Beneath a Northern Sky - (American Crisis Series: Books on the Civil War Era) 2nd Edition by Steven E Woodworth (Paperback)

About the Book

Of all the places and events in this nation's history, Gettysburg may well be the name best known to Americans. In Beneath a Northern Sky, eminent Civil War historian Steven E. Woodworth offers a balanced and thorough overview of the entire battle, its drama, and its meaning. ...

Book Synopsis

Of all the places and events in this nation's history, Gettysburg may well be the name best known to Americans. In Beneath a Northern Sky, eminent Civil War historian Steven E. Woodworth offers a balanced and thorough overview of the entire battle, its drama, and its meaning. From Lee's decision to take his heretofore successful Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac and into Pennsylvania to the withdrawal of the battle-battered Confederate's back across the river into Virginia, Woodworth paints a vivid picture of this pivotal campaign. Instead of focusing on only one aspect of the Gettysburg Campaign as most other books do, Beneath a Northern Sky tells the tale of the entire battle in a richly detailed but swiftly moving narrative.

Review Quotes

A concise and scholarly synthesis that focuses on command decisions and performance, plus regimental and brigade encounters garnished by quotations from soldiers' letters that convey the range of individual experiences.


A good introductory history of the Gettysburg Campaign.


For those with time to read only one book about Gettysburg, this is the one. In the huge literature on Gettysburg, Steven Woodworth's Beneath a Northern Sky stands out as a small but brilliant start. In little more than 200 pages it offers a gripping story of the campaign and battle.


Lucid and engrossing. An interesting, fast-paced, and efficient narration of the battle and the campaign.

About the Author

Steven E. Woodworth is professor of history at Texas Christian University, specializing in the Civil War and Reconstruction. He has written and edited several Civil War books, including Jefferson Davis and His Generals (1990), Davis and Lee at War (1995), and The Human Tradition in the Civil War and Reconstruction (2000).