On June 3, 1863, nineteen-year-old Confederate lieutenant John Dooley prepared to march on Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Thomas Galway, a seventeen-year-old corporal in the Union army, waited for the battle to begin.
Drawing on the written accounts of these young soldiers, Murphy traces the circumstances leading to the dramatic battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln's historic address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
April 20, 1992
Excerpts from the diaries of two young officers, Lt. John Dooley of the Confederacy and Cpl. Thomas Galway of the Union army, are at the heart of this compelling account of the Civil War's bloodiest battle. Expertly blending details about the battle and each side's plans with the diaries, Murphy conveys all of the tension, tedium and excitement of the battlefield. Archival photographs of the site powerfully present young readers with a grim reminder of the high cost of waging this conflict. Several photos show dead horses and soldiers, their bodies not yet removed for burial. The conclusion explains what happened to the young officers after the war was over, neatly tying up the end of the book and making these men from long ago even more real to today's readers. Ages 9-12.
August 1, 2010
Gr 6 Up-Balancing tactical and historical descriptions of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War with the firsthand diary accounts of two young soldiers, one Union and one Confederate, Jim Murphy's title (Clarion, 1992) is solidly narrated by Ray Childs, Terry Bregy, and William Dufris, each lending his talent to a different section of the text. The use of different voice actors for the narration is especially effective in helping listeners differentiate the Union and Confederate points of view, with snippets of snare drum music separating the passages to further reinforce the shifts in viewpoint. Another narrator reads the introduction and conclusion, which describe the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg and includes Lincoln's famous address. Key figures are quoted and given distinct voices, some more successfully than others. Listeners will get a sense of the emotion, pain, and fatigue experienced by the two soldiers through the performances, though occasionally the voice used for Galway, the Union corporal, sounds too similar to the narrative voice, making it difficult to differentiate the diary excerpts from the exposition. Overall, this is a worthwhile addition to non-fiction audiobook collections.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL
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