Brady's Civil War Hardcover – January 1, 2002

Very nice book... chock full of great historical photos by Matthew Brady, and great info accompanying... highly recommended for the Civil War buff!

As a Civil War collector this large book of real photographs really lets you know what the war was like. It lives up to the phrase: "A picture is worth a thousand words".

Perfect condition

What a book, some great pictures in it that don't even need explanations, the pictures tell it all and what a great price for this book. This one is a keeper

Mathew Brady does a fine job of detailing the many aspects of the Civil War in picture form this book is well organized as can be seen in the table of contents CIVILIAN AND MILITARY LEADERS, COMPANIES AND REGIMENTS, DRESS AND INSIGNIA, CAMP LIFE, THE BATTLEFIELDS, THE WEAPONS, WAR ON THE WATER, TRANSPORTATION, FEATS OF ENGINEERING, SPECIALISTS, THE SICK AND WOUNDED, THE CARE GIVERS, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, A LAND LAID WASTE, I especially found the picture on page 211 to be very interesting "BLACK REFUGEES, MOST OF WHOM WERE EX-SLAVES, WERE TREATED BY FEDERAL FORCES AS CONTRABAND OF WAR" again if I were a high school teacher this is the book I would use to teach my students about the reality of the Civil War.

Mr. Webb's compilation of the photographs of Matthew Brady is a fine edition to any Civil War library. The only limitation is one of expectations. In Brady's age the technology of photography was limited when compared to todays standards. The lack of fast film, or for that matter film as we know it, meant that all pictures had to be stages. Thus, there are no actual photographs of the numerous battles. Once one gets past these limitations, the compilation is excellent.The best photographs are the portraits and the after battle scenes. The portraits rival those taken by the best portrait photographers of today. My favorites are of Sherman and of Grant. The one of Sherman properly conveys the sense of the man who led the destructive march through Georgia and to the sea.The after battle scenes are equally compelling. A pity of the Civil War is that because we are left with mostly written descriptions of the battles that the horror is sometime lost in the perceived gallantly. The destructiveness and human costs are boldly portrayed in the photographs of the dead and dying. The pictures of the numerous amputees were especially effective.

What do you think of when you think of Matthew Brady's Civil War photographs? Lincoln, Grant, Lee portraits certainly, but I'll bet what most people would think of would be the shatteringly dramatic scenes of the dead of several battles. Guess what? There are only a small handful in this large, expensive coffee table book. There are chapters on every aspect of the Civil War, from transportation to camp life to weapons, but none on the what Brady is best remembered for: Documenting the horrors of a battlefield days after a battle. The few photos of the dead that ARE included are always based upon something else in the photo. A train in the background, a rifle placed for effect, etc. The captions are dull and often erroneous, and several mention a Brady Exhibition of the period "The Dead of Antietam" and yet there is not a single photo from this landmark exhibition.Google "Matthew Brady" and click on images. What do you see? THAT'S what should have been in this book. I'm not trying to be gruesome or one-dimensional here, but that's what the man is known for - and what every generation needs to see.

I was eager to peruse this book as I admire Brady's work immensely. But I was appalled and shocked at the amateurish nature of the captions, loaded with conjecture and unsubstantiated opinion on behalf of Webb Garrison. Truly a travesty that this book was published in this form as Mathew Brady's photographic documentation of the Civil War ushered in the era of Photojournalism and for it to be so mishandled and misconstrued at the hands of a hack such as Garrison is an unconscionable act of eternal shame for The Lyons Press, the publisher. Who edited this? Who proofread it, and fact checked? As far as I can tell no one fact checked anything that Garrison scribbled in some margins.What should have been a cherished volume in my library will end up down at Half Price books, if they'll take it. Avoid at all costs.