Book Review--Gettysburg Medal of Honor Recipients

Hanna, Charles. Gettysburg Medal of Honor Recipients. Bonneville Books. Springville, Utah, 2010. 271 pages, index, bibliography, b/w photos.

I was in Barnes and Noble Friday and came across this interesting new book. I have yet to read it but thought it might have enough appeal to readers that I would go ahead and put up some information. The publisher looks to be one who publishes mostly religious based works with many being related to the Mormon faith. I still can't quite figure out how this book fits in but there must be a reason somehow.

The introduction of the book gives a brief history of the Medal of Honor and then there is also a brief introduction to the battle of Gettysburg. The book is broken down by the three days of battle. From there the 63 men who fought at Gettysburg that have been awarded the Medal of Honor each have their own brief biography with recipients being dealt with in alphabetical order. Most listings are about 2-4 pages with some being longer. Some of the entries contain a very small b/w photo. I would like to have sees better photos used. What is here doesn't do justice to these men. Also, there are no maps. For a genereal reader that may not mean anything but for those of us with a deeper interest we want to know where these events took place and what was going on around them. Readers like us will have to rely on other sources.

I have not read the book but the author appears to be an expert on the Medal of Honor. Mr. Hanna has served as secretary of the Medal of Honor Historical Society for more than a decade and is also editor of their quarterly magazine, The Annals. I was unable to find a reference to this group but did find one close. Perhaps the name is slightly different.  Again, I have yet to read this book so I can't vouch for its scholarship or readability. I more just wanted to pass on what I thought was an interesting title.