Civil War Battles

Rating:
Summary: Great documentary for Civil War buffs & reenactors!
Review: Despite the cheap dvd packaging this turned out to be an excellent Civil War documentary. Although I've been studying the Civil War for the past 14 years I learned a lot from this 3 dvd collection featuring awesome reenactment footage as well as informative comments from historians. This is just as good as Smithsonians' "Great Battles of the Civil War" set & isn't as biased against the South either. Even though it's over 6 hours, most of the battles are not discussed in much detail although there's thankfully a generous section on Gettysburg. However, with each battle discussed you get a good idea of the goals & tactics of both sides as well as a great summary of the battle. My only complaint is that Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign & the various raids of Forrest, Mosby, & Morgan are hardly even mentioned. Also, the war west of the Missippi River is sorely neglected. Still, this is a great summary of the major battles in the East & some in the West that Civil War buffs will enjoy. Each of the 3 dvds have some brief bonus segments which include: Civil War photographers, "The peculiar institution"(-slavery), Civil War espionage, cavalry in the Civil War, slaves & the Confederacy, conscription in the North & South, P.O.W.s, the commanders in chief, reconstruction, & the KKK. I bought this at Best Buy & I believe they have the lowest price on this set. I highly recommend it to all American history buffs.