Hundreds of firsthand accounts describing the gruesome appearance of the sprawling and horrific Gettysburg battlefield meticulously describe the true cost of Civil War combat. Greg Coco, the legendary expert on Gettysburg’s dead, painstakingly details the early round of burials and explains how Southern remains were identified (whenever possible) and removed in the early 1870s. Six maps identify the location of more than 100 burial sites. Wasted Valor is a book difficult to put down, and impossible to forget. A wonderful compliment to A Strange and Blighted Land and A Vast Sea of Misery.

“While preparing to become a licensed battlefield guide, I relied heavily on Greg Coco’s books. Once I became a guide, I consulted these wonderful resources as I created tours and programs for Gettysburg visitors. Greg’s works are comprehensive and well-written. All are important in subject matter, though my personal favorite is A Strange and Blighted Land: The Aftermath of a Battle. Every title touches heavily on the battle’s human aspects, which make them very readable and relatable. I recommend them to visitors at every opportunity.”

“The multifarious works of Greg Coco are singularly important in the literature surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg.”

“Greg Coco’s classic works about the Battle of Gettysburg provide an incisive, unvarnished portrait of how the soldiers and the community where they fought fared after the largest battle ever waged in the Western Hemisphere. Collectively, these books help transform our understanding of the true cost of this battle for all of those touched by it. They belong in the library of every student of the American Civil War.”

“Greg Coco’s books gave us a timeless study of the Battle of Gettysburg written by not only a gifted historian, but also a combat infantryman. If all historians are tourists in a foreign land, then Greg Coco has become our guide!”