The Blue and The Gray

by Leah Bendavid-Val (Editor), Mary Ann Harrell (Editor), Thomas B. Allen

Book by Allen, Thomas B

Genres: History, Civil War, Nonfiction, American Civil War

315 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Leah Bendavid-Val is a historian of photography who has worked with Russian photographers for more than two decades. She is the author most recently of Song Without Words: The Photographs & Diaries of Countess Sophia Tolstoy (published in October 2007). Her two earlier books about Russian photographers and themes are Propaganda & Dreams (1999); and Changing Reality (1991).

Bendavid-Val is former Director of Photography Publishing for National Geographic Books. Books published in her program for popular and professional audiences have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Bendavid-Val is author of two books on the history of National Geographic photography—Stories on Paper & Glass (2001) and the best-selling National Geographic: The Photographs (1994), which is still in print. She is co-author and editor of National Geographic Image Collection, on the New York Times Bestseller List in December 2009.

Based on her Russia and National Geographic work, Leah Bendavid-Val has served as curator for exhibitions at the International Center for Photography, New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, and other museums. She teaches writing and book publishing for photographers at the Santa Fe Workshops in New Mexico. She was Commencement Speaker for the University of Maryland Department of Philosophy, Class of 2008.

(from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/l...)

Reviews

[Daniel A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blue & the Gray by National Geographic writer Thomas B. Allen is a wonderful addition to the library of any history buff, particularly buffs of the American Civil War (1861-65). Comprehensive yet more accessible than, say, Shelby Foote or James M. McPherson's more academic works, The Blue & the Gray contains details galore about the War Between the States, accompanied by myriad photographs, profiles, and maps, both contemporary to the book's publication and to the War, to illustrate one of the bloodiest internecine conflicts in history.

With extensive discussions of the roles of women, African-Americans, Indians, medical professionals, and important figures during the War, The Blue & the Gray conveys vividly the nature of the War, with National Geographic's typical attention to detail and everyday life. It's not hard to visualize the one million casualties—dead, maimed, wounded, missing, and unidentified—on both sides of the War, particularly given photographer Sam Abell's sobering images of solemn battlefield memorials and now-peaceful landscapes. The vintage photographs provide further illustration of the humanity of the War. (Perhaps most unnerving, yet most evocative, is a black-and-white image of a downed horse, its artillery wagon felled beside it.)

In short, a valuable asset, presentable on the shelf or on the coffee table.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains details galore about the Civil War accompanied by myriad photographs, profiles, and maps, to illustrate the American Civil War with extensive discussions of the roles of women, African-Americans, Indians, medical professionals, and important figures during the War