The Civil War Paintings of Mort Kunstler — Volume 3: The Gettysburg Campaign

By Mort Kunstler
Illustrated, art index, 240 pp., 2007. Cumberland House Publishing, 431 Harding Industrial Dr., Nashville, TN 37211, $18.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Blake A. Magner

Blake A. Magner is the Book Review Editor of Civil War News. He makes his liv­ing as an editor, writer, car­tographer and photographer of Civil War history. He is author of At Peace With Honor: The Civil War Burials of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Review:

If by any chance you have either read the books or seen my reviews of the first two volumes of Mort Kunstler’s paintings, you will find little new in this review. This book focuses on the Gettysburg Campaign and the individuals, including John Buford, Joshua Chamberlain, Robert E. Lee and Lewis Armistead.

The actual battle paintings start with Buford’s cavalry entering Gettysburg and the actions of the first day. These are followed by the actions on Little Round Top and also include Barksdale’s charge. Then a full 80 pages is devoted to Longstreet’s July 3 Assault. Interspersed among the paintings of the three days are prominent images of Robert E. Lee with other paintings of John Reynolds, Winfield Scott Hancock and James Longstreet.

The one interesting thing about Kunstler’s paintings is that they are action-packed. With so many devoted to July 3 some paintings are of the same subject but are presented in a different view, focusing on the Confederates in one and the Federal soldiers in another.

As in the past volumes each painting is accompanied by Kunstler’s text which discusses not only the image but in many cases the why, what and how behind it. The text is well-written but contains more factual errors than his past books.

To repeat myself, if you are a fan of Mort Kunstler’s artwork I strongly suggest you pick up this volume.