The Long Road to Gettysburg

The Long Road to Gettysburg explores one of the bloodiest and most dramatic battles of the Civil War from two vantage points—through the eyes of two actual participants, John Dooley, age 18, a Confederate lieutenant, and Thomas Galway, age 15, a Union soldier.

Their words, seamlessly woven with Murphy’s compelling text, coupled with photographs, line drawings, engravings, and maps, provide a real-life soldier’s-eye-view of the anxieties of battle preparation, the hardships of battle, the long days of fighting and the sorrowful task of treating the wounded and burying the dead. No reader’s picture of the Civil War will be the same after reading this book.

"The excellent use of quotes and descriptions from Dooley and Galway’s journals brings authenticity and immediacy to the narrative. By focusing on these two ordinary soldiers, readers get a new perspective on this decisive and bloody battle. A first-rate addition to Civil War collections." —School Library Journal (starred review)

Golden Kite Award * ALA Best Book for Young Adults * ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice

"The excellent use of quotes and descriptions from Dooley and Galway’s journals brings authenticity and immediacy to the narrative. By focusing on these two ordinary soldiers, readers get a new perspective on this decisive and bloody battle. A first-rate addition to Civil War collections."

School Library Journal, Starred

"Beginning and ending with the dedication ceremony at which Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, Murphy’s intriguing book presents the story of the battle from the points of view of two actual participants. . . . The firsthand accounts, drawn from Dooley’s and Galway’s own writings, give the narrative immediacy and personalize the horrors of battle. Like Murphy’s The Boys’ War, this volume is generously illustrated with period drawings, engravings, paintings, and, especially, photographs. An important addition to the Civil War shelf."

Booklist, ALA, Starred Review