This review is much different from others that I have done.
While most books that I review on here are typical monographs, where an author
is either presenting a history or an argument of some kind, the latest book
from the Smithsonian on the Civil War is more of a picture/coffee table book.
That being said, don’t miss it. It is incredible.
The book highlights the best from the Smithsonian’s Civil
War collection, as well as short pieces describing the artifacts and what their
meaning or significance is to the larger war. I spent some time going through
it with my wife the other night, and we were both hooked. It is a very well
done book, with a fantastic hard cover exterior and clean, bright pages with
great design and amazing photographs. These are high quality pictures of
Smithsonian items. It is almost as if you have the item in front of you.
Among the high resolution pictures of Smithsonian items are
an image of a shattered tree trunk from Spotsylvania, cut down by musket fire;
the masks worn by the Lincoln assassination conspirators during their
imprisonment; the famed painting Grant
and his Generals by Ole Peter Hansen Balling; the sword of Union Colonel Strong
Vincent, mortally wounded at Little Round Top on July 2, 1863; a uniform coat,
pistol, and chess set belonging to George McClellan; and the sword which
Sherman wore at Shiloh.
I found these after just a few minutes of flipping through
the pages.
The accompanying text is a nice addition, but for me, the
artifacts pictured in the book, as well as its nice layout, are enough to make
this an awesome addition to my library. Having recently moved in with Alison in
our apartment in State College, I set up a few small book shelves in the living
room with some nicer books that I like having out. This book is certainly one
of them.
The book is a timely reminder of the most compelling
artifacts from our nation’s most important war. During the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, we need to look back and remember the war in its reality. Seeing dramatic photographs and artifacts such as
these bring the war to us in a very real way. If you can’t visit the
Smithsonian to see these items, buying the book is a great way to have them
with you at home. Jon Meacham’s Forword for the book lays out a case for the
importance of the Smithsonian’s Civil War collection, and this book, quite
adeptly:
Americans
of the twenty-first century need books like this and institutions like the Smithsonian,
for without photographic images of the brutally scarred back of a slave or of
the dead on battlefields and in trenches that we tend to associate more with
the Somme than with our own land, the Civil War risks receding into fable
rather than urgent fact.
If you need a Christmas present for the Civil War buff in
your life, Smithsonian Civil War: Inside the National Collection, is a perfect
choice.
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