McPherson is great at setting the scene so that you can see what’s going to happen before it does. (Of course, he’s taking advantage of the fact that anyone who picks up his book is already somewhat literate on the Civil War, but, still...) I’ve misplaced my copy but can clearly recall that the first thing he talks about is that the Union and Confederacy had their own, different, versions of the song “Battle Cry of Freedom.” That was a great way to start the book. And, as Hotshoe insinuated, he’s less about the actual battles than the lead-up to and aftermath of the battles. He doesn’t skim over the battles but he doesn’t go into them in the detail Foote, for example, does.