The months after Gettysburg had hardly been quiet—filled with skirmishes; cavalry clashes; and plenty of marching. Nonetheless; Union commander Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade had yet to come to serious blows with his Confederate counterpart; Gen. Robert E. Lee.“Lee is undoubtedly bullying you;†one of Meade’s superiors goaded.Lee’s army—severely bloodied at Gettysburg—did not have quite the offensive capability it once possessed; yet Lee’s aggressive nature could not be quelled. He looked for the chance to strike out at Meade.In mid-October; 1863; both men shifted their armies into motion. Each surprised the other. Quickly; Meade found himself racing northward for safety along the Orange Alexandria Railroad; with Lee charging up the rail line behind him.Last stop: Bristoe Station.Authors Robert Orrison and Bill Backus have worked at the Bristoe Station battlefield; which is now surrounded by one of the fastest-growing parts of Virginia. In A Want of Vigilance; they trace the campaign from the armies’ camps around Orange and Culpeper northwest through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and along the vital railroad—to Centreville and back—in a back-and-forth game of cat and mouse: the “goggle-eyed snapping turtle†versus “the old gray fox†pitted against each other in one of the most overlooked periods of the war.
#14251 in Books Public Affairs 2015-11-10 2015-11-10Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x .63 x 5.38l; 1.03 #File Name: 1610396006256 pagesPublic Affairs
Review
226 of 236 people found the following review helpful. Very EntertainingBy Thomas ReiterAs noted by other reviewers; the author is a very good story-teller and has included many entertaining and--to some extent--informative vignettes in this book.I have lived in Moscow for many years and have been to many of the places mentioned in the book--unlike some other works I've read about Moscow; this author's descriptions and insights about places and events generally ring true. Moreover; he describes many interesting incidents/personalities that I was not previously aware of; so reading this book was certainly worthwhile for me. As a journalist; the author seems to have had a very good perch from which to observe a rapidly and constantly evolving Moscow.Some other reviewers have criticized the book for not enabling them to "understand" Russia any better. Don't expect to read this--or any other--book and come away with an "understanding" of Russia; but at least it might help readers appreciate why Russia is such a difficult place to understand.I enjoyed the book; so why not five stars? I had three basic concerns about the book:1) Russia; and Moscow in particular; evolves rapidly and is changing constantly. Therefore; many of the author's observations seem a bit dated at this point. The author generally doesn't provide much of a timeline in the book; so it is often hard to determine whether he is writing about 2002 or 2012. Moscow in 2014 is a very different place from Moscow 2002 or Moscow 2012;2) While many of the author's stories are very entertaining; the result is sort of a grotesque caricature of Moscow; which in fact is a huge and heterogeneous city; with millions of absolutely ordinary people very different from those described in this book. The author provides a good description of an interesting but freakish "froth" of people that provide good copy; but creates an impression that they; rather than ordinary citizens; define the city (which; admittedly; they do to some extent...). Therefore; as you read this book; bear in mind that millions of people are taking the subway/bus to work every day as book keepers; lawyers; account managers; etc.; pretty much like everywhere else in the world...3) In a few instances; the author seems to overdramatize things a bit. For example; he goes on and on about the constant fear of having your "documents checked"; etc. In fact; I don't think I've had my "documents checked" even once in the last several years; and it is certainly not something I'm worried about (this kind of thing was indeed more common several years ago; hence my comment about some observations being somewhat dated...).6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. It's the truth; Ruth!By Jon AppletonThis is a contemporary historical thriller. It is in two parts. The first deals with the hideous corruption that is Putin's Russia today and is frightening. I hope someone will write about how this could have happened. I didn't expect Pomerantsev to ponder this question so this is not a criticism. I have many Russian friends in Moscow and have been there often both before and during Putin's reign. I have never seen the people the author describes but educated Russian will confirm his observations. The second part of the book is something quite different. It describes a cult the likes of which exist world wide. It is a detective story. The two parts do not belong in the same volume. Pomerantsev writes compellingly and I await more of his work0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Thought-provoking but doesn't get to the pointBy MrAnderson7Lots of really interesting content; but doesn't really draw it together into anything conclusive. Seemed like it was setting up for a central critique on Russia's modern propaganda but then pulls its punches at the end. Maybe it's meant for you to come to your own conclusions...but the way the book was going; it seemed like there would be one last hard-hitting chapter that summed up how all these different sub-stories were part of the larger Kremlin strategy.I was still sucked in to the book the whole way through and it definitely sheds some new light on the current state of American politics. Worth a read if you're curious about what life is like in post-Soviet Russia.
