Summer's Bloodiest Days combines gripping eyewitness accounts, archival photographs, and dramatic artwork with the latest scholarly research to tell the story of the Battle of Gettysburg from all sides - Yankee and Rebel officers and soldiers, townspeople, outside observers, and more. Through their eyes readers will get a real sense of how a chance meeting on a dusty road exploded into three days of intense combat. More than 50,000 people were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner and this marked the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Maps specially created by National Geographic cartographers help readers follow all the action of this complex battle. Names such as Little Round Top, the Peach Orchard, and Pickett's Charge take on new meaning as readers learn about the incredible sacrifices made - often by people still in their teens.
Jennifer Weber is a native of California who worked for several years in her home state as a journalist and political aide. Her principal interest is the Civil War, especially the seams where political, social, and military history come together. Her book Copperheads, about antiwar Democrats in the Civil War North, was published in 2006. Dr. Weber is co-director of the Hall Center's seminar on Peace, War, and Global Change. In addition to her work at the University of Kansas, she serves on the advisory panel for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Summer's Bloodiest Days is her first book for National Geographic