Gettysburg: The Last Invasion

Written by:
Allen C. Guelzo
Narrated by:
Robertson Dean

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
8
Narrator
1
Release Date
May 2013
Duration
22 hours 34 minutes
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.
Reviews
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Stephen O.

While I am truly amazed by incredible detail, I am AMAZED that virtually No detail was given to Col Josh Chamberlain's defense of Little Round Top on July 2??? I listen to Audiobooks constantly has I'm working at home, running errands or traveling. If I missed the track when LRT & Josh are detailed like everyone else, PLEASE advise of what track I should rewind to? I have Always admired Col. Chamberlain as a Classic Example of the American "Citizen Soldier! Coming from a begnin background as a religious Proffessor of Logic at Boudin College in Maine, he found himself in charge of what was one of the Key turning points of Gettysburg and went on to distinction. If I overran or somehow missed this Author's description of that engagement ( in the same detail as described elsewhere, then PLEAS direct me to the proper chsnnle? Thank you!

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