Solid military history, the primary aim of which is to detail the many times that Stonewall Jackson, who had a gift for strategic thinking on the same level as Napoleon, proposed what would likely have been decisive followups to Confederate victories, only to be overruled by Robert E. Lee and/or Jefferson Davis. Indeed, Lee comes off as little better than the incompetent Union generals he faced: McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, etc. The value of this book, however, lies entirely elsewhere -- since it contains one of the finest howlers I've encountered in many a year: "To Stuart, this seemed an opportune time to thrust his enlarged force at Hooker's rear." Naughty, Jeb Stuart, very naughty. ( )