Harry L. Katz is the former head curator of the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress and the author of Baseball Americana and Herblock. He lives in Del Mar, California.

At a time before the camera lens could capture the frenzy and terror of battle action, illustrators known as "Special Artists"-among them such famous draftsmen as Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast-created for the American public some of the most important and lasting images of the Civil War. Reporting for newspapers like Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated News, the Specials brought a visceral immediacy to the clash, presenting rich and nuanced images of soldiers in the camps and sweeping panoramas of the great battles. The illustrations span the war and its many theaters, including rarely seen views of Shiloh, Antietam, Vicksburg, and Gettysburg, and the famous stampede of Union soldiers fleeing the Rebels at Bull Run. Gathering these images for the first time in fifty years, Civil War Sketch Book gives readers the sense that they are touching history, for the illustrations (some even stained with soldiers' blood) represent priceless artifacts from our nation's greatest conflict.