800 Paces to Hell: Andersonville

by John W. Lynn

Lynn's remarkable and thorough compilation and annotation brings to life the history, the horrors, and the dissolution of Andersonville Prison. Comprised primarily of hundreds of eye-witness accounts (thematically and chronologically arranged), this book emphasizes the struggles of those who survived their incarceration and of those who did not. Never before in Civil War literature has any book about Andersonville stressed the 'sickness' of this human stockyard from a medically trained perspective. Union prisoners died in droves from neglect, malnutrition, disease, and pestilence, and other maladies described herein. Dr. Lynn portrays, in moving detail, the prisoners' perceptions of the 800 paces from the train depot to the gates of the prison as entering the depths of Hell. The lack of provisions, medical supplies, food and the wherewithal to prepare it, had not only a horrible effect on the inmates, but it frustrated the efforts of some prison officials as well.

378 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to know about Andersonville and don't mind wading through what appears to be every written account in existence, this is the book for you. I appreciate the effort taken to provide all accounts allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. Conflicts occur among eyewitnesses of the same event frequently and no effort is made to decide what is the exact story. The account is sobering as the suffering of Union prisoners is detailed. Not enough of anything was provided making the place a classic example of man's inhumanity to man. It is a look at what was to happen during the holocaust 80 years later. We never seem to learn.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good information about Andersonville. But this book could use a good editor.

[Boots LookingLand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to say you "liked" a book that is about suffering and horrors. While I think this is an excellent resource that collects a lot of material on this grim subject, the format is a bit hard to get through. First of all, the book is enormous (dimension-wise), so you feel assaulted by the images and information. Reading in small bites, it's almost digestible, but the subject matter doesn't make for good eats. Perhaps that's the intention or the effect the publishers were going for, but it's rather unsettling (not exactly a beach read).

I don't know whether this book is "comprehensive", but it does have pictures and statistics that aren't commonly found elsewhere. Worth a gander if you're really interested in the topic. Otherwise, I would first recommend something a tad less overwhelming like Ransom's Andersonville Diary.