Civil War Battles Book of Postcards

The products of a more genteel era, the battle scenes presented here are often quite tidy, without the ambient howling chaos of combat; nobility is plentiful and carnage is discreet. Still, it is possible, looking at some of these images (notably Storming Fort Wagner), to imagine the dread of slow-marching up a hill while a battery of cannon rains death all around you, and—with a bit more thought—to conceive of the grit and sense of duty that would keep you from running away.

Colorful and quaint, these images look at war in a way that suggests a nation anxious to keep its heroes, and its own heroism, eternally alive. They are accompanied by brief, informed historical notes from a Library of Congress historian.