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When I was a boy, my father had a two vol. set put out by American Heritage called "The Civil War." Its words, pictures, sidebars, and maps helped instill in me a fascination with the war and history.

Burns and Ward have done the same service for a new generation. This is a fine one volume treatment of the Civil War done in a most accessible fashion. The words provide a good overview and summary of the subject. What brings it alive are the many pictures, maps, focus subjects and commentaries in this coffee table book. The media and elements come together to fascinate and captivate the reader. This book is a companion to Burn's monumental ten part PBS television series by the same title. The book captures it's style well, and even uses some of the most memorable documents -- like the romantic and haunting Sullivan Ballou (sp?) letter written prior to the first Bull Run that foretold the passing of its author and a simpler America.

Althought the material is strictly introductory, even the serious Civil War student will find fascination at haveing a story they know so well, so well illustrated and illuminated.

Introduce your children to this book and watch them become interested in our country's greatest story.

This book is a wonderful 1-volume history of the Civil War. It succeeds in many ways, it gives a strong historical base and perspective regarding the reasons for the war. It follows the war's strategies with great skill, and it looks at the aftermath as well.

The book is a visual delight, with pictures and maps everywhere. As someone who has complained vigorously of the lack of maps in other war books (see my complaints about Keegan's World War I history), I was quite happy with the care shown in this area. There is great first-hand information on the life of the grunt. You really get a feel for what the war felt like, from a wide variety of perspectives.

I also appreciated how the political/military relationship in the Union is covered. Lincoln did many things militarily due to political reasons. Those reasons are explained wonderfully.

Two major flaws in the book. The Shelby Foote interview is a waste of paper, he comes across sounding like a senile old man in a wheelchair, rambling on and on. The other issue I have is the way Gettysburg is covered. In the book, Gettysburg comes from nowhere. Why did both the Union and the Rebels see this as a big battle BEFORE it was fought. What did each side hope to gain from the battle outside killing the other army? There had to be some overall strategy, but the book gives none.

Overall, a great 1-volume starting point to learn about this time in American History.

The Civil War, written by Ken Burns, Ric Burns and historian Geoffrey C. Ward, is the companion volume to the outstanding 1990 documentary series from the Public Broadcasting System. Lavishly illustrated with paintings, photographs and maps, this book tells the dramatic and tragic story of America's bloodiest conflict.

Like the television series from which this project was derived, its narrative is both informative and awe-inspiring. Its prose is lovingly crafted, and one can almost hear the voice of historian-writer David McCullough, who narrated the TV episodes, when reading from any of its five chapters.

"By the summer of 1861, Wilmer McLean had had enough," write the authors in the introduction, The Crossroads of Our Being. "Two great armies were converging on his farm, and what would be the first major battle of the Civil War -- Bull Run, or Manassas as the Confederates called it -- would soon rage across the aging Virginian's farm, a Union shell going so far as to tear through his summer kitchen. Now McLean moved his family away from Manassas, far south and west of Richmond -- out of harm's way, he prayed -- to a dusty crossroads town called Appomatox Court House. And it was there in his living room three and a half years later that Lee surrendered to Grant, and Wilmer McLean could rightfully say, 'The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.' "

Although the hardcover edition is a coffee table sized volume, it is not a terribly long or exhaustive work. There are only five chapters, each one dedicated to a year of the war and followed by an essay by an eminent historian. My personal favorite is the essay "Men at War" by Shelby Foote, whose award winning three volume history of the Civil War is considered by many to be among the best on the subject. More interview than essay, "Men at War" attempts to explain why Civil War battles were so bloody; "It was brutal stuff," Foote explains, "and the reason for the high casualties is really quite simple: the weapons were way ahead of the tactics." Foote also discusses the primitive medical techniques of the time, and has this to say about Lee at Gettysburg: "Gettysburg was the price the South paid for having Lee." On the issue of who won the war, Foote says, "I can tell you who lost it -- the South lost the war. But I'm not sure anybody won that war. It's a tragedy."

Other essay writers include Barbara J. Fields, James M. McPherson, Don E. Fehrenbacher and C. Vann Woodward.

The Civil War follows the structure of Ken Burns' documentary, and most of the individuals portrayed in the PBS series (ranging from Presidents Lincoln and Davis to Union soldier Elisha Hunt Rhodes -- who rose from private to colonel during the war -- and Confederate soldier-turned-author Sam Watkins) are wonderfully described in the text.

While definitely not a substitute for the film on which it's based, The Civil War is a fine book and a good one-volume introduction to the worst internal crisis the American people ever faced.