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Rating: 
Summary: Great book for everyone
Review: An outstanding volume in the "Civil War Campaigns and Commanders" series. The book is extremely well written; however, it must be remembered that it is not intended to be a complete biography of the general, but of his military leadership abilities during the Civil War. Perry Jamieson briefly touches on General Hancock's life before and after the war, including his years spent as an Indian fighter and his Democratic run for the presidency. The author goes into much greater detail concerning the general's role in the battles he fought in during the civil war, which is the intention of this series. There are many maps, including an outstanding one on page 20 showing the major railroad routes from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and short biographies of other Civil War generals. He has included much detail on the battles: for example, each day of the Gettysburg battle requires it's own chapter. It is the perfect book for the beginner as it covers the high points of General Hancock's life. The more knowledgeable civil war reader will also find the book entertaining with many little known facts of General Hancock, his staff and family. I have read many military history books, and this one was a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for everyone
Review: An outstanding volume in the "Civil War Campaigns and Commanders" series. The book is extremely well written; however, it must be remembered that it is not intended to be a complete biography of the general, but of his military leadership abilities during the Civil War. Perry Jamieson briefly touches on General Hancock's life before and after the war, including his years spent as an Indian fighter and his Democratic run for the presidency. The author goes into much greater detail concerning the general's role in the battles he fought in during the civil war, which is the intention of this series. There are many maps, including an outstanding one on page 20 showing the major railroad routes from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and short biographies of other Civil War generals. He has included much detail on the battles: for example, each day of the Gettysburg battle requires it's own chapter. It is the perfect book for the beginner as it covers the high points of General Hancock's life. The more knowledgeable civil war reader will also find the book entertaining with many little known facts of General Hancock, his staff and family. I have read many military history books, and this one was a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Great Series
Review: I take issue with the above reviewer's statements regarding Jameson's new book on General Winfield Scott Hancock. The book, like others in the McWhiney Foundation's Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series, is intended to be a general history of said subject, light enough for the Civil War novice (hence the biographical sketches), yet serious enough for the many scholars and educators who have found them helpful in both research and the classroom. Both the title of the series, Civil War Campaigns and Commanders, and the book, Winfield Scott Hancock: Gettysburg Hero, as well as the remarks on the inside cover, clearly mark this as a book focusing on General Hancock's Civil War career. That, in this humble reviewer's opinion, is more than enough justification for the author's "omission" of Hancock's pre- Civil War exploits, important though they may be.
As far as the Armistead controversy goes, I would direct the reader to the sketches of Armistead in both Generals in Gray and The Confederate General, where they will find a portrait of a genial man, who could also be harsh with subordinates.
Readers of this slim yet informative tome, be they curious (the student/researcher so kindly mentioned by Mr. Deppen) or disgruntled (perhaps Mr. Deppen himself), can find a quite helpful Further Reading section in the back of the book in which more thorough tomes on General Hancock's life and times are listed.
Rating: 
Summary: New Hancock Biography Examined
Review: Perry D. Jamieson's new biography, Winfield Scott Hancock - Gettysburg Hero, is a somewhat cursory examination of one of the most notable Americans of the 19th century. While providing a competent introduction to the basic facts of Hancock's life and career, the author omits a wealth of information on his subject. The narrative text covers less than 180 pages. Included in these pages are ten maps and seventeen separate sidebar biographies and photographs of major Civil War figures, including Thomas J. Jackson, Richard Ewell, John Sedgewick, and Phil Sheridan. These sidebar bios may be helpful to readers unfamiliar with Civil War history, but they distract from the subject of the book and interfere with the flow of the narrative. Mysteriously, of all the photographs included in the book, there is not one photograph of Hancock himself, other than the cover illustration. Readers interested in Hancock's early years will find the book disappointing. The first sixteen years of his life are covered in three paragraphs, and his lengthy prewar military career takes up less than seven pages. While it is the obvious intention of the author to speed through this period in order to examine Hancock's Civil War actions, the years from 1840 until 1861 were the most formative in shaping Hancock's performance as a battlefield commander. Jamieson handles well the details of Hancock's wartime rise to fame as "Hancock the Superb," as he does the rest of the general's Civil War service. Naturally, there is an emphasis on Hancock's role at Gettysburg, where the corps commander truly performed superbly. Jamieson devotes four chapters - nearly one-fifth of the entire book - to the Gettysburg campaign. For some reason, Jamieson persistently refers to Hancock as a "War Democrat," even in descriptions of combat. For example, in his account of the Wilderness fighting, Jamieson writes on page 95, "The War Democrat immediately directed this unit [Carroll's brigade] into the bloody turmoil around the crossroads." While Hancock was a lifelong Democrat with firm political beliefs, he was always a soldier first. The repetition of the label War Democrat seems out of place in the narrative, especially in the battle action. Jamieson's sidebar bio of Hancock's friend and Confederate brigadier Lewis Armistead says that Armistead's "genial personality made him one of the most popular commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia." Such a statement seems based more on actor Richard Jordan's sympathetic portrayal of Armistead in the film Gettysburg than on the historical record. In the 1994 booklet, Trust in God and Fear Nothing - Lewis A. Armistead CSA, author Wayne Motts used his extensive research to reveal Armistead as a tough, hard-bitten military professional who could be harsh with soldiers and subordinates, not unlike Hancock himself. Jamieson also records the date of Armistead's death incorrectly on pages 85 and 89 - Armistead died on the morning of July 5th, not early in the afternoon of July 4th. Jamieson's book is the first new work on the life of Winfield Scott Hancock in the 21st century. While useful as an introduction to the general's extraordinary career, readers truly interested in the life of Hancock the Superb should consider this book a starting point in their research, rather than the final word on Winfield Scott Hancock.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Edition
Review: Perry Jamieson's Winfield Scott Hancock: Gettysburg Hero is an enjoyable edition to the Campaigns and Commanders Series, published by the McWhiney Press. Jamieson tells of Hancock's remarkable career in entertaining and exciting prose and remarks on his legacy and current reputation among historians. Although this biography would appear brief to those not acquainted with the series, it is actually one of the longest yet published in it. This series is meant to give a shortened yet informative account of Civil War figures and events to those not yet familar with them. Jamieson gives an outstanding portrait of Hancock as a geniune military hero and analyzes the role he played in saving the Union. For those who would want to learn more, he lists several extensive and acclaimed biographies of "Hancock The Superb." The maps and biographical sketches included are a great aide to those without prior knowledge of Civil War figures. Jamieson tells not only of Hancock's role in the war (although he does, of course, focus on it) but also recounts his admirable postwar service on the frontier as well as his failed presidential campaign. Also of note is the mention of the history behind the most famous Hancock monuments and memorials, including both the statue atop Cemetery Hill and in Washington DC, as well as others. In conclusion, this book is an excellent introuction to one of the finest commanders in American miltary history. It combines solid research and storytelling in an effective manner and does justice to the man and his memory.
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