• Landscape Turned Red

  • The Battle of Antietam
  • By: Stephen W. Sears
  • Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
  • Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (448 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Landscape Turned Red  By  cover art

Landscape Turned Red

By: Stephen W. Sears
Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.46

Buy for $19.46

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The Civil War battle waged on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek, Maryland, was one of the bloodiest in the nation's history: On this single day, the battle claimed nearly 23,000 casualties. In Landscape Turned Red, the renowned historian Stephen Sears draws on a remarkable cache of diaries, dispatches, and letters to recreate the vivid drama of Antietam as experienced not only by its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate. Combining brilliant military analysis with narrative history of enormous power, Landscape Turned Red is the definitive work on this climactic and bitter struggle.
©1983 Stephen W. Sears (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"The best account of the Battle of Antietam." (The New York Times Book Review)
"No other book so vividly depicts that battle, the campaign that preceded it, and the dramatic political events that followed." (Washington Post Book World)

What listeners say about Landscape Turned Red

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    286
  • 4 Stars
    124
  • 3 Stars
    32
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    221
  • 4 Stars
    104
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    259
  • 4 Stars
    63
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book

I have read Sears' Gettysburg book and wanted to try another - and was not disappointed. I have read various books as to the battle of Antietam but this is the most comprehensive. Sears has a nice way of providing some background information and detailing events leading up to the battle. Then the details of the ultimate battle make it seem as if you were in the middle of it.
I recommend this for a wide varitey of audiences.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Editor?

I have to wonder IF the editor knew anything about the battle or even listened to this recording. The famous Confederate General Harry Heth, one of the main subject personalities of day one of a three battle (properly pronounced HEATH, not as it's spelled. The word edible isn't pronounced eat-able either. It's just annoying is all. It would help if the editor knew a little about the subject matter. How does one go about getting these jobs?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

It's been on my shelf for 25 years!

I've owned this book for some time having acquired it many, many years ago. Not being a fan of the Army of the Potomac, I was never compelled to read it until now. I was not disappointed! Written in the early 80's, this is a classic. The unit detail and for both the North and the South is excellent and the quotes form the combatants adds to the flavor of this read. "Little Mac" was a horrible commander! and this book outlines why. I look forward to listening again...Maybe this September 17th!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Best Coverage of America's Bloodiest Day

Great book! Sears is knowledgable and fair, but it is really his ability to create an interesting narritive of an event most readers are already largely familiar with that makes "Landscape Turned Red" work so well. In large measure Sears succeeds, because he weaves in interesting quotations from such a wide variety of sources without distracting the story. He quotes Lee and McClellan, but also from unknown officers and men on both sides. Great work!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating

This superbly written, well narrated book brings clarity to exactly why this battle was the bloodiest in American history. Having an ancestor that died from wounds received during the fighting at the corn field near the 'Dunker Church'; the telling of the tale enabled me to visualize what the battle must have been like for these brave men on both sides. Excellent!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Landscape Turned Red

One of the best accounts of the Battle of Antietam that I've ever read. The book is amazingly detailed. It's clear that an incredible amount of research went into the writing of this book, including the most detailed account of the Battle of South Mountain I have yet read. A must read for any true Civil War Buff who is interested in the who,what,when and why of a battle

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An in-depth account of the Battle of Antietam

Steven Sears does an outstanding job of telling the many details of the horrible battle. I have been able to find very little surprisingly so on this battle and this is the first thorough account that I have read of it. Steven Sears how's the many different sides of the story from George McClellan, to Robert E Lee, to General Burnside, General Longstreet and the remarkable soldiers that were the ones doing the fighting. The many different stories are confusing and enlightening at the same time much as the battle itself was. He also captures the political background of what was happening leading up to this battle and following it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Informative

I listened to this book as preparation for a visit to the battlefield. I think its important to understand the backstory, otherwise you're just looking at an empty field. It sure was peaceful when I was there. Driving down the Sunken Road, and viewing Burnside's bridge, I thought of the thousands who lost their lives.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Reader issue

This is a very good book, if you have a specialized interest in the civil war. However, the reader puts on obnoxious British and Southern accents when quoting respective characters in the story. Fortunately, this is a small part of the text, but distracting. One wonders if someone asks the readers to exaggerate distinction between characters to this end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the most in-depth and detailed account of Antietam

This book is without a doubt the most detailed account of that horrible day you will ever find. It is stuffed with personal anecdotes of everyone from the privates all the way up to the generals, as well as the civilians who experience the battle. It was a chaotic battle, so this work can be hard to follow, but Sears does a good job of striking through the confusion to create a coherent and compelling narrative. If you read one book on Antietam make it this one

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!