Battles and Leaders of the Civil War

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Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/28/2015 1:11:01 AM

rhondabrwn

Posts: 2570
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
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I am thrilled! Amazon had published an affordable $2.99 per volume set of the classic "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" for Kindle.

Published this June, Volumes I, II, and III are available with IV coming.

Not a scan of the original, but a decent format that is readable and so are the maps and photos. I do recommend reading it with the free Kindle PC app so you can really blow up the maps and read the details, but it is serviceable on my 2G Kindle reader and even more so on my Kindle Fire (1st gen).

My brother (the History Professor) had a handsome hardbound copy of the series and I loved it a I designed my own Civil War games back in high school and college. I was totally destroyed when he came up to Indiana and took the books back down to the University of Texas with him. In recompense he did find me a cheaper set in a used bookstore (which was unfortunately lost when I moved out to Arizona 10 years ago). The best I could find to replace it was a $100 CD edition and that was too much.

And today I stumbled across THIS:
http://www.amazon.com/Battles-Leaders-Civil-War-Vol-ebook/dp/B00O0YO5LM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1443401338&sr=1-1&keywords=battles+and+leaders+of+the+civil+war

Bought the three available volumes instantly :)

And now back to my HPS Civil War Campaign games with renewed vigor!

< Message edited by rhondabrwn -- 9/28/2015 2:13:01 AM >

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Post #: 1

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/28/2015 1:16:38 AM

rhondabrwn

Posts: 2570
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
Status: offline

There is also a set of 30 extracts for specific battles which are taken from the Battles and Leaders series ($.99 each). I think getting the entire original series is a better bargain though as these are just 30 to 40 pages long and seem to be only one commander's viewpoint of the battle rather than the different viewpoints provided in the full set.

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My old Piczo site seems to be gone, so no more Navajo Nation pics :(

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Post #: 2

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/28/2015 5:13:17 AM

rhondabrwn

Posts: 2570
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
Status: offline

I've had a chance to look through Volume 1 and am very pleased. There are hyperlinks to maps and notes, the full order of battle is included, the photos are great and the maps readable.

Very pleased, these are each about a 30 megabyte download which shows the detail and great volume of content included... a typical novel is about 1/20th of this size. Downloading took a considerable time compared to the near instant download for a novel.

If you are a Civil War buff... this is a "Must Buy"

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Love & Peace,

Far Dareis Mai

My old Piczo site seems to be gone, so no more Navajo Nation pics :(

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Post #: 3

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/28/2015 5:21:49 AM

rhondabrwn

Posts: 2570
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
Status: offline

Considering how many lame e-books there out where someone just did a quick scan and OCR conversion, this looks really, really impressive. Note that it is by "Amazon", not some publishing house. This was a labor of love for someone.

I might mention that I was looking at the sample for Bruce Catton's "Gettysburg" book. The first thing that jumped out at me was the index that included "Picket's Sharge"... I kid you not. Needless to say I passed on this one

I can suggest, though, that an Amazon search in the Kindle section for "Battles and Leaders" will pull up a LOT of Civil War items. It was interesting going through them though a lot were overpriced for what you got. Few reviews, indicating these were fairly recent additions to the Kindle lineup, so it's worth a look.

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Love & Peace,

Far Dareis Mai

My old Piczo site seems to be gone, so no more Navajo Nation pics :(

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Post #: 4

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/28/2015 8:03:21 AM

berto

Posts: 20708
Joined: 3/13/2002
From: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Status: offline

That's fantastic news, Rhonda.

When I was kid, both my brother and I each had his own set of B&L (Christmas presents from our parents). I too made my own cardboard ACW board war games as an adolescent.

Needing cash, I sold my set (and my entire board war game collection! 80+ SPI games

) when I joined the Peace Corps c. 1977. Dumb, dumb mistake. (Selling the books & games, that is. My joining the PC was the best move I ever made.

)

A few years ago, I went looking for B&L again. This is the best, most affordable thing I could find:

Hearts Touched by Fire: The Best of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (Modern Library) -- not the real deal, a one-volume abridgement. I got the e-book version.

What you reported here -- again, fantastic news. I will pick this up in a heartbeat.

< Message edited by berto -- 9/28/2015 9:05:00 AM >

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Post #: 5

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/28/2015 12:47:36 PM

wings7

Posts: 4591
Joined: 8/11/2003
From: Phoenix, Arizona
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Nice! Thanks for the info!

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Post #: 6

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/29/2015 1:19:03 AM

rhondabrwn

Posts: 2570
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
Status: offline

Spent the evening skimming over the first three volumes. I am more and more amazed at the quality of this production. They either had the world's best OCR system or a legion of proof readers because I haven't found a single error yet. This is the best bargain I have ever obtained on an e-book.

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Love & Peace,

Far Dareis Mai

My old Piczo site seems to be gone, so no more Navajo Nation pics :(

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Post #: 7

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/29/2015 1:25:15 AM

rhondabrwn

Posts: 2570
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: berto

That's fantastic news, Rhonda.

When I was kid, both my brother and I each had his own set of B&L (Christmas presents from our parents). I too made my own cardboard ACW board war games as an adolescent.

Needing cash, I sold my set (and my entire board war game collection! 80+ SPI games ) when I joined the Peace Corps c. 1977. Dumb, dumb mistake. (Selling the books & games, that is. My joining the PC was the best move I ever made. )

A few years ago, I went looking for B&L again. This is the best, most affordable thing I could find:

Hearts Touched by Fire: The Best of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (Modern Library) -- not the real deal, a one-volume abridgement. I got the e-book version.

What you reported here -- again, fantastic news. I will pick this up in a heartbeat.

Ah the memories of me carefully drawing 1/2 inch squares on a sheet of poster board and then making up my own counters from blank sheets available by mail order. I think I had about a dozen versions of the AH Tactics II mapboard that I created. Dozens of civil war battles, of course, and even a Jutland game that I made with every ship accounted for.

Those were the days! I was a map and orders of battle fiend when selecting books to buy.

Putting this on my resume actually got me a job interview with the CIA, but I didn't get hired (probably for the best).

_____________________________

Love & Peace,

Far Dareis Mai

My old Piczo site seems to be gone, so no more Navajo Nation pics :(

(in reply to berto)

Post #: 8

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/29/2015 8:10:18 AM

berto

Posts: 20708
Joined: 3/13/2002
From: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn

Ah the memories of me carefully drawing 1/2 inch squares on a sheet of poster board and then making up my own counters from blank sheets available by mail order. I think I had about a dozen versions of the AH Tactics II mapboard that I created. Dozens of civil war battles, of course, and even a Jutland game that I made with every ship accounted for.

Those were the days!

With my meager allowance, I bought a plastic hex template at a local arts supply store. Row after row, hex after hex, I devoted hours and hours to laboriously penciling in many hundreds of hexes. No matter how much care I took, by the middle of the playing map, things would get slightly out of alignment.

I tried squares too of course.

My game projects included 2nd Manassas, the Atlanta Campaign, the Vicksburg Campaign, even a strategic WWI game!

Those were the days way before you could purchase (by mail order of course) professionally printed hex grid sheets, etc. As far as I knew anyway. What does an adolescent know?

Yes, those were the days!

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Post #: 9

RE: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War - 9/30/2015 3:04:13 PM

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