by Jennifer ArmstrongBookList : From BookList, March 15, 2005, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.: Terms of Use: Gr. 6-9. Readers may need some background to fully appreciate this, but Armstrong doesn't disappoint in a slice of Civil War history that uses photographer Matthew Brady as its touchstone. As the book opens, Brady mortgages his thriving business to fund, train, and equip a stable of photographers to document Union troops in Virginia and the East. The text smoothly juxtaposes the complex decisions Lincoln faced as commander in chief and the devastation at places such as Fredericksburg and Gettysburg against the task of taking photographs in the field. The bloody charges and the daily grind are vividly evoked in both words and carefully selected and labeled photos--some familiar, many unsettling. Intriguing, if unnecessary, text insets (“Photos Not Taken”) challenge readers to imagine pictures they might have taken had they been part of the history. Packed with well-documented quotes, this truly absorbing account, written with both honesty and surprising grace, will sear the conflict in memory in the same way the photos did--and still do. StephanieZvirin.: distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.:
From BookList, March 15, 2005, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Gr. 6-9. Readers may need some background to fully appreciate this, but Armstrong doesn't disappoint in a slice of Civil War history that uses photographer Matthew Brady as its touchstone. As the book opens, Brady mortgages his thriving business to fund, train, and equip a stable of photographers to document Union troops in Virginia and the East. The text smoothly juxtaposes the complex decisions Lincoln faced as commander in chief and the devastation at places such as Fredericksburg and Gettysburg against the task of taking photographs in the field. The bloody charges and the daily grind are vividly evoked in both words and carefully selected and labeled photos--some familiar, many unsettling. Intriguing, if unnecessary, text insets (“Photos Not Taken”) challenge readers to imagine pictures they might have taken had they been part of the history. Packed with well-documented quotes, this truly absorbing account, written with both honesty and surprising grace, will sear the conflict in memory in the same way the photos did--and still do. StephanieZvirin.
