I received this book free from Thomas Nelson’s Book Blogging Program called BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review. The book that I received to review is the 168 page “Sherman: The Ruthless Victor” a hardcover “The Generals” series authored by Agostino Von Hassell and Ed Breslin.
I chose to review this book because I am a big fan of history and especially Civil War history. However, I have done more extensive research on the southern side of things due to a supposed ancestry connection in my family to “Stonewall” Jackson. This book did a good job of giving me a different perspective of the Union’s fight through the eyes of a very conflicted man in William Tecumseh Sherman.
I felt that this book is a very good casual read, not being incredibly long or overly detailed as it pertains to the battles themselves. Though it gives good oversight into the battles and gives adequate understanding of what is going on, this book does not give detailed analysis of movements in battle and more, but instead chooses to focus on the details of Sherman’s life and how these battles impact his life and overall legacy. This book does a great job of giving much background into the life of Sherman that gives great insight into the man he becomes, also highlighting interesting facts about Sherman that I never knew.
If I was to give one critique of this book is that the authors sometimes seem to make subjective opinions determining how factual truths were interpreted in the mind of Sherman. Though I believe their assessments were rooted in great study into the life and facts of Sherman, and don’t believe any of their assessments were necessarily off, it might be a hesitation for someone to pick up this book if they are merely looking for a completely unbiased review of Sherman’s life and war strategies.
Overall I found this book to be a very enjoyable read and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the Civil War and how Sherman came to play such an integral role in it.
