The Maps of the Wilderness
An Atlas of the Wilderness Campaign, Including all Cavalry Operations, May 2-6, 1864
by
Bradley M. Gottfried
We have all read about how Napoleon and Marshal Berthier would crawl over maps during their campaigns. I think possibly that image in my mind started a lifelong love of maps. I love to look at all maps but especially campaign and battle maps. I believe it gives me, and others, a much-needed visual representation of the histories we are reading.
These books by Bradley M. Gottfried completely switches the program from what we military history readers are used to. Instead of the prose being the main part of the book, in this case the maps are the real headliner. The descriptions are not inferior; in fact, far from it. It is just we are finally given exact and easy to read and follow maps of a campaign or battle. This is in comparison to many very well written military histories that have two or three maps that look like they were drawn by a second grader. This is actually the fifth in this series of books by the author. I can easily recommend all of them to the reader. They are:
The Maps of Gettysburg
The Maps of First Bull Run
The Maps of Antietam
The Maps of Bristoe Station and Mine Run Campaigns
This book easily measures up to its elder brothers. The confusing and claustrophobic fighting of the Battle of the Wilderness is finally brought into the light of day. The books written about the battle are sometimes hard to follow because of the complete confusion on the part of the actual participants. They sometimes had no idea of where they were, let alone where the units on either side of them were at any given time. The painstakingly drawn maps clears up all of that confusion.
In conclusion, if you have any interest in the Battle of the Wilderness, or the American Civil War in general, this book is a must have for your library. While you are ordering it at Savas Beatie please take a look at the rest of the series.
Robert
Book: The Maps of the Wilderness
Author: Bradley M. Gottfried
Publisher: Savas Beatie
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