Historically accurate accounts.. each chapter contains vast amount ...
343398
Historically accurate accounts.. each chapter contains vast amount of stories and trivia about the journey of Mao and the rest of the Chinese Communist party towards a new society!
3992173
The six chapters are each a delightful blend of event summary, historical background, observations from a personal tour of the site, and quotes from museum guides. At an estimated 91 pages, each section is a quick read.

Here are two of many examples that expanded my understanding:

After recently watching the movie "Lincoln" I was quite curious to read about Thaddeus Stevens. Quite an amazing and admirable man - at least a hundred years ahead of his time. I now want to learn more of him.

Delightful information pops up everywhere. Take the 54th Massachusetts participation in the attack on Fort Wagner. Not only did the brave performances of the black soldiers achieve much merely by fighting.  In addition, those who were captured achieved a great moral victory while captive. The penalty for insurrection, which is what those men had done from the Confederate's perspective, was death. President Lincoln promised to execute one southern POW for every one of the 54th that was executed. Fear he would carry out his threat pushed the Confederate authorities into the awkward position of acknowledging that free blacks were actually soldiers engaged in combat.
671696
This is an exellent publication, The author has invested considerable time into the historical accurateness of this book, even though it is considered fiction.
4244412
I was fascinated by this book from the moment I started reading it. This book holds the reader's attention through first hand accounts by the participants and in depth analysis by the authors.  Accounts range from the lowest seaman in the bowels of ships and gun turrets to the admirals and captains making the decisions during the battle.  The authors have thoroughly done their homework.

Jutland has been a battle analyzed inside and out by historians and reporters from the time the battle ended until now. The battle is generaly more noted for the mistakes, errors in judgement by leaders, and the overiding decisions by both sides to not take anymore risks than were absolutely necessary.

Misters Steel and Hart bring these points to the forefront with superb detail, fast-paced action narratives, and personal eyewitness accounts of participants. The book is well interspersed with diagrams of the naval movements during key phases of the battle and excellent quality photographs of the men, ships, and action in the North Sea.  Appendices of both sides major combatants with results and casualties are also well done.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in great naval battles from any age.
2483604
A lot of historical details. Britton's memory and her kept notes provide an extremely detailed account of the history between her and President Harding. The writing gives an accurate picture of how family and friends could or would not accept the premise which Ms Britton described to them. We now know of course that of what she wrote is fact.
1732687
It is difficult to better the comments in the other five-star reviews of this book, but I'll try: This is how historical accounts should be written: with care, attention to detail, faithfulness to sources, originality of ideas and an exciting writing style. I've read quite a lot about this period and these events but I was delighted by the many new things I learned. All theses are balanced and fair, and the author has a non-intrusive way of dealing with large moral issues.
3655458
Exceptionally well compiled collection of insights. A book that to be read countless times, with a different conclusion reached each time.
1116481
I'm not sure how accurate this book is, but it is explosive in content and thoroughly researched and extensively footnoted.

I highly recommend this short historical account because there is much here that you will not read elsewhere.
2878197
I read this book for school, and want to read it again and again for pleasure. The authors paint a wonderful portrait of life among the merchant elite, rich with historically accurate detail. The book almost reads more like a novel, but this does not take away from it's accuracy. If you are interested in colonial america or merchants, this is the book for you. Truly a great read.
2975952
An accurate accounting of the number of combat effective s in every major battle fought under the Command of General Robert E. Lee . Using the official documents written at the time the action was fought Taylor ( not the after glow reports that are sometimes written years later by men defending their own reputation ) sets the record straight on the size Corps , Division and Brigades made up the combat strength on the  Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at the time of the said battle that was fought . He goes so far as to state at what time units arrived on the field and when they engaged in combat giving a much clearer picture on the often desperate straits the Southern forces faced .  This book clearly shows the uneven odds on the battlefield that the Army of Northern Virginia faced ( Taylor uses official Union records for the number of Northern troops involved ) and how much they did with so little . This small book is a valuable resource for any student of the failed War for Southern Independence .
1849697
Vance Ferrell's research is extremely extensive and authentic.  I appreciate his detailed documentation..  Unbelievable amount of research and information.  Content will challenge every thinking reader
4830142
Excellent work, Lots of research and effort went into the writing of this book. Judging from other reading I have done, this is very accurate and factual. Very glad to see historical accuracy still exists. Highly recommend this book.
2618624
This account of history is accurate and insightful.  It is a great read that you do not want to put down.
4283956
Great historical work. Chock full of differing accounts of incidents from the regular foot soldier to the Indians themselves. Every page lends insights to life in the late 19 century and the fate of the American Indians battle against civilization.
2111425
I don't have enough good things to say about this book. It is an enormous collection of family letters, memoirs, diaries, and firsthand accounts of the tumultuous years of 1861-1865 in the lower (northern) Shenandoah Valley. It is the story of one big Winchester family (or really rather two connected families, the Bartons and the Jones) and their experience during the Civil War.

The "author" (often more editor than author) is herself a descendant of this family, and the story of the book is quite interesting. Throughout the course of her own digging into her familys history, she found many modern-day descendants with old stacks of letters, old diaries, and the like. Eventually her accumulation of materials pertaining to the family was enough that a very real and personal portrayal of the familys experience of the war came into focus, and the binding of all these materials into one book gives us 21st readers the unique firsthand experience of hearing the story of the first half of the 1860s told by a family who lived it.

This family sent sons, uncles, cousins, horses, and everything they could to the war, and death  through battle and disease  reached them as much as any family. The fact that they are natives of Winchester also adds another element to the story; I know of no other town in the US which consistently saw as much fighting, military occupation, death, and destruction during the Civil War as Winchester, and to live in Winchester during these times was to *live* the war as much as anywhere. This means that it was not only the men of town who experienced the brutal reality of war, but the women and children as well. The entire family was touched deeply by the war, and to hear their profoundly personal accounts (at times so personal in fact that you feel mildly guilty for reading them, e.g. when letters are marked strictly private and the like) is to in many ways relive the war.

Additionally, I found the story very intriguing due to the fact that the sons of the family fought in such varying places. One was a cadet at VMI who charged at the Battle of New Market; others were part of the Stonewall Brigade and saw everything from First Bull Run and Jacksons Valley Campaign to the indescribable horrors of the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania. There are several instances where a family member acts as a courier and exchanges words with the likes of Jackson, Ewell, and Lee himself. In fact during the description of the time when a son was to deliver a message to Lee, you in a way cannot help but feel as though *you* are delivering a message to Lee, and the knowledge that this is not fiction goes a long way in bringing the events to life.

In short, I cannot recommend this book enough. Historians and writers play an invaluable role in explaining and interpreting the war, but there is truly nothing like a vivid  and essentially complete  account of a family which passed through this terrible period of our nations history. You become entranced in their hopes, fears, love lives, domestic concerns, political concerns, etc., and the passing of their loved ones, whom you get to know rather well, hits home on a sometimes rather shocking level. To read this book is almost to sit on the lap of a grandfather Civil War veteran and have him recount to you the events of his youth, or perhaps better yet, to be in a room full of veterans and their wives and children and hear them swap stories and memories of the events of their collective youths. It is an entirely worthwhile read, and its an experience which will stick with you long after you put the book down (or so I rather safely assume  I actually just finished it!).
946810
Compendiums of primary source material are of infinite value to those who wish to seriously study any period of history.  The authors of this immense work have done us all a great service in presenting a colorful, accurate, and representative picture of the American Revolution by those who were there.  As a primary source, this book is invaluable.
It isn't a book I would pick to read for pleasure on a cold, rainy night in front of the fireplace.  In my opinion, it is more of a reference work that will give immense aid to researchers, historians, reenactors and hobbyists/enthusiasts of the period.  Conversely, this serious work is not a dull encyclopedia, but a collection of recollections from those who fought to establish the country we call the United States.  This book is both highly recommended and is a must to be on the bookshelf of any serious student of the period.
1707495
outstanding scholarly work; great historical account; I recommend it highly.