It's an appealing image. But what is it an image of?

That ultimately is the problem with this book. It is a heavily illustrated history -- almost every page contains a photograph or a contemporary drawing. The images are printed in large sizes, on good paper; it's a beautiful presentation.

But because so much of the book is devoted to photographs, there is relatively little room for text. And there is no index. There should be two. One index to the text, and another to the subject of the pictures. Want to know which page has a photo of (say) Daniel Sickles, the Union general who nearly cost the Federals the Battle of Gettysburg? Good luck. All you can do is guess that any photo of him will be in the Gettysburg chapter, go there, and start flipping pages. If you don't find it, tough.

On the whole, the text is well written, and clear as far as it goes, and the photos fit well with the text. But the book is completely useless as a reference. It's really too bad. Just a few more pages and this could have been a great book. ( )