false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255930365m/6112965.jpg 6112965 3 <p>A riveting history of the battle that permanently turned the tide of the Civil War.<br><br>While Gettysburg is better known, Winston Groom makes clear in this engrossing narrative that Vicksburg was the more important battle from a strategic point of view. Re-creating the epic campaign that culminated at Vicksburg, Groom details the arduous struggle by the Union to gain control of the Mississippi River valley and to divide the Confederacy in two. He takes us back to 1861, when Lincoln chooses Ulysses S. Grant—seen at the time as a mediocre general with a drinking problem—to lead the Union army south from Illinois.<br><br>We follow Grant and his troops as they fight one campaign after another, including the famous engagements at Forts Henry and Donelson and the bloodbath at Shiloh, until, after almost a year, they close in on Vicksburg. We witness Grant’s seven long months of battle against the determined Confederate army, and the many failed Union attempts to take Vicksburg, during which thousands of soldiers on both sides would be buried and, ultimately, the fate of the Confederacy would be sealed. As Groom recounts this landmark confrontation, he brings the participants to life. We see Grant in all his grim determination, the feistiness of William Tecumseh Sherman, and the pride and intransigence of Confederate leaders from Jefferson Davis and General Joseph E. Johnston to General John C. Pemberton, the Philadelphia-born Rebel who commanded at Vicksburg and took the blame for losing.<br><br>A first-rate work of military history and an essential contribution to our understanding of the Civil War.</p> 6290933 7 4 2009 Vicksburg, 1863 total:23|5:7|4:10|3:6|2:0|1:0| 23 93 67 9 4 0 false false Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 07:47:14 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 11:49:13 -0700 2009 Vicksburg 1863 Winston Groom doesn’t focus on those events but they are, in a way, the subject of his book. For his main point is that the destruct...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 07:35:25 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 08:00:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Mar 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 18:34:38 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 18:53:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 13:19:32 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 18:07:49 -0700 2009 take Vicksburg. The accounts of these attempts, and the histories of the main ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 12:22:57 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 12:26:13 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 11:57:03 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 11:58:37 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 16:55:21 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 15:51:40 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 09:32:16 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 09:33:01 -0700 2009 So far, so good. Reading to prep for my time in the Delta this Fall. I want to be informed on the area!]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 28 16:25:59 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 22 08:41:50 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Nov 29 09:50:20 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 29 09:50:26 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 23 11:17:52 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 11:17:52 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Nov 11 02:35:07 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 02:35:07 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 28 08:02:07 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 08:02:07 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Oct 21 17:09:58 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 17:09:58 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 18:54:25 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 13 16:22:20 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 09:10:36 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 09:10:36 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 10 09:52:40 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 09:52:40 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Oct 10 09:36:19 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 09:36:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 06 19:03:21 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 19:03:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 05 15:39:56 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 15:40:20 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6112965