From Beauregard and Custer to Lee and Sherman; twelve commanders from each side vividly describe what they and their men experienced at twelve of the war’s most legendary battles from Fort Sumter to Appomattox Court House in accounts gathered from letters; memoirs; reports; and testimonies. They relate noted incidents and personal triumphs and tragedies while covering strategies and explaining battlefield decisions. Trench warfare at Petersburg and Sherman’s scorched earth policy in Georgia foreshadowed the world wars to come; and technological advancements—such as armored steamships; landmines; and machine guns—literally changed the landscape of war. Submarines and a time bomb even came into play. Informative biographies and headnotes for each battle give parallel statistics at a glance and establish context; sidebars cover notable tactics and technologies; including espionage; aerial reconnaissance; and guerilla warfare; and a concise roll-call outline each commander's life in full after the war. Here; from the men who conducted and controlled it; is an invaluable sourcebook of what happened in the War Between the States and why.
#843294 in Books AltaMira Press 1997-11-26 1997-11-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.07 x .82 x 6.06l; 1.20 #File Name: 0761991468336 pages
Review
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful. ReviewBy Allison FleischerBook was in great condition. Used it for class and it had some minor highlighting. Great service and a great use of money.8 of 12 people found the following review helpful. A survey of first encountersBy OKThe book gives an overview of a selection of first meetings between Europeans and other cultures. It has several thorough chapters on (e.g.) the Aztecs; the Tahitians and the Japanese; and more episodic chapters on many more. Several chapters on native Americans may have special interest to North American readers. While containing many fascinating tales; it does not; however; reveal any systematic approach. It is also rather superficial and disappointingly ethnocentric in tone in many places. The potential of drawing on the many 'case studies' in the book to extract some broader insight is not utilized. Hence; its analytical aspects are weak; to the point of being non-existent; and its usefulness for graduate students and researchers accordingly rather limited.
