Eyewitness Books: Civil War

Bibliographic information: 

Stanchack, John.  Eyewitness Books: Civil War.   London: Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

Brief plot description:

The Civil War is broken down into what happened before, during, and after the war.  The book includes the election of 1860, the Underground Railroad, the role of women, the commanders and soldiers in the war, several of the battles, who surrenders, the role of the top leaders, and much more.  On every page there are pictures with captions that allow the reader to both visualize and understand the events in the book.  Besides the pictures, there is a paragraph giving more information about the subject and is used as an introduction to the pictures.  This book contains much information.  For example, women would disguise themselves as men to join in the fighting or how they would help care for the sick.  Moreover, the book discusses the age of the men fighting including the old and the really young.

Brief review:

I would use this book as supplemental material in a fifth through ninth grade class.  The Civil War is an important part of the history of America and should be looked at in more depth.  I feel that this book would be a great tool for doing that.  The amount of information allows the reader to stay hooked because the information is presented in a friendly and easy way to comprehend.  The style of the book really helps students find the information needed and understand the information.  The photographs in the book will help students understand what is being described in the text. 

Genre label:

Informational History

Reading level/interest level:

5^th-9^th grade

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Eyewitness Books: World War II by Simon Adams

Eyewitness Books: American Revolution by Stuart Murray

Visual Dictionary of the Civil War by John Stanchak