MovieChat Forums > Gettysburg (1993) Discussion > OT: Books

OT: Books

posted 10 years ago by indy_go_blue44
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I don't know if any of you have an Ollie's store in your area, but if you do check out their books. In the past month I've purchased 4 new fantastic Civil War books/sets for not much more than the cost of two regular books at B&N.

The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote, $40 for a boxed hardback set.
The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace by H. W. Brands. (c)2012, cover price $35; Ollie's price $4.95.
Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S. C. Gwynne. (c)2014, cover price $35; Ollie's price $4.95
The Civil War: The Definitive Reference: A Chronology of Events, An Encyclopedia, and the Memoirs of Grant and Lee. (c)2013. (No price on cover; Ollie's price $14.95.

They've got quite a few other history books, most of which I own already. I suggest you check it out.

I only have one person on ignore, but I've had to ignore him 625 different times.

[–] tallkennj 10 years ago

I cannot say enough good things about Shelby Foote's "The Civil War: A Narrative". It is truly an amazing piece of work. Reading it is most definitely an undertaking (it is something on the order of 3000 pages total), but it is well worth the time.

[–] indy_go_blue44 10 years ago

I've read it through completely twice and had reread the first book back in October. Though my paperbacks are in good shape I simply couldn't pass this bargain up. I gave the paperbacks to my son so they're in good hands. Now I'm about halfway through book one again (it's leading up to Shiloh) and I'll probably read the set again through this summer.

I find it just as mesmerizing as the first time I read it. I'd like to get ahold of his novel, Shiloh, which I've heard is pretty good.

I only have one person on ignore, but I've had to ignore him 625 different times.

[–] BertramWilberforceWooster 10 years ago

I think there's an Ollie's up in Carmel, but I haven't visited. I mostly go to Half Price Books. I own Shelby Foote's trilogy, though, and love it.

--
Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb.

[–] tallkennj 10 years ago

If you are looking for something a little bit different... historical but not quite history... I would also recommend Newt Gingrich's trilogy of alternate history novels starting with "Gettysburg". I don't say this as a political fan of Gingrich's (I most definitely am not), but he (and his writing partner who I suspect did most of the grunt work) wrote a heck of a yarn about how Gettysburg might have turned out differently and where that different outcome might have led the entire war. I won't ruin it, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how much I loved it. Best of all... at least when I discovered them... the books were $5 each in a wholesale bin at Barnes and Noble.

[–] indy_go_blue44 10 years ago

I've seen it, but not being a fan of Gingrich either, I put off buying it. Harry Turtledove's alternate history "Guns of the South" was a pretty good read also, though I never pursued the sequels.

I do have an old Civil War boardgame with an alternative setup arrangement. Buford's cavalry brigade isn't on the high ground west of Gettysburg on the evening of June 30 and a brigade of Heth's division stays the night just outside of town. Stuart's cavalry is in Gettysburg, thus the battle begins with Heth just west of the town and the Union army still 2 hours south. In my game, Heth was able to capture Culp's and Cemetery Hill while Stuart and Buford skirmished to the east, so when the AoP arrived Lee held the high ground. The Union did capture the Round Top's but weren't able to dislodge Lee.

I only have one person on ignore, but I've had to ignore him 625 different times.

[–] tallkennj 10 years ago

I've read a lot of Turtledove, including his "Southern Victory" series, which I think runs through 11 books detailing the history of the Union and the Confederacy starting with the Confederate victory in the Civil War running through alternate versions of World War I and II. It is definitely different from reading straight history, but, like the Gingrich books, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

[–] MadTom 10 years ago

All I could think of while reading Turtledove's Guns of the South was the old SNL skit "What if Napoleon had an Atomic Bomb at Waterloo?"