For those who have a natural interest in the Civil War, this is a great first hand account of many of the major battles of the Civil War, but this is not what struck me as the most powerful part of this book. William Fletcher takes you on a journey through every aspect of a soldier's life including the food they ate, to the items that they liked to steal (especially off the men), to how one survives in a field hospital. It is a chilling tale of the war's realities and ends with the forlorn and dangerous road home taken in defeat. For every Civil War buff, it is a must read.