Another book I've had lying around for approximately forever; if I stay unemployed long enough, I might actually read my way down to a clean desk. (Now that's a horrible thought, on both sides.)This is a collection of photographs taken by various photographers during the Civil War that all ended up in the files of Matthew Brady. Brady apparently didn't do any major photography himself, due to eye troubles, but he hired teams of photographers and took the credit for their work.
Everything is very posed, due to the technological limitations of the time, and the close-up had not yet been invented. I was occasionally impressed by how these pictures are of a world two lifetimes removed from us (if someone was born when the Civil War started, lived to age 75, and died, a person born on the first fella's death-day would now be 71), but, really, this is just a lot of sepia-toned shots of people in uniform in the distance and various fortifications.
There are people for whom a book like this will be a joy forever, but I'm not one of them; it was vaguely interesting, but now I'm done with it and the pile is slightly lower. But if you're someone who would like a fat book of Civil War photos, this one is out there, and it's pretty good at what it does.
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