Reviews

"A challenging new assessment of Joe Johnston's conduct of the defense of Richmond and an important contribution to the scholarly debate about Civil War military leadership. No serious student of the war can overlook Newton's careful research and provocative conclusions."--Craig L. Symonds, author of Stonewall of the West"This is by far the best thing I know of on the war in Virginia in the first five months of 1862. I have learned a lot from Newton's work and I recommend it very strongly."--Richard M. McMurry, author of Two Great Rebel Armies"An impressive, invaluable, and bracingly revisionist account of Johnston's service in Virginia."--Steven E. Woodworth, author of Davis and Lee at War

"In this well-written and engrossing revisionist interpretation of Johnston's command in the Army of Northern Virginia from February to May 1862, Newton presents Johnston as an able administrator and strategist who conducted operations in conformity with the directives of Jefferson Davis."--Journal of Military History"What gives Newton's book a special niche is his exhaustive research and blend of narrative historiography."--The Virginia Magazine"This treatment of Johnston is a work whose time has come."--Southern Historian"A well-researched, well-argued, and well-written book that challenges the long-held view that Johnston was a failure as commanding general in Virginia. Newton's analysis of Joseph E. Johnston during the peninsular campaign is excellent history."--Journal of American History"Students of the intricacies of Civil War strategy and the Byzantine world of the Confederate high command will welcome Newton's assessment of the war in Virginia in the first five months of 1862."--Journal of Southern History