How did Gettysburg become the most famous battle of the American Civil War and one of the most consequential in world history? Why is the most visited battlefield, the place where veterans came in the greatest numbers, where Presidents pay homage, and millions of families have vacationed? What was it about this three-day struggle in July 1863 in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania that made it seem the "turning point of the war", or the "high-water mark" of the Confederate rebellion? Gettysburg explains the battle's place in the Civil War, why two vast armies clashed there, and how, in the century and a half since, it has been re-imagined, re-created and re-enacted. It is the story of a battle which no one planned but which became the bloodiest encounter of the war, and one with dramatically high stakes. The postwar romanticisation of Gettysburg as the place of "might-have-beens" is based on a kernel of reality. But it also suited the interests of both the winners and the losers for Gettysburg to become the Civil War in miniature: a glorious, storied, tragic tale small enough to comprehend, but large enough to be inspirational. If this was the battle that determined the war, Confederates could tell themselves that if only they had made different tactical choices, they would have won their independence, while Northerners could credit valour for their victory, without the unromantic need to invoke superior resources. Yet there was only a war because of slavery, and Gettysburg's importance lies in its role in ending it. In the speech Abraham Lincoln gave there, four months after the battle, he expressed the hope that Union victory would inaugurate a "new birth of freedom". The history of the battle has been shaped by a contest over what that means.

'Here is a splendid first book to read about Gettysburg. Adam I. P. Smith places the battle within its broader wartime context, clearly narrates its tactical ebb and flow, and, most valuably, assesses its powerful influence on popular understanding of the nation's most disruptive and transformational moment.' * Gary W. Gallagher, John L. Nau III Professor of History Emeritus, University of Virginia *
'In this lucid, learned book, Adam I.P. Smith has captured the emotional power of Gettysburg as both a place and an idea. The epic clash symbolized the triumph of freedom for Unionists and the allure of "what ifs" for Confederates. Over time, Gettysburg became a test of Americans' capacity for forgiveness and a testament to the "endurance of the ideal of heroic warfare." Smith deftly conveys the drama and contingency of the battle itself and of the battle of the imagination, over Civil War memory, that still rages on.' * Elizabeth R. Varon, author of Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South *
In eloquent prose, Smith weaves stories large and small into a sweeping narrative that explains why Gettysburg has loomed so large in the national imagination since those fateful days in July 1863. This volume is destined to become the first place anyone turns to understand the coming, fighting, aftermath, and memory of America's most well-known battle and town. * Caroline E. Janney, Author of Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee's Army after Appomattox *

Adam I. P. Smith was born in the Northeast of England. He read History at Oxford before going on to do postgraduate work at Sheffield, Cambridge, and Harvard Universities. He taught at University College London before being appointed Edward Orsborn Professor of US Politics and Political History at Oxford. He is also the Director of the Rothermere American Institute and a Fellow of University College, Oxford. His previous books have included The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics (2017), which won the Jefferson Davis Prize and was a finalist for the Lincoln Prize.