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Defining Style

Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
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Lifestyles

The Lucky Shopping Manual

Review by Amy Scribner

Just breathe. It's almost holiday time again. You might not be able to control whether the Christmas lights are perfectly strung, and you really have very little say in whether your crotchety aunt ruins yet another family get-together. But you can assert yourself by choosing just the right gift book for the lady in your life whether spouse, grandmother, girlfriend or sister.

Start with a topic dear to the heart of most females: clothes. Some of the women we know could use a fashion reality check do they really need that seventh pair of Levi's? Authors Andrea Linett and Kim France think they might be better off investing in a new coat, and they're not afraid to say so. The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece is a priceless guide for those who don't have a natural intuition for whether they're better suited for A-line or empire waist and especially for those who don't even know what those terms mean. The book breaks down clothing by category, from dresses to pants to swimsuits. Sleek, precise illustrations show how to put together an outfit that suits any body type and attitude. The book also profiles several fashionistas, delving into the closets of clothing designer Shoshanna Lonstein and journalist Carlota Espinosa, among others. France and Linett, editors at shopping magazine Lucky, don't mince words when it comes to fashion. The advice in this book is invaluable, from when to splurge (a good cashmere sweater, a timeless watch) to how to organize your newly fabulous wardrobe (hint: if you haven't worn it in the last two years, it might be time to part ways). Fair warning, though: the authors' joy for fashion is contagious. Reading this book will make you want to burn your closet and head for the nearest department store.

All Amy Scribner wants from Santa is less traffic on the Washington, D.C., Beltway.

 

Just breathe. It's almost holiday time again. You might not be able to control whether the Christmas lights are perfectly strung, and you really have very little say in whether your crotchety aunt ruins yet another family get-together. But you can assert yourself by choosing…

Religion & Spirituality

Faith-based gifts offer inspiration and hope

Review by bookpagedev

Tis the season for finding great inspirational gifts. Whether your gift is for a family member, friend, in-law or outlaw, a wide variety of titles is available to encourage readers in their faith.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, challenges readers in their personal beliefs with My Heart’s Cry: Longing For More of Jesus (W Publishing, $21.99, 272 pages, ISBN 0849917417). Author of the best-selling Just Give Me Jesus and founder of the Just Give Me Jesus weekend events for women, Lotz takes readers on a journey of desiring God. In 12 well-written chapters, she explores the various attributes of Christ. Chapter five, “More of His Dirt on My Hands,” explores the importance of service, while chapter 10, “More of His Nearness in My Loneliness,” explores God’s omnipresence.

Throughout the book, Lotz draws on her own personal experiences and challenges. She describes speaking to large gatherings of pastors and having some turn their chairs around to face away from her because they disapproved of her speaking and teaching as a woman. She explains how the rejection strengthened her faith and pushed her toward God, rather than away.

Like her father, Anne Graham Lotz has a way of making the Bible, God and the road to life-changing faith interesting, exciting and heart-gripping. This bold woman not only lives but also exudes a contagious faith in her writing.

Another member of the Graham family, Ruth Bell Graham, wife of the well-known evangelist, offers a seasonal title on the special blessings of Christmas. Like any mother, grandmother or great-grandmother, Graham knows the significance and joy the holiday brings to anyone who has watched their child on Christmas morning or has been a child nestled in the warmth of family.

In A Quiet Knowing Christmas: A Joyful Celebration of the Season (W Publishing, $19.99, 176 pages, ISBN 084991762X) Graham presents a new collection of stories, recipes and poems, interspersed with family photos and holiday craft ideas.

As simple as the Christmas story itself, as elegant as such a celebration should be, A Quiet Knowing Christmas culminates in an intimate portrait of how the Graham family honors the name of Christ.

Lotz and Graham aren’t the only women sharing their beliefs these days. Best-selling author and Bible teacher Beth Moore introduces readers to Christ in Jesus, The One and Only (Broadman ∧ Holman, $19.99, 340 pages, ISBN 080542489X). Moore, who has written a number of studies including Breaking Free, takes readers to the dusty roads of Palestine to study the life of Christ. The book is an adaptation of her popular video-based interactive study of the same name.

Moore explores the life of Christ as he lived it long days as a carpenter and tough days traveling and teaching. She records the details, history and culture that are so often missed in a quick reading of the Gospels.

Rather than fall into the trap of giving all the answers, Moore spends time asking some questions of her own. What did Mary experience during her pregnancy? How long was the labor? How much pressure did she feel to be the perfect mother? In the process, the life and example lived by Christ become more personal and human.

For readers who don’t have time for an in-depth study, Charles Stanley offers an easy-to-read devotional, Seeking His Face: A Daily Devotional. The pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and president of In Touch Ministries offers daily reading selections that challenge, encourage and inspire.

Each devotion includes a Scripture reading, key verse, prayer and a simple story or message. Reading Stanley’s book is like listening to a sermon in 45-second snippets. Readers are challenged to resist negative thoughts and embrace others with love and offer forgiveness. The writing is simple, direct and enjoyable.

The Best Christian Writing 2002 (HarperSanFrancisco, $15.95, 352 pages, ISBN 0060094834) offers a varied collection of articles on Christian belief today. The series editor, John Wilson, works as an editor at both Christianity Today and Books ∧ Culture. From a myriad of journals and magazines, he has compiled nearly two dozen pieces. One writer wrestles with the negative byproducts of feminism in “Three Bad Ideas for Women and What to Do About Them,” while another examines the tense but treasured relationship between Judaism and Christianity in “Salvation Is from the Jews.” Other highlights include Walter Wangerin Jr.’s “One Man on a Tractor Far Away” and Philip Yancey’s “The Ample Man Who Saved My Faith.” If you’re shopping for a young preteen boy (ages 8-12) you’ll want to consider Zonderkidz’ new 2:52 Soul Gear line of products, which includes The 2:52 Boys Bible (Zonderkidz, $26.99, ISBN 0310703204). The 2:52 designation is based on a Scripture found in the Gospel of Luke: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Edited by best-selling author and speaker Rick Osborne, The 2:52 Boys Bible features a study system that takes boys through the Bible, highlighting people, stories and verses that show them how to grow.

Using the NIV translation, the Bible includes numerous side notes and boxes of extra information designed to engage young male readers. Cleverly titled, “Make It Stick” is a boy’s version of a journal written on sticky notes; “Get a Load of This” provides interesting and humorous facts about the Bible; and “Grossology” offers some gory facts from the Bible. The cover design (which is reminiscent of the reality television series Survivor logo) is rugged enough to convince boys it’s cool.

And finally, a beautiful new gift book reveals The Peace ∧ Power of Knowing God’s Name by Kay Arthur (WaterBrook, $17.99, 144 pages, ISBN 1578565502). The author explores the ancient meanings of the names of God found in Scripture passages and shows how they expand our understanding and knowledge of God. Co-founder of Precept Ministries International and the author of leading inductive Bible studies, Arthur writes with insight about 15 of the names given to God, including El Elyon meaning The God Most High; El Roi meaning The God Who Sees; and Jehovah-raah meaning The Lord My Shepherd. With a gorgeous cover and crisp photographs throughout, The Peace ∧ Power of Knowing God’s Name offers beautiful visual images along with its inspiring text. Margaret Feinberg is a writer based in Sitka, Alaska. She is author of God Whispers: Learning To Hear His Voice (Relevant Books).

Tis the season for finding great inspirational gifts. Whether your gift is for a family member, friend, in-law or outlaw, a wide variety of titles is available to encourage readers in their faith.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, challenges…
Religion & Spirituality

Faith-based gifts offer inspiration and hope

Review by bookpagedev

Tis the season for finding great inspirational gifts. Whether your gift is for a family member, friend, in-law or outlaw, a wide variety of titles is available to encourage readers in their faith.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, challenges readers in their personal beliefs with My Heart’s Cry: Longing For More of Jesus (W Publishing, $21.99, 272 pages, ISBN 0849917417). Author of the best-selling Just Give Me Jesus and founder of the Just Give Me Jesus weekend events for women, Lotz takes readers on a journey of desiring God. In 12 well-written chapters, she explores the various attributes of Christ. Chapter five, “More of His Dirt on My Hands,” explores the importance of service, while chapter 10, “More of His Nearness in My Loneliness,” explores God’s omnipresence.

Throughout the book, Lotz draws on her own personal experiences and challenges. She describes speaking to large gatherings of pastors and having some turn their chairs around to face away from her because they disapproved of her speaking and teaching as a woman. She explains how the rejection strengthened her faith and pushed her toward God, rather than away.

Like her father, Anne Graham Lotz has a way of making the Bible, God and the road to life-changing faith interesting, exciting and heart-gripping. This bold woman not only lives but also exudes a contagious faith in her writing.

Another member of the Graham family, Ruth Bell Graham, wife of the well-known evangelist, offers a seasonal title on the special blessings of Christmas. Like any mother, grandmother or great-grandmother, Graham knows the significance and joy the holiday brings to anyone who has watched their child on Christmas morning or has been a child nestled in the warmth of family.

In A Quiet Knowing Christmas: A Joyful Celebration of the Season Graham presents a new collection of stories, recipes and poems, interspersed with family photos and holiday craft ideas.

As simple as the Christmas story itself, as elegant as such a celebration should be, A Quiet Knowing Christmas culminates in an intimate portrait of how the Graham family honors the name of Christ.

Lotz and Graham aren’t the only women sharing their beliefs these days. Best-selling author and Bible teacher Beth Moore introduces readers to Christ in Jesus, The One and Only (Broadman ∧ Holman, $19.99, 340 pages, ISBN 080542489X). Moore, who has written a number of studies including Breaking Free, takes readers to the dusty roads of Palestine to study the life of Christ. The book is an adaptation of her popular video-based interactive study of the same name.

Moore explores the life of Christ as he lived it long days as a carpenter and tough days traveling and teaching. She records the details, history and culture that are so often missed in a quick reading of the Gospels.

Rather than fall into the trap of giving all the answers, Moore spends time asking some questions of her own. What did Mary experience during her pregnancy? How long was the labor? How much pressure did she feel to be the perfect mother? In the process, the life and example lived by Christ become more personal and human.

For readers who don’t have time for an in-depth study, Charles Stanley offers an easy-to-read devotional, Seeking His Face: A Daily Devotional (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 384 pages, ISBN 0785272992). The pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and president of In Touch Ministries offers daily reading selections that challenge, encourage and inspire.

Each devotion includes a Scripture reading, key verse, prayer and a simple story or message. Reading Stanley’s book is like listening to a sermon in 45-second snippets. Readers are challenged to resist negative thoughts and embrace others with love and offer forgiveness. The writing is simple, direct and enjoyable.

The Best Christian Writing 2002 (HarperSanFrancisco, $15.95, 352 pages, ISBN 0060094834) offers a varied collection of articles on Christian belief today. The series editor, John Wilson, works as an editor at both Christianity Today and Books ∧ Culture. From a myriad of journals and magazines, he has compiled nearly two dozen pieces. One writer wrestles with the negative byproducts of feminism in “Three Bad Ideas for Women and What to Do About Them,” while another examines the tense but treasured relationship between Judaism and Christianity in “Salvation Is from the Jews.” Other highlights include Walter Wangerin Jr.’s “One Man on a Tractor Far Away” and Philip Yancey’s “The Ample Man Who Saved My Faith.” If you’re shopping for a young preteen boy (ages 8-12) you’ll want to consider Zonderkidz’ new 2:52 Soul Gear line of products, which includes The 2:52 Boys Bible (Zonderkidz, $26.99, ISBN 0310703204). The 2:52 designation is based on a Scripture found in the Gospel of Luke: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Edited by best-selling author and speaker Rick Osborne, The 2:52 Boys Bible features a study system that takes boys through the Bible, highlighting people, stories and verses that show them how to grow.

Using the NIV translation, the Bible includes numerous side notes and boxes of extra information designed to engage young male readers. Cleverly titled, “Make It Stick” is a boy’s version of a journal written on sticky notes; “Get a Load of This” provides interesting and humorous facts about the Bible; and “Grossology” offers some gory facts from the Bible. The cover design (which is reminiscent of the reality television series Survivor logo) is rugged enough to convince boys it’s cool.

And finally, a beautiful new gift book reveals The Peace ∧ Power of Knowing God’s Name by Kay Arthur (WaterBrook, $17.99, 144 pages, ISBN 1578565502). The author explores the ancient meanings of the names of God found in Scripture passages and shows how they expand our understanding and knowledge of God. Co-founder of Precept Ministries International and the author of leading inductive Bible studies, Arthur writes with insight about 15 of the names given to God, including El Elyon meaning The God Most High; El Roi meaning The God Who Sees; and Jehovah-raah meaning The Lord My Shepherd. With a gorgeous cover and crisp photographs throughout, The Peace ∧ Power of Knowing God’s Name offers beautiful visual images along with its inspiring text. Margaret Feinberg is a writer based in Sitka, Alaska. She is author of God Whispers: Learning To Hear His Voice (Relevant Books).

Tis the season for finding great inspirational gifts. Whether your gift is for a family member, friend, in-law or outlaw, a wide variety of titles is available to encourage readers in their faith.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, challenges…
History

The many faces of America, past and present

Review by bookpagedev

Defining and showcasing the American identity is a fruitful endeavor for publishers, who take up the challenge this season with a quartet of fine new gift books. Spotlighting spectacular and little-known events from our country’s history and examining the roots of our national character, these selections shed new light on a seemingly inexhaustible subject.

There is virtually no page unillustrated in The Story Of America (DK, $35, 672 pages, ISBN 0789489031), a splendidly designed and colloquially written history by Allen Weinstein and David Rubel. Besides the predictable head shots of the great and the curious, there are also copious images of tools, costumes, coins, buildings, maps, political cartoons, posters, magazine covers, handbills and kindred historical artifacts. Subtitled “Freedom and Crisis from Settlement to Superpower,” the book begins with the conquests of Cortes and concludes with the terrorist attacks of September 11 and their immediate aftermath. To make the evolution of the nation more understandable, the authors pinpoint 26 specific events among them the Salem witch trials, John Brown’s raid on the armory at Harpers Ferry, the Watergate investigations and present them with cinematic immediacy. These accounts are complemented by succinct profiles, written by other historians, of such pivotal political, social and cultural figures as Supreme Court justice John Marshall, abolitionist Harriet Tubman, Native American warrior and statesman Quanah Parker and playwright and activist Lillian Hellman. Clearly organized and well indexed, The Story of America is a visual delight that will give American history buffs hours of browsing pleasure.

Freedom: A History of US by Joy Hakim (Oxford, $40, 416 pages, ISBN 0195157117) is a companion piece to the forthcoming 16-part PBS series, “Freedom: A History of US,” which will begin airing Jan. 12. A former teacher, reporter and editorial writer, Hakim first gained fame as a historian with her 10-volume History of US, written as texts for elementary school students. This new book aspires to an older audience, although it remains exceedingly readable and filled with the enthusiasm Hakim brought to her original work. She writes much of her narrative in present tense to heighten the notion that long-ago events are occurring before our eyes. “In the South, where blacks often outnumber whites, many whites don’t want black people to have guns,” Hakim observes in a passage on the use of black soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Her short sentences and simple words belie the toughness of her theme that individual freedom, the philosophy on which this nation’s government is based, is an easier doctrine to espouse than ensure. Each section of her book charts the progress of and deviations from the ideal. Illustrated with highlighted quotations and 400 photos. In their new book In Search Of America (Hyperion, $50, 307 pages, ISBN 0786867086) ABC News anchor Peter Jennings and producer Todd Brewster focus on specific activities occurring within each of six towns Aiken, South Carolina; Boulder, Colorado; Washington, D. C.; Plano, Texas; Gary, Indiana; and Salt Lake City, Utah. From watching these activities and noting how the towns’ citizens respond to them, the authors deduce certain truths about the American character. For example, the push to put religion in or keep it out of the Aiken school system reveals the raging but still-unresolved struggle between science and faith, moral relativism and absolutes. Visits to the other cities enable the authors to speculate on how a broad spectrum of the population views the role of government, capitalism and globalization, entertainment and popular culture, race and immigration. Rich in photographs, the book is further enhanced by breezily written profiles of people from other parts of the country. It is doubtful that In Search Of America teaches us anything that a reasonably intelligent adult wouldn’t already know. But it does bring our own beliefs about the nature of America into sharper focus. In September, ABC-TV aired a six-part companion series to this book.

A collection of photos meant to reveal the American character (and how little it has changed), America Yesterday and Today by Blythe Hamer has just enough text to sketch in highlights of the nation’s history of the last hundred years or so. As visualized here, that character manifests itself in sections titled “Free Time,” “American Classics,” “Sports ∧ Entertainment,” “The Great Outdoors,” “The City,” “Everyday Living” and “Celebrations.” With few exceptions, the images range from benign to uplifting. Even photos of social protest such as those contrasting opposition to the Vietnam War and to the World Trade Organization show no heads being cracked or blood flowing. The fallen World Trade Center is detectable only by the faraway smoke from its unseen ruins. Many of the shots come with built-in laughs: the bathing beauties of the 1920s standing cheek-to-cheek, as it were, with their bikini-clad great-granddaughters; the born-again tough guy wearing a T-shirt that proclaims “Satan Sucks”; the skateboarders using garbage bags for sails. More pleasant than provocative, America Yesterday and Today is a scrapbook for a nation, with scenes from our daily lives that illuminate who we were, and are.

Defining and showcasing the American identity is a fruitful endeavor for publishers, who take up the challenge this season with a quartet of fine new gift books. Spotlighting spectacular and little-known events from our country's history and examining the roots of our national character, these…

Chronicle of a life well told

It will come as no surprise to readers of Gabriel Garcia Marquez that the first book to leave a lasting impression on that sorcerer of fiction was The Thousand and One Nights. This is just one of many glorious details the Colombian-born Nobelist, who put magical realism on the world's literary map with his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude, shares in the first volume of his memoirs, Living to Tell the Tale.

PhotographyArts & Culture

Put these treasures under the tree and on the coffee table

Review by bookpagedev

Owning an impressive photography book is almost like having a museum in your own home: comprehensive and colossal, hard on the arm, but easy on the eye, these books offer more visual riches per square inch than the most glamorous of galleries. The perfect way to enliven any library, they’re packed with culture from cover to cover, pretty and portable (sort of). So dispense with the seasonal indecision. Tilt the scale in your favor when it comes to holiday gift-giving and pick up one of these treasures for the coffee table they’re a treat for any aesthete and the ultimate indulgence for the art lover on your list. Judging books by their covers There are unimagined beauties hidden deep in your dictionary, and Abelardo Morell has found them. Aiming his lens at the shelves of the Boston Public Library, among other institutions, the photographer has produced A Book of Books (Bulfinch, $60, 108 pages, ISBN 0821227696), a striking collection of black-and-white pictures presenting books as objets d’art, pleasing to the eye as well as the intellect. Re-envisioning the library, Morell finds magic in the stacks, capturing unforgettable images the marbled bottom of a formidable dictionary; gilded spines on a book-lined wall from ingenious angles. Here are venerable survivors (volumes damaged by water and dirt), classics in close-up (A Farewell to Arms; A Tale of Two Cities) and a visitor from the future (a digital text), all coupled with quotes about books from authors like Emily Dickinson, Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Butler. From an Audubon folio as big as a table to the tiniest of texts a wee book that makes a paper clip look big Morrell has compiled a collection that’s rich in literary delights, abundant with the wonder of words. Nicholson Baker, author of Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, provides the preface.

The genius of Stieglitz The work of a master photographer is celebrated in Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set (Abrams, $150, 1,100 pages, ISBN 0810935333), the hefty, comprehensive companion to the Stieglitz collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Spanning five decades, from 1886 to 1937, the two-volume edition contains more than 1,000 images and provides a thorough survey of the New Jersey native’s work. From portraits and cityscapes, to studies of his wife, the painter Georgia O’Keefe, The Key Set collects the work of a man who captured America and Europe on film with an expert eye, applying painterly concepts to the picture-taking process and becoming the first photographer to be exhibited in American museums. Released just as a traveling exhibition of the Stieglitz collection is set to begin in the U. S., the handsomely boxed volumes include a chronology and bibliography, along with an introductory essay by Sarah Greenough, curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art.

History in pictures Two centuries after the fact, we’re still feeling the repercussions of the War Between the States. A moving testament to the conflict that redefined the lines of color and kin in America, The Civil War in Photographs by historian William C. Davis is a remarkable pictorial account of the era. More than 300 classic images show the major arenas of battle and the men who participated, from bold, beardless youths to intrepid leaders like Lee and Sherman. Taken on the front and in the studio, these pictures gleaned from the work of 2,000 photographers evoke the drama of the first war to be extensively captured on camera. Documenting the famous and the anonymous, depicting life in camp and in the trenches, the volume combines portraits of soldiers and citizens with startling scenes of destruction, including images of Atlanta laid waste. Putting it all in perspective is Davis, director of programs at the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, whose lucid, lively text accompanies the photographs.

 

Owning an impressive photography book is almost like having a museum in your own home: comprehensive and colossal, hard on the arm, but easy on the eye, these books offer more visual riches per square inch than the most glamorous of galleries. The perfect…

PhotographyArts & Culture

Put these treasures under the tree and on the coffee table

Review by bookpagedev

Owning an impressive photography book is almost like having a museum in your own home: comprehensive and colossal, hard on the arm, but easy on the eye, these books offer more visual riches per square inch than the most glamorous of galleries. The perfect way to enliven any library, they’re packed with culture from cover to cover, pretty and portable (sort of). So dispense with the seasonal indecision. Tilt the scale in your favor when it comes to holiday gift-giving and pick up one of these treasures for the coffee table they’re a treat for any aesthete and the ultimate indulgence for the art lover on your list.

Judging books by their covers There are unimagined beauties hidden deep in your dictionary, and Abelardo Morell has found them. Aiming his lens at the shelves of the Boston Public Library, among other institutions, the photographer has produced

A Book of Books, a striking collection of black-and-white pictures presenting books as objets d’art, pleasing to the eye as well as the intellect. Re-envisioning the library, Morell finds magic in the stacks, capturing unforgettable images the marbled bottom of a formidable dictionary; gilded spines on a book-lined wall from ingenious angles. Here are venerable survivors (volumes damaged by water and dirt), classics in close-up (A Farewell to Arms; A Tale of Two Cities) and a visitor from the future (a digital text), all coupled with quotes about books from authors like Emily Dickinson, Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Butler. From an Audubon folio as big as a table to the tiniest of texts a wee book that makes a paper clip look big Morrell has compiled a collection that’s rich in literary delights, abundant with the wonder of words. Nicholson Baker, author of Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, provides the preface.

The genius of Stieglitz The work of a master photographer is celebrated in Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set (Abrams, $150, 1,100 pages, ISBN 0810935333), the hefty, comprehensive companion to the Stieglitz collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Spanning five decades, from 1886 to 1937, the two-volume edition contains more than 1,000 images and provides a thorough survey of the New Jersey native’s work. From portraits and cityscapes, to studies of his wife, the painter Georgia O’Keefe, The Key Set collects the work of a man who captured America and Europe on film with an expert eye, applying painterly concepts to the picture-taking process and becoming the first photographer to be exhibited in American museums. Released just as a traveling exhibition of the Stieglitz collection is set to begin in the U. S., the handsomely boxed volumes include a chronology and bibliography, along with an introductory essay by Sarah Greenough, curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art.

History in pictures Two centuries after the fact, we’re still feeling the repercussions of the War Between the States. A moving testament to the conflict that redefined the lines of color and kin in America, The Civil War in Photographs (Carlton, $39.95, 256 pages, ISBN 1842226363) by historian William C. Davis is a remarkable pictorial account of the era. More than 300 classic images show the major arenas of battle and the men who participated, from bold, beardless youths to intrepid leaders like Lee and Sherman. Taken on the front and in the studio, these pictures gleaned from the work of 2,000 photographers evoke the drama of the first war to be extensively captured on camera. Documenting the famous and the anonymous, depicting life in camp and in the trenches, the volume combines portraits of soldiers and citizens with startling scenes of destruction, including images of Atlanta laid waste. Putting it all in perspective is Davis, director of programs at the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, whose lucid, lively text accompanies the photographs.

 

Owning an impressive photography book is almost like having a museum in your own home: comprehensive and colossal, hard on the arm, but easy on the eye, these books offer more visual riches per square inch than the most glamorous of galleries. The perfect…

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