This is an older book, detailing the American Civil War from Fredericksburg to Meridian. This includes super famous events like Gettysburg, the fall of Vicksburg and Chickamauga. It is the center book of a trilogy, and one of the longest books that I have ever read.

This book counts itself as a narrative and indeed it is. The book moves between different narrative threads - the Eastern theater with famous generals like Lee and Stonewall Jackson and the lesser-known but more important Western theater - and follows the flow of history as a story.

It starts with the horrendous debacle at Fredericksburg and the brilliance of Robert E Lee’s attack on the Union army at Chancellorsville. It ends with US Grant’s appointment as the top general in charge - leaving us with an exciting cliffhanger: General Sherman going after Joe Johnston and Grant with Lee.

The Civil War is a fascinating story because it is essentially an underdog fighting an ultimately losing war. The South had a chance but it did not take advantage of what it had. For whatever reason, leadership made all the right tactical decisions to win the battles but lose the war. The strategy was flawed.

I do feel that the book has a slight Confederate lean. Perhaps this is for narrative purposes - the blunt edge of the story is that the Confederates never had a chance against the Union - because the best stories are always with the underdogs. The majority of the text and stories side with the Confederate’s side. Some of the most exciting stories that I remember from this book includes:

• A magnificent account of an exciting chase-duel between Nathan Bedford Forrest and a Union cavalry
• The Battle of Gettysburg, all three days
• The stunning Battle of Missionary Ridge, where a Union army decided it was gonna run up a seemingly impregnable hill full of Confederate outposts and amazingly enough took it

Regardless of biases and the such, this is a well written book with a flair for language and a great cast. I recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the US Civil War.