About the Book
This book is a collection of color images that tells the story of the battle revealing an entirely new way of seeing and experiencing the high-water mark of the Civil War. It is an opportunity to experience a well-known subject in an entirely fresh, and surprisingly emotional, way. You will never think of the battle again the same way. Artificial Intelligence meets Gettysburg. And it is a marvelous pairing. Author Patrick Brennan, a long-time student of the Civil War, published author, and an editorial advisor for The Civil War Monitor magazine, has teamed up with his technology-astute daughter Dylan Brennan to bring the largest Civil War battle to life in striking life-like colours in this remarkable two volume study. Rather than guess or dabble with the colours, as so many do these days, the Brennans used an artificial intelligence-based computerised colour identifier to determine the precise colour of uniforms, flesh, hair, equipment, terrain, houses, and much more. The result is a monumental full-color study of the important three-day battle that brings the men, the landscape, and the action into the 21st Century. The deep colourisation of battle-related woodcuts, for example, reveals a plethora of details that have long passed unseen. The photos of the soldiers and their officers look as if they were taken yesterday. The use of this modern technology has also solved a couple lingering mysteries. It not only helped pinpoint the precise location of one of Gettysburg's most famous "death" images, but determined that two of the seven "Union" dead depicted were in fact Confederates. As Pat Brennan explains, that may also be a "first" when it comes to Civil War photography: "It was long believed this was an image of seven dead Union soldiers. In fact, only five are Union men. The other two are Confederates. I am still researching the issue, but I believe this may be the only photo we have from the entire Civil War that portrays dead from both sides." Gettysburg in Color: Vol. 1: Brandy Station to Little Round Top and Vol. 2: The Peach Orchard to Falling Waters, will be out in 2022 and include nearly 300 photos, paintings, drawings, and woodcuts colourised utilising the latest in colour-recognition software, together with Brennan's unique digital painting techniques, incredible 3-D maps, and his own extensive research. AUTHOR: AUTHORS: A life-long student of the Civil War, Patrick Brennan is a nationally recognised music producer and composer known primarily for his work creating music scores for hundreds of broadcast documentaries. Pat's work has also appeared on dozens of albums from jazz and rock to funk and hip-hop. He served as a historical consultant for the History Channel, Discovery, and National Geographic, is active in battlefield preservation, and is the author of the critically acclaimed Secessionville: Assault on Charleston (1996) and To Die Game: Major General Jeb Stuart (1998), part of Farnsworth House Commander series. Pat has contributed articles to Blue & Gray and North & South magazines and sits on the latter's advisory board. He lives in Wilmette, Illinois, with his wife Sheila. Dylan Brennan was born in 1995 on the anniversary of the Battle of Secessionville. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Cinema Arts and Sciences. Dylan currently works at tastytrade, a financial network that produces 10 hours of live programming every weekday. She is the Master Control Operator in the post-production department where she hones her skills in Photoshop, the primary software she uses in the colourisation process. In her free time, she enjoys shooting film photography and collecting too many houseplants. 200 color images, 20 maps
About the Author :
A life-long student of the Civil War, Patrick Brennan is a nationally recognized music producer and composer known primarily for his work creating music scores for hundreds of broadcast documentaries. Pat’s work has also appeared on dozens of albums from jazz and rock to funk and hip-hop. He served as a historical consultant for the History Channel, Discovery, and National Geographic, is active in battlefield preservation, and is the author of the critically acclaimed Secessionville: Assault on Charleston (1996) and To Die Game: Major General Jeb Stuart (1998), part of Farnsworth House Commander series. Pat has contributed articles to Blue & Gray and North & South magazines and sits on the latter’s advisory board. He lives in Wilmette, Illinois, with his wife Sheila. Dylan Brennan was born in 1995 on the anniversary of the Battle of Secessionville. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Cinema Arts and Sciences. Dylan currently works at tastytrade, a financial network that produces 10 hours of live programming every weekday. She is the Master Control Operator in the post-production department where she hones her skills in Photoshop, the primary software she uses in the colorization process. In her free time, she enjoys shooting film photography and collecting too many houseplants.
Review :
"Offering a new way to learn about the battle of Gettysburg, their two books will likely be useful for visitors to the battlefield, or anyone seeking to learn more about the events. This reviewer was thrilled and amazed by the inventiveness, audacity, and dedication that went into this work, and recommends it highly."-- "The NYMAS Review"
"Amazon subsidiary Goodreads estimates that approximately 30,000 books have been published about the Battle of Gettysburg. Relating the history of that battle in clear and compelling prose, Patrick and Dylan Brennan's Gettysburg in Color stands proudly in the front rank of those volumes. The book's striking feature is its effective use of hundreds of period photographs and drawings to help narrate the story. Drawing on modern technology, the Brennans used artificial intelligence identifiers to reproduce many of those images in color, revealing significant details heretofore largely overlooked. Gettysburg in Color occupies a prominent niche on my bookshelf."--Gordon C. Rhea, author of the 5-volume series on the Overland Campaign
"Patrick and Dylan Brennan's astonishing success with Volume 1 of Gettysburg in Color is only slightly less astonishing than the vividness of their skillful computerized colorizations of 19th-century images. We are used to seeing the Civil War in black, white, and gray only, as though through a glass darkly. But to see the portraits and landscapes of battle made by Brady and Gardner, or the line-drawings of Battles and Leaders, flare suddenly into life through colorization is a welcome shock not far removed from my first view of the great paintings of X. R. Smith, Thure de Thulstrup, and Paul Dominique Philippoteaux. This is a book to read and to look at to see a new Civil War."--Dr. Allen C. Guelzo, Senior Research Scholar, The Council of the Humanities Director, Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship, James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University
"Such a seemingly simple act of adding color to well-known photographs of the war unleashes a powerful effect. Patrick and Dylan Brennan's Gettysburg in Color offers a new and revealing look at one of America's best-known campaigns. The green of the fields, the brown of the dirt roads, and the blue of men's eyes bring the war into closer proximity, adding another layer of humanity to those who fought and survived the battle."--Dr. Caroline E. Janney, Director, John L. Nau Center for Civil War History, John L. Nau III Professor in History of the American Civil War and award-winning author of Ends of War
"Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, Gettysburg in Color is a handsome and visually stunning volume. The Brennans demonstrate how new technologies can reshape our understanding of Civil War photography--no less than the conflict itself."-- "The Civil War Monitor"
