The Gettysburg Gospel

A magisterial work, a brilliant and moving story that will fascinate the general [listener]. . . . Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals The words Abraham Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg comprise perhaps the most famous speech in history. From Four score and seven years ago to government of the people, by the people, for the people, Lincolns words echo in the American conscience. In the aftermath of the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America, the little town of Gettysburg was engulfed in the worst man-made disaster in U. S. history: close to 21,000 wounded; very few doctors; women coping in barns and churches turned into hospitals; dead horses and mules rotting in the fields; and at least 7,000 dead soldiers who had to be dug up, identified, and reburied. This was where Lincoln had to come explain why the horror of war must continue. In The Gettysburg Gospel, Gabor Boritt reconstructs what really happened in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863. Boritt tears away a century of myths, lies, and legends to give us a clear understanding of Americas greatest speech. Gabor Boritt is the Robert Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. His life story is soon to be the subject of a feature-length documentary film. He lives with his wife on a farm near the Gettysburg battlefield. Audiobook veteran Michael Kramer has recorded more than 100 audiobooks for trade publishers and many more for the Library of Congress Talking Books program. His audiobooks include North and South, Money for Nothing, and Robert Jordans fantasy-adventure fiction.