Author of Books: William C. Davis Three Volumes: Fighting Men at the Civil War Commanders of the Civil War Battlefields at the Civil War All of us appreciate printed material which makes the Civil war come alive, whether it be eye- catching illustrations, unique photographs, or an exciting text. The three books of the "Rebels & Yankees" series offer all of these strengths to the Civil War reader, and cover practically all the military aspects of the Civil War. They are well researched and attractive graphically. Each volume, containing approximately 250 pages, covers its selected topic very thoroughly. Each of these books contains perhaps two dozen or more color illustrations of Civil War soldiers by Jeff Bums, which are very colorful, lifelike, and accurate. Despite the fact that most of these uniforms must be pretty familiar to most A.C.W. wargamers by now, these paintings are nonetheless exciting and its interesting to compare the artist's interpretations of these uniforms to these of others. Another strength of this series are the modem and Civil war era photographs, both of which appear frequently. The modem photos includes photos of actual weapons, uniforms, flag, headgear, personal effect, musical instruments, etc. The have been clearly photographed in color and appear in large two-page spreads. Thus, the textures, details, and colors of these items are clearly visible, and can only help the figure painter who wants to paint his collection in a more realistic way. The Civil War era photographs are also extremely useful, and are actually more interesting than the modern ones. Again, some of these images are almost certainly well-known to most (if not all) of us; but then, many are not! Besides the technical information that can be gained from the photos, its interesting to look at the men and their faces, and to think about the experiences they went through. In the "Fighting Men" book, some photos of double amputees are included in the chapter on medical service; they are very sad and sobering. Most of the photos, however, are of individual men or of small groups; a few show entire units. The text of these volumes is also exciting and informative. It's inevitable that once again some of this information will be well-known to A.C.W. buffs, but there is much to be learned from the text anyway. I have to confess to being drawn to these books by Jeff Burns' battle paintings on the covers and by the illustrations and photos inside. I've seen these books in a variety of stores in Texas, and they're probably readily available elsewhere as well. Check 'em out! You'll find yourself using and enjoying these books for a long time Back to The Zouave Vol VI No. 1 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 The American Civil War Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com