The Civil War Up Close is a thoroughly researched book that features numerous essays on fascinating aspects of the war that have been, for the most part, overlooked by modern historians. It reexamines accepted theories with a fresh, new outlook, and brings hard-hitting analysis to several age-old questions, such as:

• Who were the best generals to emerge during the war?
  
• Who were the worst?
  
• Which battles and campaigns were the most influential?
  
• Who were the women that rose to prominence during the war, and why?
  
• What were the most important military and political decisions made by President Abraham Lincoln?
  
• What were the most important military and political decisions of Jefferson Davis?
  
• What were the long-term consequences of the Confederacy's stunning victory at Manassas?

The essays and features in The Civil War Up Close are organized in chronological order, and serve to motivate the reader to reevaluate long-held opinions through an exploration of lesser-known but fascinating facts about the war and the people who won and lost it.