1 begins one of the most remarkable works of history ever fashioned. All the great battles are here, of course, from Bull Run through Shiloh, the Seven Days Battles, and Antietam, but so are the smaller ones: Ball's Bluff, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Island Ten, New Orleans, and Monitor versus Merrimac. The word "narrative" is the key to this extraordinary book's incandescence and its truth. The story is told entirely from the point of view of the people involved in it. One learns not only what was happening on all fronts but also how the author discovered it during his years of exhaustive research. This first volume in Shelby Foote's comprehensive history is a must-listen for anyone interested in one of the bloodiest wars in America's history.

    How near the South came to victory is clearly set forth in these pages. The author vividly conveys the background of the crucial b attle of the Civil War so that the reader can fully appreciate its unfolding.

    

    General Nathaniel Banks conducted a combined military and naval campaign up the Red River that lasted only from March 12 to May 20, 1864, but was one of the most destructive of the Civil War."It is an ugly tale, and except piecemeal--in diaries, memoirs, and chapters in other books--has not been fully told. Ludwell H. Johnson's book is thorough, scholarly, and moving. He goes into the complex of reasons, beginning with the annexation of Texas, that impelled men to employ shady means top attain decent ends. He goes into the Washington phase of the matter, especially Mr. Lincoln's part in it, something until now unrevealed. . . . Johnson describes the fighting, dollying his camera nicely for close shots when he wants them, giving dreadful pictures of war."--James M. Cain, New York Times Book Review"At a time when so much repetitious material is being produced on the Civil War era it is refreshing to read a monograph characterized by as much originality as this one. The book is well documented and thoroughly done, and the title is well chosen, since the narrative represents a careful intertwining of the play of military factors, cotton, and politics."--H. H. Simms, American Academy of Political & Social Science Annals