[ebooks] Virginia in the Civil War (Images of America) by Joseph D'Arezzo at Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Wonderful traveling companion.By CiceroFascinating pictures and very informative historical information. A must-have for any Civil War history buff. I have purchased many of these books of new places I have traveled through the years. Thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. highly recommend. Will truly enhance and educate any traveler.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy MarthaInteresting0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Good photos. mediocre text. focusing primarily on northern Virgina.By lyndonbrechtThis is a typical book from this publisher. good to excellent photos and so-so text. Id rate it a 5 for the photos and 3 for the writing. so 4 overall. The books biggest weakness is that it focuses mostly on the area between Richmond and the Potomac. with little from western or southwestern Virginia. although the volume on West Virginia in the war may have something (Virginia included all of what is now West Virginia until 1863). There is a bit about the Shenandoah campaigns.Some of the images are double. from old stereopticon photos (the two would merge to form one image giving a real 3-D effect). Cameras of the day were not capable of capturing movement. so the photos tend to be of static elements. such as battlefields (in the sense of "field"). woods. wagon parks. men in line. battle dead. damaged homes and damaged Richmond. Some of them are almost generic about the horrors of war--decaying unburied battle dead. graves. woodland areas shot to splinters.The book perhaps unavoidably weak in some of the negative aspects of the war. such as guerillas hanged (it does mention Mosby. a famed sort of guerilla leader). and most particularly mentions little about slavery. Black slaves were a quite sizable portion of Virginias population. but this book is not aimed at black folks interested in Virginias war. The text also skirts the issue of slavery as a cause of the Civil War. instead noting multiple causes. as if an economic and social system based on slavery could have existed much longer in a democracy (obviously I think the war was primarily over this).I had hoped for more from this book. having ancestors in Confederate units from Virginia. and having family in western Virginia since the 1780s.