The story of Mathew Brady’s life is an important addition to school libraries because photographs taken by Brady and his staff are history’s major record of the Civil War.  This biography, by Don Nardo, is full of photos, from the Lincoln portrait that is the model for the Lincoln penny, to his battlefield photos of the dead at Antietam used by Ken Burns in his Civil War series.

This is a great biography for middle school students as there’s plenty of action in Brady’s life.  Filled with new shops, new ideas, and fast-paced life, New York City was as young and ambitious as Brady when he moved there around 1839.  He opened a business making cases for surgical instruments, but found out that his cases worked well for photographic equipment, and he soon became interested in this new art.

By 1861, his studio was swamped with Union soldiers having their portrait taken before heading to the battlefields of the Civil War. Seeing an opportunity, Brady put darkrooms on wheels, and he and his assistants were off to follow the action.

As an old man, Brady observed that he’d been in the right place at the right time, and with stories from that of the falling skylight that barely missed General U.S. Grant as Brady was making his portrait, to the insider’s view of Brady’s battlefield darkroom, this is a well-told story of a memorable life.

A chronology, chapter notes, further reading, and internet addresses will help serious researchers.  The web sites include many of Brady’s  photos.