About the Author

Gary W. Gallagher is John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia and author or editor of numerous books, including Lee and His Army in Confederate History and The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 (both from the University of North Carolina Press).

Reviews

[A] fine collection of essays. . . . This is a book well worth reading.--Blue and Gray

Collectively, the excellent essays challenge old assumptions about the campaign, introduce aspects of the battle and its aftermath that have received scant attention, and view military events within the framework of broader social and political issues. The fact that no fewer than three of the essays focus on civilians rather than soldiers suggests the freshness of this new approach to campaign history.--Newsletter of the Society of Civil War Historians

Each of the pieces is well researched and well written, and the authors have presented their theses clearly. Well-drawn maps assist the reader in following the battle events. . . . Gallagher's book will be fun for Civil War scholars and enthusiasts. The authors have presented clearly written essays packed with ideas.--Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

Overall, the essays are lively, interesting, and challenging, in the long tradition of historical revisionism. Civil War enthusiasts will no doubt be stimulated by the debate over whether Burnside was inept, betrayed, disobeyed, or done in by the weather. Lee watchers will be captivated over whether defense or offense was the real Lee.--H-CivWar

Sometimes controversial, always stimulating, The Fredericksburg Campaign is a 'cutting-edge' volume that will enlighten and please students of the Civil War. Indeed, one can hardly wait for Gallagher's next book.--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

The essays in this volume . . . represent significant contributions on the subject from some of the most respected scholars in the field.--Military History of the West

The new perspectives contained in this volume are almost all fresh and provocative and based upon admirable scholarship. No study of the war in the Eastern Theater will be complete without this volume.--Civil War Regiments

This book will intrigue students and draw their attention to often-neglected dimensions of the Civil War.--History: Reviews of New Books