Mathew Brady and the Image of History

Modern memory of the Civil War owes much to the lens of Matthew Brady, one of the most famous and paradoxical figures in American photography. The best of Mathew Brady's brilliant work is here, including his famous portraits of President Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, the Union dead, and Robert E. Lee -- haunting images that strove to create the vision of a stable, purposeful republic even as national identity was fragmenting. Book jacket.

Mary Panzer teaches at Hunter College and New York University and writes on photography and American history. She lives in New York City.