore I sent an e-mail to our new Gettysburg cadet Rob yesterday ^&grin recommending it to him.

Bob

 

[Rob]

Brad/Al

Received my copy last Saturday and started reading it yesterday-in a word gripping..... No make that two words-totally gripping- and that's from an ACW nerd who has 27 Gettysburg tomes on his book shelves already ^&confuse

Furthermore I sent an e-mail to our new Gettysburg cadet Rob yesterday ^&grin recommending it to him.

Bob

And he's just perusing Amazon for it as we speak!:salute::

Rob

 

[lancer]

Brad/Al

Received my copy last Saturday and started reading it yesterday-in a word gripping..... No make that two words-totally gripping- and that's from an ACW nerd who has 27 Gettysburg tomes on his book shelves already ^&confuse

Furthermore I sent an e-mail to our new Gettysburg cadet Rob yesterday ^&grin recommending it to him.

Bob

Sounds like it will be a 'must have' for ACW libraries. Not a bad word anywhere have I seen. Definetly on my list. ^&grin -- Al

 

[Rob]

Well guys, after a day at work I returned home to find an Amazon parcel awaiting me. What could it be I thought, I'd ordered the 'Office An American Work place' multi series box set but the parcel was the wrong shape. On opening it I got a truly lovely surprise to find that Brad had sent me a copy of this very book we are discussing !{eek3} What a really generous, kind thing to do. It was as I say a wonderful surprise and really appreciated, so many thanks Brad, you are a gentleman:salute::

As I said to Brad this evening, my good lady thought I'd be working in the garden tomorrow, I'm afraid she is only partly right, I will be IN THE GARDEN....but with a cold drink, sun longer and this book. :wink2: Our Summer finally started this week Brad, brilliant timing my friend brilliant timing!

Now I will know what you guys are talking about!:salute::

Thanks mate
Rob

 

[jazzeum]

Rob,

As a good friend and budding Civil War enthusiast, I thought it would be a nice thing to do and so I did it!

I'm glad it got there safe and sound.

I'm sure you will enjoy it. His footnotes are very impressive and show the amount of research he did.

What I find interesting was that when Prof Guelzo was asked why write a book on Gettysburg when there are countless books out there already, his answer was "because it's there." Great quip.

Cheers,

Brad

 

[Rob]

Rob,

As a good friend and budding Civil War enthusiast, I thought it would be a nice thing to do and so I did it!

I'm glad it got there safe and sound.

I'm sure you will enjoy it. His footnotes are very impressive and show the amount of research he did.

What I find interesting was that when Prof Guelzo was asked why write a book on Gettysburg when there are countless books out there already, his answer was "because it's there." Great quip.

Cheers,

Brad

Thanks Brad,

That is a good quip!

Can't wait to start this tomorrow, even just flicking through this evening it looks gripping!

Cheers

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

Here's a review by a person who is very knowledgeable about the Civil War, http://studycivilwar.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/gettysburg-the-last-invasion/

 

[lancer]

Hey guys, Prof. Guelzo's quip "because it's there" is taken from George Mallory of Mt. Everest fame. He was asked why he wanted to climb the mountain and he famously replied "Because it's there." The quip/quote has entered the lexicon of the English language. :wink2:^&grin -- Al

 

[Combat]

I've only read about the first quarter of the book (which is very good) and saw him speak at an event on CSPAN. Some interesting points that he makes include:

1) the amateurish state of the Civil War armies made it very difficult to achieve any type of decisive victory on the battlefield

2) the notions of preserving the union and ending slavery are basically one and the same because if the Union had lost the war it would have resulted in the creation of a slave-holding nation in the south

3) the cavalry's role in the Civil War was not one of intelligence gathering. Therefore, Stuart was not the "eyes" of the army as frequently indicated in many books. Rather, Lee relied on spies and northern newspapers to keep track of the movements of the Union Army and knew more or less where the Union Army was located when he ordered his troops to move toward Gettysburg.

 

[Rob]

I've only read about the first quarter of the book (which is very good) and saw him speak at an event on CSPAN. Some interesting points that he makes include:

1) the amateurish state of the Civil War armies made it very difficult to achieve any type of decisive victory on the battlefield

2) the notions of preserving the union and ending slavery are basically one and the same because if the Union had lost the war it would have resulted in the creation of a slave-holding nation in the south

3) the cavalry's role in the Civil War was not one of intelligence gathering. Therefore, Stuart was not the "eyes" of the army as frequently indicated in many books. Rather, Lee relied on spies and northern newspapers to keep track of the movements of the Union Army and knew more or less where the Union Army was located when he ordered his troops to move toward Gettysburg.

Just coming to the end of mine now and very much agree. The rate of accuracy from these weapons was pretty random sometimes but when they did hit the injuries were horrendous. The book is so enjoyable I cannot recommend it highly enough. I had no idea how deadly and annoying ACW skirmishers were at Gettysburg, because I did not know that advancing troops would not stop to return fire as it broke up momentum, so these guys were very much disliked indeed and if captured would be dealt with accordingly on some occasions I would imagine.

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

The last two chapters of the book are outstanding where he concludes that Lee lost the battle more than Meade won it. He actually feels that Reynolds is the one more responsible since it forced Lee to fight a battle that he was not ready for and Meade to fight when he never wanted to do so. His last chapter where he muses about the Gettysburg Address and its author is on a par with Garry Wills' Lincoln at Gettysburg and Lincoln's Sword by Douglas Wilson.

 

[Combat]

Finished it tonight. Excellent book. Thanks much for the recommendation Brad. By some weird coincidence, I saw Guelzo having lunch today in town. I noticed that he thanks Charles Tarbox in the beginning of book. Some of you may know Charlie who, until very recently, operated a toy soldier shop in Gettysburg. A fine fellow. I emailed Charlie and asked him about it and he apparently wasn't aware that he had been mentioned in the book! btw: they have signed copies in one of the bookshops in Gettysburg.

 

[Leadmen]

Thanks Brad for the "heads up" on the Last Invasion book. I just finished it today. Excellent book. John

 

[jazzeum]

Glad you guys liked it.

Have you ever seen him speak. He's a great speaker. There should be a few things on You Tube.

Brad

 

[Combat]

Glad you guys liked it.

Have you ever seen him speak. He's a great speaker. There should be a few things on You Tube.

Brad

I saw him on CSPAN at some event in Atlanta. He is very much the college professor which has its pros and cons, but reading the book you can tell he is a local with first hand knowledge of the town.