ECW Podcast: Gary Gallagher’s Take on Bruce Catton’s Army of the Potomac Trilogy

The Emerging Civil War Podcast is pleased to welcome back the illustrious Gary Gallagher!

Gary recently edited a single-volume edition of Bruce Catton’s The Army of the Potomac trilogy for the Library of America. Gary joins host Chris Mackowski for a discussion about the new volume, Catton’s work in general, and Gary’s next project. (It’s Gary Gallagher–of course there’s a “next project”!)

The Library of America edition “restores the entirety of this essential classic to print in a single-volume collector’s edition, with full-color endpaper maps, a color insert with battle maps, and an introduction and detailed notes and a newly researched chronology of Catton’s life and career.” According to Chris, “It is an incredibly handsome volume, containing some of the best narrative writing about the Civil War ever put in print. Gary’s context makes Catton’s work accessible for a new generation in a volume all Civil War buffs can appreciate.”

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4 Responses to ECW Podcast: Gary Gallagher’s Take on Bruce Catton’s Army of the Potomac Trilogy

  1. What a wonderful, enriching discussion. I will certainly buy the book. In the 1990s and early 2000s, I had a number of battlefield tours led by Gary and Bob Krick. Aside from the deep history they conveyed, they were the proverbial Oscar & Felix team; the combination only deepened and cemented my interest in the Civil War. Great job, Chris, in moving the discussion forward. Gary’s forthcoming work on his mother’s diary and memoir on her experiences in the Pacific during WW II sounds fascinating. No one should miss an opportunity to hear Gary speak as he is one of the best in the business.

  2. Pulitzer prize winning Bruce Catton. I hope it does very well. I want to be around the campfire when Ken Burns, Shelby Foote and Bruce Catton get together to warm some hardtack.

  3. I enjoyed the interview, and expect to select portions of the Catton trilogy for the pleasure of his writing style. Gary definitely kindled my interest.

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