Product Description

Some two million people visit the battlefield at Gettysburg each year. It is one of the most popular historical destinations in the United States. Most visitors tour the field by following the National Park Service's suggested auto tour. The standard tour, however, skips crucial monuments, markers, battle actions, town sites, hospital locations, and other hidden historical gems that should be experienced by everyone. These serious oversights are fully rectified in The Complete Gettysburg Guide, penned by noted Gettysburg historian J. David Petruzzi and illustrated with the lavish, full-color photography and maps (70) of Civil War cartographer Steven Stanley.

Complete, detailed, and up-to-date, The Complete Gettysburg Guide: Walking and Driving Tours of the Battlefield, Town, Cemeteries, Field Hospital Sites, and other Topics of Historical Interest includes:

- Detailed driving and walking tours of the entire battlefield (including obscure sites that even veteran visitors miss or never hear about); - A tour of every identified field hospital site for both armies; - Tours of the National Cemetery and the town's Evergreen Cemetery; - A tour of the town of Gettysburg, including sites of historical interest before and after the battle;- Outlying battlefields including the June 26, 1863 skirmish site, East Cavalry Field, South Cavalry Field, Hunterstown, Hanover, and Fairfield; - And a special tour of the various rock carvings on the battlefield, many of which were created by returning veterans and pre-date most of the monuments.

Every student of Gettysburg, novice and expert alike, will want to learn from, enjoy, and treasure The Complete Gettysburg Guide. No visitor to Gettysburg will want to be without it.

About the Authors: J. David Petruzzi is widely recognized as one of the country's leading Gettysburg experts. In addition to his numerous articles for a wide variety of publications, he is the author (with Eric Wittenberg) of bestsellers Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg (Savas Beatie, 2006) and (with Wittenberg and Michael Nugent) One Continuous Fight: The Retreat From Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 (Savas Beatie, 2008). Petruzzi is also a popular speaker on the Civil War Roundtable circuit and regularly conducts tours of Civil War battlefields.

Steven Stanley lives in Gettysburg and is a graphic artist specializing in historical map design and battlefield photography. His maps, considered among the best in historical cartography, have been a longtime staple of the Civil War Preservation Trust and have helped raised millions of dollars for the Trust through their preservation appeals and interpretation projects. Steve's maps have appeared in a wide variety of publications.

REVIEWS

"Together, the text and maps contained in The Complete Gettysburg Guide create one of the most useful and comprehensive guides of America's largest and bloodiest battlefield available today."Eric A. Campbell, Park Ranger-Historian, Gettysburg National Military Park

"The Complete Gettysburg Guide has something for everyone, whether they are a serious student of the battle or visiting the battlefield for the first time. The easy-to-understand guidebook not only provides readers with a comprehensive history of the battle, but also enables visitors to see some of the unusual or often overlooked features the National Park has to offer. Further, the accompanying images and well-researched maps bring the 3-day struggle to life for the modern battlefield traveler."Jim Campi, Policy and Communications Director, Civil War Preservation Trust

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28128 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781932714630
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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Customer Reviews

Tour-Tested Success
I recently spent a weekend in Gettysburg with a fellow Civil Warrior and this book. The book was invaluable and the best thing we did in connection with the trip. We spent Friday afternoon doing the July 1 tour, Saturday on July 2-3, and Sunday doing the visitor center, East Cavalry Field, and Hunterstown.

I really appreciated the excellent maps and the insights into a number of locations that I never would have known without this guide, aside from reading about them in books. For example, seeing where Brinkerhoff's Ridge was and how it fit in was instructive, and other highlights that were a bit off the beaten path included Willoughby's Run, Pegram's deployment in the Chambersburg Pike, sit of the opening shot, finally finding Iverson's attack, Pitzer's Woods, Big Round Top and Farnsworth's charge sites, the stone wall where Benning's men took cover while attacking the Devil's Den area, the Brickyard Fight in the town, and Benner's Hill. I've been to Gettysburg several times over a 20 year period but never seen the real battlefield in depth like this. This book provides a great service to Gettysburg scholarship.

More Than Just the Battlefield
As many reviews of this book have noted, using the word "complete" in a book title naturally throws up red flags for readers. The Complete Gettysburg Guide is one of those rare titles which live up to the high aspirations set by such an audacious title. Many Gettysburg books are tours of the battlefield action only. Co-contributors Petruzzi and Stanley have joined forces to provide readers with a book which delves deeper into this most famous of Civil War battlefields.

J. David Petruzzi is by now well-known among both Gettysburg and Civil War enthusiasts, co-authoring books on J.E.B. Stuart's ride to Gettysburg and the Confederate retreat after the battle with Eric Wittenberg. He is a long-time Gettysburg enthusiast who has visited the battlefield numerous times, making him a well-suited candidate to write this type of in depth tour guide title.

Steven Stanley, the cartographer/photographer for this the book, is equally well-suited to the task. He lives in Gettysburg, has had his maps appear in America's Civil War and Hallowed Ground magazines, and has been a student of the Civil War his entire adult life.

The Complete Gettysburg Guide is a hefty book for its size, well made and designed to last divided up into various tours, allowing the purchaser to decide which tours they want to take on a given trip to the battlefield. In addition to the usual battlefield tours, of which there are six in this volume, Petruzzi and Stanley also offer tours of the town itself, two cemeteries, the field hospitals erected after the battle and (my personal favorite) a tour of the rock carvings present on the battlefield. This last tour offers readers the opportunity to explore a feature of the battlefield rarely seen by the general public.

Each tour offers standard text penned by Petruzzi, tour directions on a green background, numerous maps, photos, and illustrations, and "Did You Know?" tidbits offering fascinating facts pertaining to each specific tour. The main text goes into the proper amount of detail, keeping veteran Gettysburg students interested while effectively introducing the battle to those new to the subject. The book is gorgeously laid out, with the maps and illustrations adding to the value of the book both aesthetically and by complementing the main text with more information. Tour maps show modern roads and mark out each tour stop with a circle. Maps showing troops movements include scale, different colors for the opposing armies, and lines of elevation. Steven Stanley's photos show the battlefield today from a variety of angles and in all seasons.

Some typos were noted, especially on the maps, something which future editions of the book should correct. I would have liked to have seen a spiral bound edition of this book for actually tramping the battlefield. As a collector, I will not be bringing this exceedingly handsome copy with me to Gettysburg. Currently the only solution is to buy a second hardcover copy, something not everyone can afford and one which is far from ideal.

A nice addition and one which more authors should utilize is a web site for the book, [...], offering "updates, supplements, and many other interactive features."

The Complete Gettysburg Guide is sure to please Gettysburg battlefield trampers and others interested in the Battle of Gettysburg, including everything associated with that massive and devastating event. The book goes beyond the battlefield, offering tours of other topics such as field hospitals, cemeteries, and the town of Gettysburg. Future authors of books in the Civil War tour guide genre would do well to emulate the format used in this book. This book truly is as "complete" as anyone touring the battlefield and surrounding areas could realistically want. Highly recommended!

GREAT Guide
Like many folks bitten by the "Civil War Bug," I was first introduced to the War Between the States on a family vacation to Gettysburg. I fondly recalled that life-altering weekend in a piece I wrote titled "Birth of a Buff" and have since then waxed the poetic on subsequent returns to Adams County in my adult years. As both a historian and longtime resident of Fredericksburg surrounded by four major battlefields, I am clearly spoiled when it comes to Hallowed Grounds. However, none of them have managed to touch me in the way that Gettysburg's battlefield does. Simply put, I love giving tours here in Virginia, but I really love taking them in Pennsylvania.

What is it about Gettysburg that makes it so special? Maybe it was because I first walked its wheat fields and rocky hills at the impressionable age of 7, or maybe it's because the town hasn't changed all that much since I first traveled there in 1978. Perhaps it is the legacy of the battle itself, truly an epic engagement on so many levels that favored both the North and South at different times and ultimately changed the entire course of the war. Maybe it's the feeling one has when they go there. Who is not touched by the tragedy that took place there in July of 1863 and who can ignore the beauty of this magnificent place that has been preserved for all generations? This is why millions of people travel to Gettysburg each and every year.

Many of these "stompers" have their own way of exploring Civil War battlefields. Some use the officially sanctioned audio-driving tours, while others bring books, photographs and sketches to use as reference. I have always used a combination and I also enjoy walking the trails with the licensed guides and National Park Service folks whose insights are often far beyond that of any pre-packaged materials. Unfortunately there was never a "one one-size-fits-all guide," a concise and dynamic tool that appealed to the die-hard enthusiast and the casual observer. With all of these choices nothing was developed that would satisfy the inquisitive expert searching for that hard-to-find spot, as well as the family of four looking for a nice way to spend an afternoon.

That is until now.

Fortunately for people in both camps, a new book is finally available that will fulfill both of their desires. Even better, it was developed by two of the best in the business. Noted historian and author J. David Petruzzi has teamed up with Civil War cartographer Steven Stanley to produce the "THE COMPLETE GETTYSBURG GUIDE: Walking and Driving Tours of the Battlefield, Town, Cemeteries, Field Hospital Sites, and other Topics of Historical Interest." This book is already my pick for the Best of 2009.

Tremendously detailed, up-to-date, and beautifully designed, this newly released Savas-Beatie title includes walking and driving tours of the battlefield, town, cemeteries, hospital sites, monuments and obscure places that are often missed by the mainstream tours. A gifted writer, Petruzzi's narrative tells the entire story of the battle and Stanley's tasteful use of photography and maps compliment it perfectly. Not only does this guide outline a great tour of the grounds, it also tells the reader how they fit into the battle and why they matter. By using this guide you won't only have a better appreciation for the National Military Park at Gettysburg, you'll walk away with a better understanding of what transpired there.

I firmly believe that it won't be long before "THE COMPLETE GETTYSBURG GUIDE" will become a must-have extension of the entire Gettysburg Tour experience. It's as enjoyable to look at as the Cyclorama, as informative as the NPS Tour, and as easy to understand as the Electric Map. I cannot wait to take my copy back to Adams County and walk the grounds in a completely new and exciting way. For those of you who have never been to Gettysburg, now it the time to go as this new book will make your inaugural visit even more enjoyable, and for those of us who are regulars, this book is a great excuse to go back and share in a brand new experience.