" An updated edition of this concise yet comprehensive history of the Civil War, written by a distinguished historian of the conflict. Charles Roland skillfully interweaves the story of battles and campaigns with accounts of the major political, diplomatic, social, and cultural events of the epoch and insightful sketches of the leading actors. Of prime interest are the contrasts he draws between the opposing presidents and generals. What traits, he asks, made Lincoln superior to Davis as a war leader? How were Union military leaders able to forge a more effective fighting force, a more comprehensive strategy than their opponents? Roland's thoughtful anwers and his recognition of the contadictions of human nature and the interpaly of intention and chance raise this book above a mere recounting of military events. The story of the Civil War is the epic of the American people. Never has it been told more movingly.
Charles P. Roland is an Alumni Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky. A native of Tennessee, he holds a B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. He has served on the faculties of Louisiana State University, Tulane University, and the University of Kentucky. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the South and on the Civil War. These include a history of the Confederacy and a biography of Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston. Professor Roland’s career in American military history has been unusual, if not unique. He fought as an infantry officer in Europe during World War II and has served as Assistant to the Chief Historian of the United States Army, as the Harold Keith Johnson Visiting Professor of Military History at the United States Army Military History Institute and Army War College, as the Visiting Professor of Military History at the United States Military Academy, and as chairman of the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee. Professor Roland has been president of the Louisiana Historical Association and the Southern Historical Association.
