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3.0

This is a short book that looks at the Civil War through the eyes of the Confederate States. Gary W. Gallagher discusses the Confederate side of the war in four specific areas: popular will, nationalism, military strategy, and their ultimate defeat. His basic thesis is to understand why the people of the Confederate States continued to fight after losing so many men on the battlefield and why they ended in defeat after winning so many battles in the beginning years of the war.

Gallagher had several thoughts on why the Confederacy ultimately lost. It seemed that he felt that, at least from a military perspective, the army was not properly organized and should have spent more effort on guerrilla warfare. Where I'm not sure I completely agree, Gallagher certainly brings up many thought-provoking points and give the reader a look at life during the Civil War from the Confederate viewpoint.
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