Partners in command

Sherman, Grant, Jackson, Lee, and all the great commanders of the Civil War remain a source of enduring fascination. But, although their individual personalities and strategies are well-known, the truth is that no commander fights a war alone. An essential determinant of victory in any large-scale conflict is effective collaboration among high-ranking military commanders and between those leaders and their civilian superiors. This was especially true in the Civil War where compatability and communication among commanders spelled the difference between victory and defeat for the Union. While the South had its share of successful partnerships, the intense conflict and mistrust among Confederate leaders contributed heavily to their ultimate defeat. Now, prize-winning historian Joseph T. Glatthaar takes us into battlefield tents and halls of government, to look closely at several of these critical relationships on both sides of the conflict and assess their impact on the outcome of the Civil War. - Jacket flap.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.