America's Civil War; the operational battlefield 1861-1863.

9781591026051

America's Civil War; the operational battlefield 1861-1863.

Reid, Brian Holden.

Prometheus Books

2008

504 pages

$34.98

Hardcover

E470

Whereas his Origins of the American Civil War (1996) was more of a political and social history, this second volume of a planned quartet by Reid (American history and military institutions, King's College London, UK), on the first two and a half years of the war, is an operational military history informed by a knowledge of political and social forces. Focusing, therefore, on generalships, command decisions, strategy, and tactics, while not ignoring the role social and political forces played in conditioning the views and attitudes (and thereby morale) of ordinary soldiers, he argues that the tactical deadlock of the first years of the war did not result solely from the inherent superiority of the power of the defensive, the rifled musket, and breastworks, as has been argued elsewhere, but also combined rampant command inexperience and failure to recognize offensive opportunities. He also discusses operational parallels and discontinuities between the American Civil War and the First and Second World Wars.

([c]2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)