Book Review of
Stars in Their Courses
Shelby Foote’s monumental three-part chronicle, The Civil War: A Narrative, was hailed by Walker Percy as “an unparalleled achievement, an American Iliad, a unique work uniting the scholarship of the historian and the high readability of the first-class novelist.”
Here is the central chapter of the central volume, and therefore the capstone of the arch, in a single volume. Complete with detailed maps, Stars in Their Courses brilliantly recreates the three-day conflict: It is a masterly treatment of a key great battle and the events that preceded it—not as legend has it but as it really was, before it became distorted by controversy and overblown by remembered glory.
Grace's Review
I read Stars in Their Course as a friend gave it too me, and I was about to visit Gettysburg. It really gives a great overview of the battle. I would say there are way more in depth books, but this book gives a short but pretty thorough overview of the battle so that you know what was happening and who was involved and why things happened. So if you just want to get a glimpse into Gettysburg this is a great place to start.