Art, Photograh, Pictorials
With contemporary photography and words, this handsome and groundbreaking book explores the cultural and natural history of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and the surrounding landscape within Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. More than just a collection of photographs, the book chronicles the history of the area. Best known for John Brown's 1859 raid, the Ferry occupied a strategic location between the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet, making it an important 19th-century crossroads for river, canal, and railroad transportation. The book explores that bustling bygone era, including the Civil War years, which brought an end to the town's industrial age. Moreover, the book portrays the present-day town and the area's scenic attractions, including the rivers and the Appalachian Trail, which passes through the park.
On July 4, 1863, two defeats assured the demise of the Confederate cause. From the ridges and meadows of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia retreated. After a forty-seven-day siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, shattered Confederate forces surrendered to the Union Army and General Ulysses S. Grant.
These two books of photographs by award-winning photojournalist Timothy T. Isbell commemorate the sacrifices made and the landscapes that were witness to violence and valor.
In Gettysburg: Sentinels of Stone, the battlefield's mighty panoramas are brought to life. Accompanying the eighty-five full-color photographs are stories of the soldiers who fought and citizens who witnessed this pivotal battle. These stories serve to bring special meaning to the photographs of statues, monuments, and terrain.
Gettysburg: Sentinels of Stone features new monuments added to the park in the last five years, including the Elizabeth Thorn monument and the 11th Mississippi monument, which has the distinction of being the final monument allowed on the Gettysburg battlefield. With its photographs and chronicle of events, Gettysburg: Sentinels of Stone offers the perfect keepsake for park visitors and anyone wanting a photographic record of Gettysburg's scenery.
Vicksburg: Sentinels of Stone reveals the breadth and scope of Grant's siege and the city's stalwart defense in eighty-five color photographs of the monuments, the bluffs, the Mississippi river, the redoubts, and the redans that remain in the national park.
Accompanying text explores the stories of the soldiers and citizens who participated in this devastating engagement. In words and images, Vicksburg: Sentinels of Stone creates an ideal memento and a superb photographic record of the monuments and scenery that make a visit to Vicksburg National Military Park an unforgettable encounter with Civil War history.