Gettysburg: Three Days That Saved the United States is a collection of brief articles that were first published in 2013 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the decisive battle in south-central Pennsylvania on July 1-3, 1863, that turned the tide of the Civil War. First compiled by Ben Nussbaum, this new edition has been revised and slightly expanded by editor Gretchen Bacon.

It's a nice journal of informative tidbits summarizing the battle itself and expanding on related topics ranging from field hospitals and battlefield monuments to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, a 1913 battlefield reunion, site preservation, Gettysburg tourism, the origins of Memorial Day and modern Civil War reenactors. It's by no means a comprehensive historical text, but anyone who wants a short introduction to the topic or a refresher on some key aspects of that three-day conflict will find plenty of information here to quench their thirst and, hopefully, whet their appetite for more.

Some choices are surprising, however; for instance, the book devotes eight pages to the Rev. William Corby, an Irish Catholic priest who gave absolution to some Union troops before going into battle, yet only one page each to George G. Meade and Robert E. Lee, the commanding generals in the field. Confederate General Jubal Early gets a four-page biography; he is the only other commander from either side to be so featured, and it's never clear why he and no one else -- not Reynolds or Buford, Hancock or Sickles, Longstreet or Ewell, Pickett or Stuart -- was singled out.

The book gives several pages to the story of Alexander Newton, an African American soldier, whose personal account is interesting but has nothing to do with Gettysburg, as he wasn't there. And an article on Civil War reenactors is illustrated with photos from events at Bull Run and Cedar Creek, rather than Gettysburg.

A description of the battle itself, start to finish, is just eight pages, and the article gives much more space to modern photos of the battlefield than it does to a narrative of the events. I would have liked to see more focused information, perhaps breaking out some of the key encounters on the battlefield, such as Little Round Top, Culp's Hill or the Wheatfield. Six pages are devoted to the touching story of Amos Humiston, a father found dead on the battlefield clutching a photograph of his three children; he's the only soldier from either side to receive such attention.

Gettysburg: Three Days... is a nice introduction to the subject and one I enjoyed reading, but it is more of a supplementary resource than a stand-alone history book. I wish more ink had been allocated to the battle itself, with additional details provided, but this collection -- with fewer than 100 pages -- is still a handy resource for Civil War enthusiasts.