Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Rita Lorraine Hubbard, The Original H.I.R. (Historical Investigative Reporter)

History-lovers out there take note! You'll definitely want to add this beautiful book to your collection.

The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse, by National Geographic, is a bittersweet blend of historical photographs and homesick poetry and letters from the Civil War battlefield.

The book's format sets somber, shockingly sad photographs against thick, richly golden pages to create a look of tragic authenticity. The pages include everything from details about various skirmishes to frantic letters from anxious parents, and the eventual replies written months later...long after the poor soldiers have died on the battlefield.

There is a treasury of wonderful photographs in this book, from the arrogant smiles of young rebel soldiers who dream of the glory of whipping the yanks, to a shockingly sad photograph of a boy-soldier with both arms blown off.

This may sound like a blunt and tragic war book, but it's so much more than that. It is a true testimony to the sacrifices that were made so that a people and a country could forever be free.

A fine addition to any Civil War library.