The Civil War was the bloodiest in America's history, comprising 149 engagements of importance and 2200 skirmishes. The author narrates the history of the war and also describes how such factors as generalship, staff work, organization, intelligence and logistics affect the shape and decisions of the battlefield. He looks at the strengths, and weaknesses of the opposing sides - the North's industrial strength and the South's material shortages, for example - and the effect of new weapons on tactics. He explores the crucial role of the industrial revolution on the course of 19th-century warfare, first in the Crimean War, then in Prussia's wars with Austria and France, and most dramatically in the American Civil War.