Together with Steven E. Woodworth's Chickamauga, Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide is the inaugural volume in a new series from University of Nebraska Press called This Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil War Battlefields.

We created the series to fill the yawning gap between the National Park Service battlefield brochures (and, in a few cases, fairly simplistic tour guides published by private individuals) and the excellent but complex U.S. Army War College battlefield guides now available from University Press of Kansas. The problem with the latter is that essentially they republish excerpts from official battle reports, direct the user to a particular point on the battlefield, and ask the reader to tease out the significance of the action by analyzing the battle report excerpts. This technique originated as part of the staff ride concept revitalized by Prof. Jay Luvaas and Col. Harold W. Nelson, among others. It is intentionally designed to require a lot of self-study, it is time intensive (for example, you cannot possibly do justice to the USAWC Gettysburg guide in less than two full days), and the early guides in the series lack sufficient maps.

Our guides, by contrast, provide the reader not only with concise narratives of what happened, they also analyze why it happened, and incorporate numerous vignettes to bring the action to life. They are designed to require no more than eight hours to complete and, perhaps most importantly, each stop is accompanied by at least one and usually two or three maps that systematically convey the development of the action. (The Gettysburg guide alone contains a total of 58 maps.)

The Columbus Dispatch profiled the guide in November 1999. Click here for the story.

From the back cover:

Little Round Top, the Railroad Cut, Pickett's Charge--these are the turning points within the most important battle of the Civil War. Even careful students of Gettysburg, however, can find themselves disoriented when visiting the site itself. Here, finally, is a convenient guide for serious student and casual visitor alike that makes plain the sweep of events and the geography of the battlefield.

This invaluable guidebook was created by scholars who have walked the battlegrounds, consulted with local experts and park guides, and studied the testimony left behind by the participants. Gettysburg will help you find all the important locales and understand what the participants saw in 1863, even if you have no prior knowledge of the battle. Designed to enhance the experience of both first-time and returning visitors, this guide can be used alone [i.e., at home in one's armchair] or as a supplement to a tour. Clearly written and illustrated with maps and photographs, this is the book to have when you explore Gettysburg.

Mark Grimsley is an associate professor of history at Ohio State University (ya da ya da ya da)

Brooks D. Simpson is a professor of history at Arizona State University. He is the author of several books, including The Reconstruction Presidents [and, more recently Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865].

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