My “Back-to-Back Book” Idea

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10 responses to “My “Back-to-Back Book” Idea”

1. 

   Johnny Whitewater

   September 20, 2005

   I wouldn’t waste one’s time reading Jeffrey Wert’s book on Gettysburg Day 3. The only parts of that book worth reading are the excerpts detailing all 4 cavalry actions (usually Custer/Kilpatrick get the most discussion for that day).

   Meanwhile, Hess’s narrative obviously focuses almost exclusively on Pickett’s Charge.

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2. 

   Brett Schulte

   September 20, 2005

   Johnny,

   Would you care to elaborate on your comments about Wert’s book? I’d definitely be interested to hear your take on it. The Gettysburg choice was not high on my list anyway, but I do own both books, so I’ll get to them eventually. I know as I continue buying, and as I look for my next book to read, I’ll find some other similar titles other than the ten I listed. I might also add Gary Joiner’s Red River book to the list. We’ll see how it shakes out down the road.

   Brett

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3. 

   Harry

   September 20, 2005

   Brett,

   I did 4 and 5 as you’ve described.

   I would switch the order in which you read Hughes and Bradley. Bradley is the (much) better book, and it’s better to end on an upnote.

   Wert is a good overview…nothing controversial or surprising, in the author’s usual engaging style. Hess’s book is very uneven. I give him a break because his Pea Ridge book was so good. I’ve heard some not so good things about “Lee’s Tar Heels”, which I think he was working on at the same time, but his recent book on field fortifications has been well received, so maybe he was in a slump. I have both, but haven’t read them. You might consider replacing Hess with Carol Readon’s “Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory.” Not a tactical study, it gets heavily into the historiography of the event, and how we have come to know the story as we have come to know it. The book is really a mind bender, and can change the way a person reads history (it did for me). Richard Rollins collected a number of accounts in “Pickett’s Charge: Eyewitness Accounts”, but it is devoid of analysis.

   Harry

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4. 

   Brett Schulte

   September 20, 2005

   Harry,

   Thanks a lot. I appreciate the comments. I’d like to know as much about each of these volumes before I read them as I can. I read the Bradley book back in college in 1998, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Mark Moore’s maps are some of the best I’ve seen in a battle study. I think you guys are both right about Wert. An overview of the third day versus a tactical study on Pickett’s Charge is close to comparing apples to oranges. I might try to pick up another one on Pickett’s charge, but another idea that popped into my head would be to read the books by Pfanz and Martin on the First Day of Gettysburg. So many ideas (and books!), so little time to read them…

   Brett

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5. 

   Drew W.

   September 20, 2005

   Brett,
   If you are in a Gettysburg Day 1 mood, you might try David Martin vs. Pfanz (I haven’t read this Pfanz yet but from just glancing through it doesn’t really look up to his previous level of thoroughness) instead of Nofi.

   Drew

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6. 

   Stephen Graham

   September 21, 2005

   I much preferred Pfanz to Martin for the first day. I found Martin to be moderately confusing at times, even though I was generally familiar with the first day already. It’s been long enough since I read Martin that I can’t pinpoint the cause of my confusion. But it would be interesting to see another do a compare&contrast between Pfanz and Martin.

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7. 

   Harry

   September 21, 2005

   Brett,

   You might want to pick up Moore’s Historical Guide to the Battle of Bentonville, which includes Averasboro and Monroe’s Crossroads. Nice map study. It’s OOP, I think, but can be found for reasonable prices on line.

   Martin (revised edition) is superior to Pfanz in detail and analysis, while Pfanz is the better writer – Drew is right, Pfanz’a book does not measure up to his past works, and it seems he was striving to avoid anything controversial. Unfortunately, a really good Day 1 book has yet to be written, so for now your best bet is both of these books.

   As always, IMO.

   Harry

   Reply
8. 

   Johnny Whitewater

   September 21, 2005

   “Would you care to elaborate on your comments about Wert’s book? I’d definitely be interested to hear your take on it. The Gettysburg choice was not high on my list anyway, but I do own both books, so I’ll get to them eventually.”

   I wasn’t (and am still not) sure if you were intending to read back to back books on Pickett’s Charge specifically or Day 3 in general.

   Regardless, I don’t think Wert’s book brings much of anything to the table. In my opinion, it’s only worthwhile to write something if the author is bringing a fresh approach or conclusion to the events in question.

   Day 3 has been endlessly discussed, so what is the point in writing another book on that day? Wert’s attempt to differentiate his book to others is that he also focuses on the cavalry actions around Gettysburg on that day. We’re all familiar with Stuart/Custer and Kilpatrick’s charge on Longstreet’s right, so that leaves the other 2 minor skirmishes as the only thing of note you’ll find in Wert’s book that you likely won’t find in others. Are you willing to read a 300 page book for those 2 minor skirmishes when the rest of the Day 3 is covered in better detail by a litany of other authors?

   With all of that said, I like Harry’s suggestion of reading about the historiography of the charge. Having studied for and written a paper on the historiography of Nathan Bedford Forrest ( http://www.users.qwest.net/~msims1/nbf.doc if you’re interested ), I’ve found that reading about the historiography of the events is often more interesting than reading about the events themselves.

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9. 

   Brett Schulte

   September 21, 2005

   Drew,

   Yeah, I meant Martin instead of Nofi. I changed it just now.

   Brett

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10. 

    Brett Schulte

    September 21, 2005

    Steven, Harry, and Johnny,

    thanks for the followups.

    Harry, I do want to pick up Moore’s Bentonville guide, I just haven’t gotten around to it quite yet. It’s on my wish list though.

    Johnny, thanks for clarifying. I’ll be honest. I’m not really sure yet what I want to do either. I think I’m leaning towards the Pickett’s Charge idea. I’ll have to go get the one covering the historiography of the charge at some point soon. I’ll check out your site this evening when I get a chance.

    Stephen, it might be a few months, but I definitely hope to have a comparison essay on Martin and Pfanz up here at some point. I’m no Gettysburg expert (and there are a lot out there, even among the amateurs), so I hope I can do a good enough job for the “grogs”.

    Brett S.

    Reply