800 paces to hell

Dr. John W. Lynn's remarkable and thorough compilation and annotation brings to life the history, the horrors, and the dissolution of Andersonville Prison. Comprised primarily of hundreds of eye-witness accounts, this book emphasizes the struggles of those who survived their incarceration and of those who did not. Never before in Civil War literature has any book about Andersonville stressed the 'sickness' of this human stockyard from a medically-trained perspective. Union prisoners died in droves from neglect, malnutrition, disease, and pestilence, and other maladies described herein. Dr. Lynn portrays, in moving detail, the prisoners' perceptions of their 800 paces from the train depot to the gates of the prison as entering the depths of Hell. The lack of provisions, medical supplies, food and the werewithal to prepare it, had not only a horrible effect upon the inmates but it frustrated the efforts of some of the prison's officials as well. Told in first-hand accounts which are linked together thematically, and in chronological order, this painstakingly researched volume, complete with dramatic photographs, is a one-of-a-kind effort to document and to analyze the inception, duration, and closure of this Confederate-run prison.