In Civil Warscapes: Images of American Sanctuaries Eastern Theater 1861-1863, Matthew A. Holzman captures the scenery of the earliest significant battlefields in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. By specifically choosing photographs he has taken over the recent years, he highlights the various actions that ultimately shaped the outcome of these battles.

The visual appearance of certain monuments and structures may very well be known by many who have visited and seen these locations, but the facts behind their meaning with relation to that given battle may not. The windows into these historic places reveal the dedication and destruction that took place on their hallowed grounds. They also display the natural beauty that surrounded unprecedented struggles over one hundred and fifty years ago. From the tranquil and clear water of Antietam Creek flowing under Burnside Bridge to the stone wall at the foot of Marye's Heights, where perhaps no other display of valor was equaled during the war; from the magnificent farms surrounding Gettysburg to the distant views seen from atop converging mountains at Harpers Ferry. Holzman shares his vision of these fields of battle by presenting the critical events that transpired in the middle of their uniquely American landscapes.