I am a frequent visitor to Gettysburg, and an amateur student of the battle. The maps are so complete that they almost provide a stop-action pictorial account of the battle.I must compliment Mr.Gottfried on the immense task he has undertaken. I can't fault his work, though I did note differences from other accounts. However, the battle itself must be faulted. The accounts of the soldiers and the official reports of the battle do not confirm each other in many cases, and historians of those days failed to reconcile the reports of those days and could never compile authoritative and complete maps of the troop movements. Mr. Gottfried has chosen paths through these thickets, but of necessity they must be arbitrary in many instances. His written summaries that accompany the maps are excellent, but they too must be arbitrary to a degree, and a single page may not suffice to fully explain the actions pictured on the related map. Still, his book provides a superb account of the troop movements and will accompany me on many future vists to the battlefield

Gettysburg as seen through maps
Much has been written on the 3 days at Gettysburg, and excellent maps have been produced, but Bradley Gottfried concentrates on the battle through examining the various troop movement through detailed maps. He breaks down the entire 3 day battle into major combat segments giving concise accounts while showing the actual troops engaged and how they moved and fought the battle. By following Mr. Gottfried's precise maps one gets a better flavor of the ebb and flow of the battle. I liked how he had the entire map on the right side page, with NO crease breaks, and an explanation of the map on the facing page. That way you could read the battle description and follow along by glancing at the facing map: Excellent. I do have 2 relatively minor improvements for future editions. 1. Include more general overview maps of the general battle area under discussions. You can get a little lost around the Herbst Woods/Railroad Cut/ Oak Hill-Oak Ridge areas. I feel a general overview map of each day and general area would be nice. 2. A general time stamp on each map. That would better put the individual areas in a more understandable overview. These are minor and really do not detract that much from Mr. Gottfried's wonderful book.
This is a must have for any Civil War buff's library. I have already used it in conjunction with several other CW biographies I am currently reading. I hope this kind of cartographic examination will be done on other major CW battles.
All in all an outstanding addition to better understanding the complexities of Gettysburg. Well done Mr. Gottfried.

I can't begin to tell you how many descriptions of Civil War troop movements I've been frustrated by: this brigade moved here or that regiment moved there. I am a visual person, I learn best when I can visualize things... therefore I, by my nature, am a map person. Most books on Civil War battles contain only enough maps to cover the most basic aspects of troop movements in a particular battle. There are never enough maps for me.

Bradley Gottfried understands me and others like me and has authored nothing less than an atlas of the Gettysburg campaign. Like an oasis in the middle of the desert, The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas Of The Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 - July 13, 1863, has quenched my thirst for maps.

Mr. Gottfried's book contains 29 maps map sets, each containing between 2 & 21 maps, covering the advance to Gettysburg, the battle and the Confederate retreat. In all the 136 maps give nearly an hour by hour account of the three day battle that changed the course of American History. At last I am able to see and understand the fighting back and forth across the unfinished railroad cut on July 1st, the bloody, awful fighting in the Wheatfield and Peach Orchard on the 2nd and the breathtaking and awe inspiring lines of the Picket-Pettigrew-Trimble charge as they moved across the Emmitsburg Road on July 3rd.

Each map is accompanied on its left facing page by a descriptive text detailing the specificities of troop movements at the corps, division, brigade, regimental and some times even down to the company level.

My one and only criticism of Mr. Gottfried's book is there is almost no reference to time. A date/time stamp on each map would have been helpful, when moving from one map set to another in identifying events that were taking place on different areas the battlefield at approximately the same time. That is but a small flaw in an otherwise nearly perfect book.

The Maps of Gettysburg is without a doubt, an indispensable work on the Gettysburg Campaign. No library, Civil War historian or student of the war should be without a copy.

Althouth I loved the blow-by-blow, minute by minute (well, at least hour by hour) focus of the maps (the reason why I bought the book), I thought the maps could have been more interesting & appealing if they were in color (I would have paid the extra cost for the book!) and if they included the date & time range in the title or legend (without them you had to constantly refer to the text - maps should stand on their own). Also thought that there was very little devoted to the Union's retreat (re-deployment) through the town of Gettysburg, but I'll leave that to the experts on the battle.

Would have been better if the maps were in color and each map indicated the day & time of the battle action shown on the map.

If you have ever read a book detailing a battle such as Gettysburg, you may have found yourself wanting more maps than such books typically provide. This book is a great compliment to works like Pfanz's books on the first and second day. The major phases of the battle, to include the approach of the armies, and the retreat of the CS forces, are depicted. The battle segments show the postions and movements of the forces down to the regimental level, with accompanying text on the left, and the maps on the right. There are as many maps for each part of the battle as it takes to depict them.

There are a few typos in the text (a formation is said to have faced in one direction when the accompanying map shows them facing in another), and the symbols depicting the different types of fencing are shown in different scales on the symbol key vs. the map itself. Reading the symbol key requires a magnifying glass. Something to correct in the next edition.

These small things aside, this is a very handy work to have. If you ever visit the battlefield, I would take this along.

Let's face it, grognards can never get enough maps. Even small engagements need lots of maps to understand, alongside the text. This book is incredible: the maps are clear and well marked, the text is quite good and is well written. If you had this book alone you would have a better grasp on the battle than the small minority of people. I wish it had times on it, that's my only gripe, and of course that it was bigger and had more maps. We always need more maps.

The Maps of Gettysburg is a superby concise and detailed book that offers keen insight into this history-turning battle. This book should be of greatest interest and "a must have" for the advanced student of the Gettysburg battle.

This book follows the Battle of Gettysburg in short increments of time and provides a map for each of these short increments. This format makes the complicated flow of action very easy to follow. I highly recommend this book.

Excellent position by position by time record; more details than the average Gettysburg enthusiast probably needs, but essential for the serious student of the battle. An excellent reference book.

This book is certainly a mixed bag. There are some very good maps (thank you!) there are some with notable errors (ouch!!!) and most all accompanied by some really dry text (zzzz). My guess on why some of the notable map errors are missed by some is that the level of expertise on this battle varies greatly. But overall, I am currently of the opinion that it is a worthwhile title.

This book is certainly a mixed bag. There are some very good maps (thank you!) there are some with notable errors (ouch!!!) and most all accompanied by some really dry text (zzzz). My guess on why some of the notable map errors are missed by some is that the level of expertise on this battle varies greatly. But overall, I am currently of the opinion that it is a worthwhile title.

The only popularly priced book that offers detailed maps of all major engagements in the three day battle at gettysburg. Aside from micro-histories that focus on little round top, the wheatfield or Culp's Hill this book has the most comprehensive map studies of these key actions. It is without question the most complete and most detailed map study of the battle at Gettysburg currently available. I recommend it highly for any student of the Vivil War or anyone planning a trip to Gettysburg

Bought this for a friend who is an re-enactor and has already visited Gettysburg several times. He said it was the best book on Gettysburg that he has ever seen. He said the maps were wonderfully drawn and the details were correct.

There are some significant errors in this book. Enough of them that the publisher now provides a download from his website to try and make amends. The author and publisher could have spent the time to do it right.

If a second edition comes out, then look at it carefully.

Gettysburg Pa. is one of my favorite places to visit. Over the years my wife and I have walked the battlefield many times. We always try to locate the flank markers for the units that took part in the battle. The book is full of maps that help us in this project. The book is well organized and is a perfect companian for a battlefield tour. If you wish to stand in the footsteps of the brave men that fought the battle, this is the book to bring along.

I've been going to Gettysburg and reading about Gettysburg since the 1960s. I'm constantly learning new things. This book is without a doubt one of the better sources to learn and understand troop movements not just during the actual three day battle but actions over the entire Gettysburg campaign which started a month before and took up most of the month of July. Thank you Mr.Gottfried.

I have studied the battle of Gettysburg for years and have read most of the recommended autors such as Coddington, Phanz, Foote, Catton etc and I still had areas of the battle that were hard to comprehend the movements such as in the Wheatfield. When I bought and opened the Maps of Gettysburg I knew that this was the book that would clarify many murky areas. I have been to Gettysburg three times and plan to go again this Oct. 2007 and will have the book alongside of me in the car.
John M. Ryan

I really looked forward to this Atlas & read the reviews here on Amazon.com before buying it. I was disappointed when I got my hands on the book.

In his introduction Professor Gottfried admits he was the creator of the maps found in the book. They were done using a computer draw program. He also tells us he fired two professional cartographers over "creative differences" before deciding to do the job himself. Did he do better than the professionals could have done?

It is a comprehensive atlas of the Gettysburg battle done in larger scale. There are a lot of close up shots but no zoom button on the camera. There are also some maps of other battles & events of Lee's Pennsylvania campaign thrown in but these do not amount to a comprehensive treatment of the rest of the campaign by any stretch of the imagination. The maps are done all in black & white.

The maps could be appreciated by a flatlander looking through a soda straw. By this I mean the large, zoomed-in scale maps, while offering snapshots of important phases of the battle, are not given any context by the inclusion of maps of a smaller, zoomed-out scale telling the uninformed just exactly where they are at the moment the snapshot was taken on the huge theater that was the Gettysburg battlefield.

By this I also mean the maps offer little in the way of contour information. I realise too much contour information presented to readers not used to military maps giving such detailed information may confuse & obscure more than help but more contour information should have been included as part of an essential cartography.

Also the maps give me as much information about how the farmers of the area planted their crops as they tell me about the tactical situation they depict.

I found the notes accompanying the maps on the opposite pages to be dull & dry. They are pedantic & uninspiring. I would have liked something more pithy. I don't want to wade through a bog of words when trying to find out at a glance just what the picture is trying to show me. The notes are a distraction. If I want a description of the nitty-gritty details of the battle I have a number of well-written histories (oops, historiographies) close at hand that have done a much better job telling me what I want to know about the battle.

I guess this one went over my head like a minie ball from one of Schimmelfennig's Dutchmen. "Aim low, boys." I would suggest this kind of work is too important to be left to the amateurs.

Oh, by the way, I haven't been to Gettysburg yet (I'm just a hick from west of the Mississippi) but I am curious what a "worm" is.

I really looked forward to this Atlas & read the reviews here on Amazon.com before buying it. I was disappointed when I got my hands on the book.

In his introduction Professor Gottfried admits he was the creator of the maps found in the book. They were done using a computer draw program. He also tells us he fired two professional cartographers over "creative differences" before deciding to do the job himself. Did he do better than the professionals could have done?

It is a comprehensive atlas of the Gettysburg battle done in larger scale. There are a lot of close up shots but no zoom button on the camera. There are also some maps of other battles & events of Lee's Pennsylvania campaign thrown in but these do not amount to a comprehensive treatment of the rest of the campaign by any stretch of the imagination. The maps are done all in black & white.

The maps could be appreciated by a flatlander looking through a soda straw. By this I mean the large, zoomed-in scale maps, while offering snapshots of important phases of the battle, are not given any context by the inclusion of maps of a smaller, zoomed-out scale telling the uninformed just exactly where they are at the moment the snapshot was taken on the huge theater that was the Gettysburg battlefield.

By this I also mean the maps offer little in the way of contour information. I realise too much contour information presented to readers not used to military maps giving such detailed information may confuse & obscure more than help but more contour information should have been included as part of an essential cartography.

Also the maps give me as much information about how the farmers of the area planted their crops as they tell me about the tactical situation they depict.

I found the notes accompanying the maps on the opposite pages to be dull & dry. They are pedantic & uninspiring. I would have liked something more pithy. I don't want to wade through a bog of words when trying to find out at a glance just what the picture is trying to show me. The notes are a distraction. If I want a description of the nitty-gritty details of the battle I have a number of well-written histories (oops, historiographies) close at hand that have done a much better job telling me what I want to know about the battle.

I guess this one went over my head like a minie ball from one of Schimmelfennig's Dutchmen. "Aim low, boys." I would suggest this kind of work is too important to be left to the amateurs.

Oh, by the way, I haven't been to Gettysburg yet (I'm just a hick from west of the Mississippi) but I am curious what a "worm" is.

"The Maps Of Gettysburg: The Gettysburg Campaign, June 3-July 13, 1863" by academician and civil war historian Bradley M. Gottfried is a unique approach to understanding what is perhaps the single most studied battle of the American Civil War. The intense series of lethal combats comprising the Gettysburg conflict that took place around the town of Gettysburg ranged from corps-sized actions to small-unit engagements began on June 3rd and included cavalry battles, cannonades, foot regiments, and was to prove the turning point of the war which beforehand had favored the Confederates under the leadership of General Robert E. Lee, but afterwards was to have General Lee on the defensive, finally culminating in his surrender at Appomattox. "The Maps Of Gettysburg" includes thirty map sets or 'action-sections' featuring 144 detailed full-page maps that together comprise the entire campaign from beginning to end. These are reproductions of cartographic originals down to the regimental and battery level. Of special note is the accompaniment of the maps are detailed descriptions of the units, personalities, movements, and combat associated with them. The narrative and deftly written text also includes eyewitnesses quotes. "The Maps Of Gettysburg" is a seminal contribution to the growing body of Civil War literature and highly recommended reading for civil war buffs. No academic library can afford not to include "The Maps Of Gettysburg" as part of their American Civil War Studies reference collections.

I have been to Gettysburg many times and I wish that I would have had this book back then. There has been several books with good maps in the past but this book is incredible. The detail of the maps down to the regimental level will not leave any doubt as to where everyone was. Thanks for a great book.

Bradley Gottfried's "The Maps of Gettysburg" is an unmatched resource for studying the Battle of Gettysburg and the campaign surrounding the battle. The maps are superb: easy to understand and comprehensive. A veritable mountain of books about Gettysburg have been published over the years, both general histories (such as those by Coddington and Sears) and specialist studies that focus in upon narrower aspects (like the books of Harry Pfanz). Gottfried's work will serve well as a supplement to those older books, clarifying their works with detailed, clear maps to show the action in progress. And it will serve well as a battlefield guidebook; I look forward to my next trip to Gettysburg when Gottfried's maps will enhance my understanding on the ground of just who was where. And for those less familiar with the battle, "The Maps of Gettysburg" provides a solid narrative history of events to accompany the maps. All in all, "The Maps of Gettysburg" easily climbs to the top of that mountain of Gettysburg books, and it can lay claim to a spot on the bookshelves of almost any Civil War enthusiast.

I did editorial work on this book, so take what I say with however many grains of salt that is worth. By the same token, I realized very early what a treat I was onto. I had a chance to spend a lot of time with it, weeks and weeks, in fact, which most reviewers are not afforded. I could appreciate the level of research and the care involved in the mapping and in the narrative text.

This is a special book, one I pull out and look at often. It's a book I use when I'm reading other books.

The maps are really good, the text is clear, readable, and well written. The presentation is well thought out and logical. It's easy to find what you're looking for. It is well documented. The scholarship is sound.

What is there not to like?

This is one of the best Gettysburg books to be published in the last 10 years. It is easy to use and laid out by sections, so you can look up specific interests. It can be used by the novice or students of the battle. Mr. Gottfried - many thanks. Read the other reviews also. Will anyone do the same for the battle of Antietam?

By way of disclosure, I will first state that I was one of the editors for this book.

Having said that, I was extremely impressed with this work in progress before ever signing on to help edit the manuscript and maps. The book is wonderfully set up so that the reader can take it right out onto the field - on each left side page, there is detailed explanatory text for each action, with the corresponding map on the right side page. No flipping around to find maps. Never before has there been one, concise book that contains maps of the entire Gettysburg Campaign from beginning to end - so if you ever plan to visit the field, you need this book and will enjoy it over and over. And anyone interested in the battle and campaign must have this book. It is, in effect, the NEW field guide for the battle and campaign, one not likely to be surpassed in our lifetimes.

As a long-time student of the campaign, I can attest to the accuracy of both maps and text. I especially spent a lot of time with both Brad and the publisher making sure that the portions dealing with the cavalry were accurate (I have one book and many articles published on Gettysburg/Civil War cavalry operations). Everyone involved with this book went the extra mile to make sure that no errors crept in that we couldn't catch.

And as for the maps - I'm astonished at the amount of time and effort Brad put into them. As a novice cartographer, he did an admirable job. The level of detail is commendable, and the battlefield walker will easily understand them. On the field, instead of lugging dozens of books and map sets around with you, all you'll need is this book. Then, if you have a particular detailed interest in one part of the field, you can go to works and maps that have finer detail. The maps in this book will get you easily oriented, all the while explaining the actions. Divided chronologically by each section of the field, the reader/walker will easily follow each hour's events without having to flip back and forth - it's all right in front of you.

With all the books coming out on Gettysburg and that continue to appear, I've never been as excited to see one in print as this one (except for my own!) and I know it belongs on the shelf of every battle/campaign student and in the hands of every battlfield stomper. When you own this book, you'll have the Number One tool you need to explore the Hallowed Ground of Gettysburg.

Buy this book - yesterday!!

This book works on several levels; first as an atlas of the Gettysburg campaign, second as a history of the campaign and last as a reference work. That it excels at each level is a testament to the author's knowledge and skill. Any book on Gettysburg by Bradley Gottfried is subject to high expectations. His "Roads to Gettysburg" and "Brigades of Gettysburg" are essential works on the campaign and battle. This book exceeds our expectations and raises the bar for his next work. The author's style of writing requires a minimal number of words to quickly convey essential information, making for a very informative narration that does not require pages of text. This produces an informative but easy to read text of the essential action for each map just as it did for each brigade in his last book.

This is a book of maps, over 140 of them; covering the advance, battle and retreat. Facing pages have a map on the right page and text on the left one. This simple idea puts everything together, ending flipping pages trying to understand the action. The second requirement is short time intervals and detailed maps. Again, the author manages this difficult idea. The maps are divided into 28 sets presented in chronological order taking us from Virginia to Gettysburg and back to Virginia. Each map set presents a specific action and contains from three to 21 maps and text covering this phase of the event. The scale is from 12 miles for campaign maps to 220 yards to the inch for the detailed regimental maps. The lower scale maps have contour lines indicate woods, cornfields, orchards and grain fields with worm, post & rail or stone fences. Roads, railroads and buildings are included. This makes for a busy map and takes some study before easily reading the tactical maps. Since this is Gettysburg, most readers know where these items are located and can find the symbols on one of the maps. Stone fences gave me the most problems but checking the map set for Pickett's Charge solved the problem.

The largest map set is the advance of the armies to Gettysburg starting on June 3rd and ending on July 2nd. The maps for the first six days of the campaign are in two-day increments. From June 12th to July 2nd, the maps are daily. Included as part of the approach are map sets for the battle of Second Winchester and Stephenson's Depot. Eleven map sets and one evening July 1- 2 map, cover the fighting on July First. July Second is covered by ten map sets and one evening July 2 - 3 map. July Third has four map sets. The detail is impressive, using July Third for an example the map sets: are Culp's Hill remains in Union Hands, five maps, The Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge, seven maps, The East Cavalry Field, four maps and The South Cavalry Field 3 maps.

While the Battle for the Bliss Farm, a personal favorite, is not included as a map set, the July Third maps of the Pickett's Charge show the area at a scale of 400 yards to the inch. The other omission is a map set for Stuart's battles, which I feel should be included in the book. Neither of these "omissions" are critical and a good case can be made they are unnecessary.

Reading the text and viewing the maps can be a sequential process giving the reader a detailed account of the campaign and the battle. A second approach is using the book as a reference for a specific action. The text and maps provide a good detailed study that allows the reader to follow the action on the map. Lastly, this atlas can be used with any Gettysburg book and to answer specific questions about the battle.

Gettysburg is like someone we went to grade school with and have known all our lives. We fit comfortably and enjoy a companionship of shared experiences and memories. We can always find out more about our friend and always enjoy hearing from them. This book is a wonderful visit with our old friend.