What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? by Jim OConnor

What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? Reviews

• 
  Lisa

  "People don’t realize, you know, the civil war, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there the civil war?"
  Donald J. Trump
  
  In these unpresidented times of blatant stupidity and ignorance, I would like to recommend this excellent series for Grade 3 reading level. I worked with it over several years, opening the world of history and biography to primary school students.
  
  I guarantee that those young readers ASKED THE QUESTION ("Why was there a civil war?"), and were eager to find appropriate answers as well. The answer was not, however, that the slave holding populist president Jackson would have prevented it from happening, should he have lived on after 1845. No, that is not the answer. Not even in this simplified primary school version of history, where sentences are kept short and within the reduced vocabulary of mainstream Grade 3 classrooms: "Some plantations were huge." YES, SO HUGE!
  
  In case "people" would like to get beyond a Grade 3 level of understanding the roots of the Civil War (thus moving beyond the deplorable brain power of a bigly successful Preced... no ... Presed ... ah ... you know what I mean), I guess there are WHOLE LIBRARIES with books on the causes and effects of that particular time in American history - because in educated environments (which the bigly stupid golf playing narcissist has never frequented), "People DO realize, you know, the civil war, if you think about it, why? People DO ask that question, but why was there the civil war?"
  
  SO ANGRY, he was, Andrew Jackson, the slave owning president who could have prevented the future Civil War, that he saw coming, 16 years before it occurred. Why, oh why did he not live until it broke out? Another measly 16 years? Cruel, cruel fate to let him die too early! It wouldn't have happened! Right? Right! He was HUGE! Almost as HUGE as the present leader. But only almost. The nastiest presidents of the USA have been trumped. BIGLY.
  
  If you can read, try this with your children. For I am quite angry about the civil war that will break out in 2034, sixteen years from now, and I think a lesson or two in history could prevent it perfectly well. The current Grade 3 students will be 24 by then, and I want to make sure they are safe and sound!
• 
  Amira Zaidat

  You guys dont even have to guess that this is a historical story by the title. Its not the same old boring historical story tho. Its a good and interesting kind. Well, I watched Supernatural and they do have this one scene featuring the gettysburg war. So its good.
• 
  Hunter Lisiecki

  Loved it because it talks about how the Battle of Gettysburg started and how it ended!
• 
  Heather

  Good
  
  Learned some things I didn't know. It's really sad because so many people died, all because southern states wanted to be their own country and continue slavery.
• 
  Brenda

  So earlier this week I noticed the What was... and the Where is... part of this series and now I am seeing them everywhere. Isn't that always the case. I read this one with I Am Abraham Lincoln from the Ordinary People Change the World series and my mind is full of possibilities for connecting books to develop understanding an interest in or a passion for a time, a person, an event that will stick with them and foster new questions.
• 
  Gabriel alexander Arras

  I think that this book is very informational and that it is a good book. It is of course about the battle of Gettysburg. the battle of Gettysburg is a battle that lasted for about 3 days! I don't want to give away the story so read it yourself. I recommend this book to anybody who loves history, battles and wars.
• 
  Ramon

  A los bibliómanos nos apasiona encontrar libros en cualquier punto turístico y comprar libros que sirvan de referencia y recuerdos de las sitios que se visitan. Empaparte un poco más de aquello que con el tiempo justo en una agenda apretada te consuelas con algunas fotos y una visita apresurada. El tiempo es oro y el coste de un viaje hay que amortizarlo viendo todo lo que se pueda con la dificultad muchas veces que no llegas a profundizar realmente en nada. Y con estas que encuentras la tienda de productos de turista : la tacita, el imán, el punto de libro, el boli, la gorra, la camiseta, la bola de nieve con el monumento, siempre es lo mismo. Así que cuando acabas de visitar el lugar para mí es obligado pasarse por esa tienda siempre lo mismo, y entre todo esos productos de dudoso uso: libros. Libros de historia, biografías , libros de gran formato con fotografías (quién compra libros de gran formato en un punto turístico? Solo pensar en llevarlo todo el día te pasan las ganas. No deben vender ni uno, de hecho no he visto nunca comprar nadie uno.
  
  En este caso la visita fue al cementerio de Arlington en Washington. Tengo una morbosidad tremenda por los cementerios. Sobretodo los militares me parece de tal gilipollez como se justifican las naciones para brindar un homenaje a esas personas que mueren por intangibles de valor casi nulo. Que menos; les quema la vergüenza a las naciones esos muertos y no hay mayor bastidor que una guardia de un soldado desconocido con todo un folclore y miles de lápidas y sin olvidar las medallas. Un trozo de latón por nuestra vida. Gran negocio.
  En fin...
  
  Así que estando en Arlington (a tocar de Washignton), cementerio de miles de lápidas de veteranos y muertos en guerra y orgullo patrio Americano pero eso si... sin faltar la tienda, es America si no hay tienda con tonterías seria una ofensa peor a esta gran Nación y me encuentro con esta delicadeza, un libro sencillo (eufemismos para decir que es para niños) para los que sabemos suficiente Inglés para leerlo sin apenas un par de consultar al diccionario y una aproximación a la sucesos históricos de la más famosa batalla de la guerra civil America. Y porque la más famosa ? Porque allí enviaron a decenas de miles de personas a encontrase con su Dios que seguro que felicito a ambos por su bravura y la guerra duro 2 años más. Así que tampoco parece que fuera tan decisiva pero así lo venden.
  
  Libro conciso y resumido, extremadamente fácil de leer que nos permite ver como fue la Batalla, no desarrolla el contexto de la guerra, en pocas frases resume el origen del conflicto y se centra en esos 3 días de Julio de 1863 con los hechos planos y sin novelización alguna, añade algunas fotos y algunas capítulos breves con algunos apuntes curiosos sobre personajes de la campaña incluyendo el tío del abuelo del escritor del libro, el cual murió en la batalla.
  
  Poco más de 100 páginas de lectura sencilla para conocer algo más de lo que fue una guerra cruel como todas las civiles.
  
  
  
  
• 
  David

  What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? by Jim O'Connor Provides a detailed look at the three-day battle that was the turning point in the Civil War as well as the bloodiest fighting. It ended a string of Confederate victories with a decisive Union victory. The defeated army of General Robert E. Lee retreated to the south and there were no further attempts to bring the fighting into the north. As a book written for a youth audience, it still packs enough detail to give a thorough understanding of the events of those three critical days when victory was in doubt. There are a number of illustrations as well as photographs included that also help with the understanding of this important battle. Afterwords President Lincoln journeyed to Gettysburg to commemorate the loss of life on both sides and gave one of the most memorable, as well as shortest, speeches ever spoken: The Gettysburg Address! Excellent read for younger readers but equally informative for the young at heart.
• 
  Megan Ball

  I got this for my 3rd graders, so it’s a great introduction for them! I know more about this battle though, and I had some problems with it.
  One of the biggest was that it glossed over the Battle of Little Round Top. Like, the author mentioned that one of his distant ancestors had participated in some fighting on the hill and died, but that was it. Nothing about the bayonet charge even, which was a pretty important part of the fighting that day since it saved the Union flank from caving in.
  Other than that, though, this is a great book to read if you just want the basics of the battle. It does a very good job of simplifying all the armies’ movements so they make sense to the reader. It also talks about the implications of the battle and how it affected both sides later on.
• 
  Amity

  I really enjoyed reading this book with Kaye. We both learned a lot. That said, can we please stop writing a revisionist history of the Civil War?! The war was not about states rights and the more people try to say it was the more it glosses over a horrific part of US history, the fact that many many many white people didn't see African slaves as human, a fact which has enduring effects that are still seen, felt, and lived today. Acknowledging that about our past does not mean white people today are guilty for the institution of slavery, but it does mean we are responsible for working to remove its palimpsest in all of their forms.
• 
  Cris

  I have very mixed reviews about this book. This book gives great details about the battle of Gettysburg. It discuss the strategies of both sides, and the key members. Everything is age appropriate for children. In the back of the book are pictures from the battles. They have these cartoon images in the series throughout the books that help explain everything. Thus is where we hit my downfall with this book. The person who did the editing did this book a horrible disservice. You couldn’t read the text that was written through the images. I hope this is the only book like way.
• 
  Kate Schwarz

  Another great "Who Was" book read with Kiefer (and, sometimes, Ben)...though officially this was a "What Was" book. As Ben pointed out, these books supply only an introduction to important people or events. But that's a great service right there. This book especially was interrupted by questions from both boys about the war, the Army, which leader was better, and "When can we go visit?"
  
  On to the "Who Was" books about the top generals of this war...
• 
  Angela Mendola

  I really enjoyed this book, it was a great non fiction piece that depicted all the events in the battle of Gettysburg using text, photographs, maps, and a few primary sources such as letters and the Gettysburg address. This book was written by the great, great nephew of one of the soldiers. It may be more appropriate for middle school readers but upper level elementary school kids may be able to follow it too. For young Civil War scholars, this is an excellent resource!
• 
  Ashley

  The author of this book does a phenomenal job explaining such a complex battle of the Civil War in a way that my second graders were able to understand it. Granted, I drew a lot of pictures and diagrams on the board as we read this book, but I was very proud that they grasped the concepts and strategies that the different generals used.
• 
  Lara

  We read this as a family in preparation for our trip to Pennsylvania this summer. I love these books!
• 
  Erin Pierce

  Good short bio.
• 
  Jodi

  Gabe read this aloud.
• 
  Jc

  A great overview of the famous Civil War battle geared towards younger readers.