Archer Jones

The focus of this book is on American military campaigns from the American Indian Wars to the War in the Gulf. Case studies are used to illustrate the strategy behind land, sea, and air campaigns. Over a fifth of the book examines the U.S. war against Japan because it furnishes such fine examples of independent and interdependent operations on land, on the sea, and in the air. This work will appeal to military professionals, students of military science, and enthusiasts.

A comparative history of Union and Confederate command and strategy during the Civil War.

A very readable (though lengthy) analysis of what caused the South to surrender to the North in 1865 -- when, per the authors, the south had not been militarily defeated (i.e., it had the means to continue military operations in a variety of ways) and was unlikely to be defeated and "conquered" militarily. At the end, they contrast the South's war against the North with Paraguay's war against the Triple Alliance of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina to demonstrate a nation's absolute will to resist to the end -- demonstrating that the surrender was a decision. The book, then, discusses the many factors that have been addressed by scholars for the last hundred plus years concerning the South's decision to not continue the fight. Very interesting, very well researched, and written in a way that holds the interest of the layman (these folks are very good writers IMHO). For those wishing a greater understanding of the end of the Civil War, this is a very good choice.