Maps of the Civil War : The Roads They Took

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Summary: The scope of the conflict that ripped our nation apart
Review: Subtitled "The Roads They Took," David Phillips, the author, has created a unique addition to the hundreds of volumes of books available about the Civil War. I was born and raised in New York City, and, unlike many southerners, I had a dearth of education about the Civil War. Of course I've seen movies and TV specials and read "Gone With the Wind," and, more recently, Tony Horwitz's "Confederates in the Attic," but it was this book, "Maps of the Civil War" that made me realize the scope of this awful conflict that ripped our nation apart.

As befits an atlas the book is wide and flat, measuring 9x13" and holding a mere 160 pages. Here, in this slim volume are numerous maps that were actually created during the war as well as photographs, illustrations and paintings in both color and black and white. The copy is clear without any frills, and describes in detail all the actual movements and battles with their great human toll. It's hard to believe how thousands of men would come at each other in close combat with weapons that had very limited range. And it's hard to visualize 20,000 or more men dying on a single day.

I found all this little difficult to follow because, as I mentioned, this is all new to me, and, with the exception of some of the more famous generals, I sometimes had to read a paragraph over a couple of times to sort out which side a particular general was on. I'm also not acquainted with the terrain, and the maps were hard to read especially since they were all hand written and many of them concentrated especially on the troop movements. I loved the illustrations and the photographs though and found I would stare at one for many minutes, letting myself go back to that awful time in history. There are photos of the soldiers on both sides and photos of the land and the dead and the dying. But perhaps the one photo that I remember the most is of the vast quantities supplies to feed all these soldiers in the field.

Wars cannot be compared, of course. Each one is unique for its particular time and place in history. What is unique about the Civil War is that it took place among Americans on American soil. It painfully ripped the country apart and took several generations for its memory to start to fade. This book made it all real to me and for this I thank the author although I do think that seasoned Civil War buffs would appreciate the maps more than I did. Recommended.