When I bought this book, the sales clerk observed that this looked like a very technical book. She is correct; this is a book for students of the Civil War and military thought. It is not a general history of the war concentrating on what happened when. It is a book that concentrates on how things happened and why commanders let them happen. This is a book about operational planning or the lack of planning. Battles are incidental as the author talks about how the battle was planned and why this type of plan was selected. This gives an experienced student of the war much to consider. Not all of the author's ideas will be comfortable ones and a number of them will be unpopular with the reader. However, the author's basic premise and his development of ideas is intelligent and well thought out. I found that he makes reasonable arguments that are well supported.
The author is professor of American history and military institutions and head of the Department of War Studies at King's College, London. He brings a different view to "our war". This is not a difference in what happened or when it happened. Facts are facts and they are not in dispute. However, he has little or no investment in what Gary Gallagher calls America's traditional views of the war. This frees him to view both sides impartially recognizing their weakness and faults. He is unsparing in pointing these out. With this done, he shows how these faults and accepted doctrine contributed to the failure to follow up victory on the battlefield. This is much more than tired men, lack of supplies and the old running for your life or your lunch explanations. A second major area is seeing the American Civil War compared to the Napoleonic Wars. Yes, there are major differences but Reid shows the reader how similar problems found different answers and why. I found this to be one of the more enjoyable things about the book. It showed me while this is an international hobby others place emphasis on different areas. We can talk about the same theory but have a very different perspective.
Reid brings a breath of fresh air to these questions. This is a well-written and very readable book. It will challenge you with a fresh perspective and make you think about how the war was planned.