Customer Reviews
First rate account of America's civil war - By: , 30 Mar 2005 
If you want to know about the civil war,how it came about? where,when & what happened? who the key player's were?Then this is the book for you!I wanted a book that was informative, yet writtenin an easily absorbing way.It is vivid without being boring,the only downside is that you find it very hard to put down!
An good synthesis with interesting side articles - By: Cat Lord, 30 Mar 2004 
I read this volume aside "Battle cry of Freedom" from James McPherson, & although it is not as complete, it is quicker to read & contains the essential military developments of the civil war. What I really appreciate, though, are the quality of the illustrations (although some of the maps could have been better & more precise), but even more, the chapters aside the main events, focusing on specific portraits of civilians & soldiers living during this war. If I were to read this book again, I would read it before "Battle cry of Freedom", as a preliminary to understand it even better. Overall, I think this Osprey collection (Essential Histories) is excellent to awake (or not) your interest on a particular war or campaign & give you an incentive to do more research on a particular subject if you like the corresponding Osprey book, providing you a short but accurate bibliography for further reading, which is always useful for the amateur historian.
