Gettysburg, William R. Forstchen
Gettysburg, William R. Forstchen
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Gettysburg
A Novel of the Civil War

Author: William R. Forstchen, Newt Gingrich, Albert S. Hanser

Narrator: Tom Stechschulte

Unabridged: 17 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 07/09/2004


Synopsis

The Civil War is the American Iliad. Lincoln, Stonewall Jackson, Grant, and Lee still stand as heroic ideals, as stirring to our national memory as were the legendary Achilles and Hector to the world of the ancient Greeks. Within the story of our Iliad one battle stands forth above all others: Gettysburg. Millions visit Gettysburg each year to walk the fields and hills where Joshua Chamberlain made his legendary stand and Pickett went down to a defeat which doomed a nation, but in defeat forever became a symbol of the heroic Lost Cause. As the years passed, and the scars healed, the debate, rather than drifting away has intensified. It is the battle which has become the great "what if," of American history and the center of a dreamscape where Confederate banners finally do crown the heights above the town. The year is 1863, and General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia are poised to attack the North and claim the victory that would end the brutal conflict. But Lee's Gettysburg campaign ended in failure, ultimately deciding the outcome of the war. Launching his men into a vast sweeping operation, of which the town of Gettysburg is but one small part of the plan, General Lee, acting as he did at Chancellorsville, Second Manassas, and Antietam, displays the audacity of old. He knows he has but one more good chance to gain ultimate victory, for after two years of war the relentless power of an industrialized north is wearing the South down. Lee's lieutenants and the men in the ranks, embued with this renewed spirit of the offensive embark on the Gettysburg Campaign that many dream "should have been." The soldiers in the line, Yank and Reb, knew as well that this would be the great challenge, the decisive moment that would decided whether a nation would die, or be created, and both sides were ready, willing to lay down their lives for their Cause. An action-packed and painstakingly researched masterwork by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen, Gettysburg stands as the first book in a series to tell the story of how history could have unfolded, how a victory for Lee would have changed the destiny of the nation forever. In the great tradition of The Killer Angels and Jeff Shaara's bestselling Civil War trilogy, this is a novel of true heroism and glory in America's most trying hour.

About William R. Forstchen

William R. Forstchen is the author of the New York Times bestseller One Second After and We Look Like Men of War, among numerous other books in diverse subjects ranging from history to science fiction. He has co-authored several books with Newt Gingrich, including Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, Days of Infamy, To Try Men’s Souls and Valley Forge. Forstchen holds a Ph.D. in History from Purdue University, with specializations in military history and the history of technology. He is currently a Faculty Fellow and Professor of History at Montreat College, near Asheville North Carolina. He is a pilot and flies an original WWII recon "warbird." He resides near Asheville with his daughter Meghan.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Sally on 2010-03-18 04:14:46

This is the battle of Gettysburg as the Generals fought it. Gingrich gives us little of the fighting man's look at the war, with the exception of the necessary brief look at Joshua Chamberlain of Maine.As the war rolls into the last day, July 4, Gingrich suspends history as we know it, so that the final desperate charge is AGAINST Pickens,and it is the Army of the Potomac that limps home licking it's wounds.You won't learn history from this version, but you will get a good look at the was from the viewpoint of the generals on both sides, all of whom knew each other at West Point and in the Mexican War,

Goodreads review by Charles

I bought this book because William Forstchen is co-author on it and I've liked a lot of his work. I have a feeling most of the heavy lifting on the book was done by Forstchen, because it reads much like his independent fiction. I liked it a lot.......more

Not a bad read. Any one who's a military history buff has probably looked at this battle and wondered what was going on in Lee's mind. He'd shown himself to be a master tactician over and over winning battles against overwhelming odds. He'd demonstrated the folly of an infantry charge against entren......more

Goodreads review by Cole

The book was extremely detailed, and the dialogue all seemed like it could very well be what these people were actually saying during the battle. The author does well at showing a pretty decent knowledge of the layout of the battle and the region it took place in, as well as the events occurring nea......more

Goodreads review by Jim

If any of you have watched the 1990's film 'Gettysburg' you may remember the part where (on the evening of 1 July 1863) General Longstreet tries to persuade General Lee to break off the direct assault at Gettysburg and instead try to get round the Union flank. Lee of course says something to the eff......more

Goodreads review by Tony

This historical novel accents well well how the Union's victory over the Confederacy at Gettysburg was razor thin. Of all the novels and histories I have read concerning the conflict, this view takes you into the psyche of the participants; the commanders and the soldiers. This is a starkly brutal vi......more