Shanks

"Nathan G. Evans, nicknamed "Shanks" in his youth, was a prominent and important Confederate officer. He distinguished himself in the early war years, and his brigade was so well traveled - fighting in so many battles - it was nicknamed the "Tramp Brigade" and became one of the South's more famous units.". "Shanks covers Evans's entire career, from his brave stand with a brigade at the famous stone bridge at First Manassas to his controversial months in North and South Carolina, where his erratic and harsh behavior earned the ire of much of his subordinate officer corps. In the summer of 1862, Evans moved his South Carolina Brigade north to fight with Robert E. Lee's army at Second Manassas and Sharpsburg, where his unit lost hundreds of men in heavy fighting. Within weeks, Evans was back in the Carolinas fighting an invading enemy that outnumbered him 5-to-1. In the spring of 1863, Evans's South Carolinians were riding the rails west to help raise the siege of Vicksburg."--BOOK JACKET.

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.