Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137523 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Synopsis
Recounts the Civil War battle at Chancellorsville where Robert E. Lee scored his greatest victory.

Customer Reviews

Unmatched study of Civil War battle
I have reviewed one or two books on Amazon and, as an enthusiast, have given a couple "five stars". The problem with this is when you hit a book like this one. Five stars just aren't enough.

This is the best battle history I've ever read; it's probably the best work of military history I've ever read (and there's been a few). Sears takes you into the mind of the combatants during Chancellorsville and explains lucidly why they did what they did. This battle has had a few volumes on it - mostly sharply critical of the Union commander Joe Hooker, mostly based on some well-chosen phrases from disgruntled Union officers. Sears unpicks that carefully woven fabric of falsehood, though also shows why Hooker failed.

Perhaps the emphasis is more on the North with Robert E Lee shown as a courageous commander whose splitting of forces and flank attacks are, really, more to the Union plan than his own. This is not to belittle Lee, but does provide some well-needed balance from the hyperbole of many writers about Chancellorsville.

Buy it

Lifts the fog from this complicated battle
Want to get a clear understanding of this complex Civil War campaign? Painlessly? This is the book. Sears has a way of explaining a complex and chaotic event in a logical and very readable way. The book is very detailed, but Sears never lets you get lost in it. I had a mental picture of this campaign pieced together from a large assortment of other sources. That picture has been profoundly changed by this book and it has my highest recommendation.