"This book tells what happened after the smoke of the Civil War battle at Gettysburg had cleared and Abraham Lincoln had delivered his greatest speech ever. Gettysburg Contested is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding not only that pivotal battle, but also the subsequent process of its memorialization. Brian Black has given us a work of consummate scholarship: rich in detail, clear and moving in narration, and loaded with insight into how Americans have created a national memory and a sense of the sacred."
—Donald E. Worster, Hall Distinguished Professor of American History, Emeritus, University of Kansas, and author of Shrinking the Earth: The Rise and Decline of American Abundance and A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir

"Brian Black's Gettysburg Contested is a superb biography of one of America's most compelling historic sites. The drama of three days in July 1863 and the generations of commemoration, preservation, commercialization, and interpretation, bring Gettysburg alive for readers through a lively text and a treasure trove of visual materials."
—Edward T. Linenthal, Professor of History, Indiana University, and author of Sacred Ground: Americans and Their Battlefields

"The study and interpretation of historical landscapes has established itself as a major field of study. Gettysburg Contested contributes to our understanding of the preservation and manipulation of one of America's most cherished shrines. Brian Black's strong narrative details the triumphs, failures, aspirations, and pitfalls of interpreting and preserving an institution that means many things—and often different things—to many people."
—Roderick Gainer, Chief Curator, Arlington National Cemetery

"Over recent years, scholarship on militarized landscapes has ventured far beyond the battlefield itself. Brian Black's handsomely illustrated book returns us to the battlefield, but this is a far cry from traditional military history; for Black has crafted a deeply intimate study of the politics and ecology of preservation, memorialization and restoration at one of America's most hallowed pieces of ground. Steeped in a strong sense of place, Black's handsomely illustrated book powerfully communicates the rich and complex layering of Gettysburg's storied landscape since 1863."
—Peter Coates, Professor of American and Environmental History, University of Bristol, and co-editor of Militarized Landscapes: From Gettysburg to Salisbury Plain

"At Gettysburg National Military Park, the battle didn't end in 1863. For more than 150 years, the place, its meaning, and its natural and cultural landscapes have been in the crosshairs of conflict. In this much anticipated and masterful book, Brian Black traces the battlefield's complicated and contested history, both honoring and critically analyzing efforts to preserve what is among the nation's most sacred spaces. Highly readable, beautifully illustrated, and deeply researched, Black's book is required reading for anyone interested in historical preservation, environmental studies, and the U.S. Civil War."
—Lisa M. Brady, Professor of History, Boise State University, and author of War upon the Land: Military Strategy and the Transformation of Southern Landscapes during the American Civil War

"It is high time that someone came up with this unusually able work. Gettysburg Contested makes a valuable addition to the history of this significant historical battlefield after the battle itself."
—Gabor S. Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute and Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies, Gettysburg College, and author of The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows

"With a keen eye for the natural environment and a scholar's sensibility, Brian Black illuminates Gettysburg's transformation from bloody battlefield to affecting memorial—sacred ground subject to visioning and refashioning by competing constituencies since 1863. Exhaustively researched, deftly organized, and felicitously presented, Gettysburg Contested makes a valuable contribution to understanding Gettysburg's preservation and to memory studies."
—Michael J. Birkner, Professor of History, Gettysburg College, and co-editor of James Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War