Lee's Terrible Swift Sword

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Here Wheeler powerfully retells the ever-new drama of the great battles of the Southern armies, which, until Gettysburg, made the North tremble. Using letters from soldiers, housewives, adjutants and generals and other accounts of participants or observers, Wheeler assembles a fluid and moving story of the battles, the stakes and the heroes. The love of his soldiers for Gen. Lee, the charm and dash of Jeb Stuart and the tragedy of George MacClellan are all evoked with the lost eloquence of the common citizen of that time. Although Wheeler ( Witness to Gettysburg ) draws on familiar sources without attribution, there is a good bibliography. And while the book does not have the sweep and majesty of Bruce Catton's Civil War classics, which used much the same method, it is a fine record of a time that, on both sides of the struggle, ``tried men's souls.'' Illustrations not seen by PW. Military Book Club main selection. (June)

Library Journal

This latest ``eyewitness'' history follows the formula of Witness to Appomattox ( LJ 4/1/89), Sword Over Richmond ( LJ 4/1/86), and the author's other previous Civil War books. Excerpts from participants' writings carry the story forward, while Wheeler provides connecting narrative. This volume covers the Confederacy's high tide in the East, from the bloody draw at Sharpsburg through the striking Southern victories at Fredricksburg, Second Manassas, and Chancellorsville. Unlike earlier books in the series, it contains enough maps to render the strategic and tactical situations understandable, although the episodic structure inherent in the organization sometimes obscures the big picture. Nonetheless, an exciting and well-told story with vivid characterizations--especially of such key leaders as Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and George McClellan--that enliven the narrative. Excellent for general readers.-- Thomas E. Schott, Office of History, 17th Air Force, Sembach, Germany