Landscape Turned Red

Crafted like a well-told story, Sears’ now classic volume was my first foray into the Battle of Antietam lo these many years ago. It offers readers an engaging, generally accurate overview of the background, events, and results of America’s costliest day, September 17, 1862. Although its three-phase, framing approach to the battle has been surpassed by new interpretations, it remains a useful starting point for those wishing to learn the basics and if readers seek only one work to read on Antietam, this is the book to choose. Every student of the battle—casual, serious, or scholarly--will want to have read… show more.

The American Civil War was a war and war means fighting and fighting means battles so it is no wonder that the vast bulk of Civil War histories are battle studies. The best ones fold in events and personalities beyond the reach of individual battlefields to provide a gestalt view of the era as a whole and Sears’ book is, indeed, one of the best. Much depended on Antietam—from the ongoing character of the conflict to Lincoln being emboldened enough to issue the mighty Emancipation Proclamation—and Sears deftly guides his narrative through the astonishing turns of fate and chance that… show more.

This definitive non-fiction work on the Battle of Antietam, written by one of the Civil War’s most distinguished authors, is my favorite book on the epic Battle of Antietam. Renowned historian Stephen W. Sears displays his considerable talents in describing what became the single bloodiest day in American history on September 17, 1862. Over 23,000 casualties were claimed in a battle that essentially ended in a stalemate with both sides badly diminished and thoroughly exhausted. Sears draws upon letters, diaries, and dispatches to paint a picture of a day of shocking, murderous carnage for the officers and men who fought… show more.