This is the bible of the Gettysburg campaign and the book upon which the National Park Service basis its official park guides' examination.

It is an extensive and slow read designed for the serious student of the battle. It is not light reading by any means. Any Gettysburg hobbiest seeking to be more fully educated should be reading this book prior to branching out into the more specific "Day" books. The references, notes and bibliography take up almost a third of the book's volume showing the amount of research that when into the creation of this work.

The work begins shortly after Chancellorsville and ends with the final crossing of Lee's army back across the Potomac. Serious students and historians use this book constantly to the point that the binding breaks requiring it to be glued back together. Hardbound editions are hard to find and expensive. Want to be a Gettysburg historian? Read and study this book. A required reading for all students of the battle.
March 25, 2008

More Depth

This excellent book digs deeper into the facts such as army movement leading up to the battleand many other details lost in the bigger picture books about Gettysburg. The author made a subject that I am so familiar with even more interesting for me. Well worth the cost and time.
December 16, 2007

Book Review

If you want the definitive book on the Battle of Gettysburg - this is it. Well written and easy to read.
August 23, 2007

Gettysburg Campaign

Excellent overview of the campaign from a commander's viewpoint. A must read even for seasoned Gettysburg students.
January 23, 2007

The gold standard of Gettysburg books

Edwin Coddington's book, The Gettysburg Campaign: A study in Command, has long been the "gold standard" of treatments of Gettysburg. Other excellent volumes exist now as well (e.g., volumes by Sears and Trudeau). However, this work stands up well after almost 40 years.

One poignant element to this book: it came out after the author's death.

The book provides an extremely detailed discussion of the entire campaign, from the aftermath of Chancellorsville and General Robert E. Lee's sense that the south had to make a bold move through the Confederate Army's retreat after the actual battle at Gettysburg. Coddington does not hesitate to raise questions about commanders' decisions.

The plentiful detail in this book is one of its strengths. It discusses in great detail Lee's departure from Chancellorsvill and Hooker's wary pursuit. It chronicles Hooker's separation from the Army of the Potomac and Meade's accession to commanding general of that host. It looks at each key event or engagement within the actual battle, day by day. For each engagement, whether Devil's Den, Little Round Top, "Pickett's Charge," etc., there is ample detail to get a sense of what happened and who the key actors were.

All in all, despite its age, this volume has held up well. It is still a welcome addition to a Civil War buff's library.
November 13, 2006

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Gettysburg
by Stephen W. Sears

The Maps of Gettysburg: The Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 - July 13, 1863
by Bradley Gottfried

Gettysburg--The Second Day
by Harry W. Pfanz

Gettysburg--The First Day (Civil War America)
by Harry W. Pfanz

Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage
by Noah Andre Trudeau