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Written by John Keegan

• Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
• Publisher: Knopf
• On Sale: October 20, 2009
• Price: $35.00
• ISBN: 978-0-307-26343-8 (0-307-26343-6)

about this book

For the past half century, John Keegan, the greatest military historian of our time, has been returning to the scenes of America’s most bloody and wrenching war to ponder its lingering conundrums: the continuation of fighting for four years between such vastly mismatched sides; the dogged persistence of ill-trained, ill-equipped, and often malnourished combatants; the effective absence of decisive battles among some two to three hundred known to us by name. Now Keegan examines these and other puzzles with a peerless understanding of warfare, uncovering dimensions of the conflict that have eluded earlier historiography.

While offering original and perceptive insights into psychology, ideology, demographics, and economics, Keegan reveals the war’s hidden shape—a consequence of leadership, the evolution of strategic logic, and, above all, geography, the Rosetta Stone of his legendary decipherments of all great battles. The American topography, Keegan argues, presented a battle space of complexity and challenges virtually unmatched before or since. Out of a succession of mythic but chaotic engagements, he weaves an irresistible narrative illuminated with comparisons to the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and other conflicts.

The American Civil War is sure to be hailed as a definitive account of its eternally fascinating subject.

“A master historian delivers his understanding of the Civil War and ponders its imponderables. Hugely important for anyone interested in history.” - Library Journal

“A premier military historian….[Keegan’s] acuity about the war’s myriad aspects, encompassing dramatic battles, appalling costs, and decisive historical results [create a] fascinating analytical narrative.” - Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

“Keegan, an Englishman with a matchless knowledge of comparative military history, approaches [the Civil War] as a choice specimen with fascinating oddities. His more thematic treatment [allows for] far-ranging discussions of broader features. Keegan soars above the conflict to delineate its contours, occasionally swooping low to expand on a telling detail or moment of valor or pathos. Keegan’s elegant prose and breadth of learning make this a stimulating…interpretation of the war.” - Publisher’s Weekly

“Keegan brings his enormous talents for understanding the ‘face of battle’….follow[ing] such writers as T. Harry Williams and James McPherson in assessing generalship….His emphasis on the role of military training, geography, the importance of entrenchments, the use of firepower and infantry tactics, and the technology of war gives Keegan’s book a primary place in the annals of modern warfare….the single best one-volume assessment of the military character and conduct of America’s ordeal by fire….Highly recommended.” - Randall Miller, Library Journal

“A solid history of the Civil War by the grand master of military writing….a shrewd portrait of mid-19th-century America and the background to the war. Keegan stresses big-picture issues of politics, diplomacy, strategy and daily life, so history buffs who skim the battle scenes will still have plenty of rich insights to contemplate. Though he is no revisionist, the author delivers a few jolts….no reader should pass up the chance to read Keegan.” - Kirkus