The Scourge of War

Union general William T. Sherman has been the subject of a dozen major biographies since the end of the Civil War....Holden Reid provides the best take on aspects of his subject that has ever been written... [namely his] discussion of Sherman the man, his personality, his pre-Civil War and post-Appomattox life.... He also provides the best take on certain aspects of Sherman's war career, such as his near emotional breakdown in the fall of 1861 and his association with the burning of Columbia, South Carolina. In these regards, Holden Reid has written the best biography of Sherman. * Earl J. Hess, Journal of American History *
Leaves the readers wanting more. * Jennifer M. Murray, The Annals of Iowa *
[T]his deeply researched and deftly argued investigation will likely prove to be the definitive one for the foreseeable future....[Holden] Reid carefully connects Sherman's personality traits to his military strengths and weaknesses. * Gordon Berg, History Net *
Brian Holden Reid offers us a wide-ranging biography that serves the field well by placing Sherman within the larger military, political, and intellectual forces of the nineteenth century, in the process helping to restore an oftmaligned historical figure to his rightful place as a supreme military thinker. * Zachery A. Fry, Military History Review *
In this compelling and lucid reassessment of William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-91), Reid (King's Coll. London; America's Civil War) dispels the myths and misreadings of the commanding general of the Union Army and, later, secretary of war, recasting him as a man of wide intellectual interests who understood that winning demanded strategic vision and assiduous planning. Reid's Sherman grew from an officer unsure of himself to a confident general at once bold in thought, meticulous in planning, and deft and decisive in action... Sometimes argumentative but always insightful, this study of Sherman ranks among the best renderings of the man and the conduct of the Civil War, and will help readers reconsider Sherman's character and the discipline necessary to succeed in war. * Library Journal *
In this thoroughly researched and beautifully crafted work, a master historian has produced a strikingly original book, keenly sensitive to context and brimming with insights. Surely it is destined to become the standard biography of this iconic general, debunking many myths and enlarging our understanding of the man, his times, his wars, and his contribution to saving the United States at its most vulnerable time. If you can read one book about the military aspects of the American Civil War, make it this one. * Richard H. Kohn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill *
Deeply researched, nuanced in judgment, and compellingly readable, this is military biography at its best. With both microscope and panoramic lens, Brian Holden Reid gives focus to Sherman's complex character, the interplay of his intellect and action, and his shrewd grasp of operational logistics and strategy, while also assessing his place within the broad stream of modern military development. An outstanding achievement. * Richard Carwardine, Rothermere American Institute, Oxford University *
Comprehensively researched and convincingly presented, this work by a leading British scholar of the Civil War brings a fresh perspective to a complex subject. Combining a powerful intellect with a capacity to learn from experience, Sherman understood with stark clarity war's central feature: inherent destructiveness, physical and psychological. In demonstrating his response, Holden Reid comes as close to a definitive military biography of Sherman as we are likely to see. * Dennis Showalter, author of Instrument of War: The German Army, 1914-18 *
Brian Holden Reid, one of the most accomplished military historians in the world, has written a rich, incisive biography of William Tecumseh Sherman. Drawing on his expansive background in military history, he is able to offer analyses that are original, perceptive, and refreshing. The Scourge of War is a must read for Civil War and military historians. * Joseph T. Glatthaar, author of American Military History: A Very Short Introduction *
The author's capable blending of biographical facts with larger issues makes his study particularly valuable....The most complete and wide-ranging of recent biographies of Sherman. * Kirkus *
Filled with historical insight and commentary....Sherman's strikingly individualistic personality shines throughout this crisply written biography and Reid's refined opinions are welcome. * Civil War News *
In this compelling and lucid reassessment of William Tecumseh Sherman, Reid dispels the myths and misreadings of the commanding general of the Union Army... Sometimes argumentative but always insightful, this study of Sherman ranks among the best renderings of the man and the conduct of the Civil War, and will help readers reconsider Sherman's character and the discipline necessary to succeed in war. * Library Journal *
Magisterial....Writing with impressive scholarship and an intimate grasp of Civil War tactics and strategy, Mr. Reid, who teaches history at King's College London, explodes these persistent fictions and delivers a subtle portrait of one of the most sophisticated military men in U.S. history....In this fine rendering of a bold and complicated life, Mr. Reid has, in short, given us a remarkable man whose name has long been a household word but whom we may never have really known before. * Fergus M. Bordewich, Wall Street Journal *
An insightful and fair portrait of a famed but controversial Civil War general. * Booklist *
Military history with a twist....A complicated portrait of a complex man in a nation at war." * IHistory Today *
[Reid's] deeply researched and deftly argued investigation will likely prove to be the definitive one for the foreseeable future. * America's Civil War Magazine *
It would be hard to find an author better qualified to write a study of the American Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman, than Brian Holden Reid. He is a master historian and the preeminent British scholar of that war, who has walked many of its battlefields and written extensively on the subject....Holden Reid's assessment of Sherman reflects his own experience as a mentor in the operational art... Holden Reid's study of Sherman is as perfect as one could wish. He has captured the essence of a great commander and a fascinating human being * Julian Thompson, RUSI Journal *
Holden Reid... is skeptical of the provincialism that characterizes many American histories of the Civil War. The moment one places the March to the Sea in the overall context of nineteenth-century warfare in Europe and elsewhere, the impression of Sherman's unprecedented brutality fades away....Holden Reid's concluding chapter... is a gem of scholarly military analysis worth the price of the book. * Allen Guelzo, First Things *
Holden Reid probes Sherman's intellect and moves the iconic figure beyond familiar conversations of total war; he assesses Sherman's US Army career at various command echelons from the bottom up to see Sherman's successes and failures at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war. On the subject of Sherman's tenure as commanding general, Holden Reid is the most thorough to date and points to new directions in Sherman scholarship. * Mitchell G. Klingenberg, Parameters *
Essential reading and an instant standard in the field, Holden Reid's The Life of William Tecumseh Sherman... will profit students of military history for years to come... For all of its erudition and scope, and more than its decisive refutation of the false view that Sherman inaugurated total war in the American context, The Scourge of War never loses sight of Sherman's humanity. Indeed, its author has demonstrated why his subject remains one of the most compelling figures of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The story of Sherman's life is improbable, almost incredible, and yet relatable. * Mitchell G. Klingenberg, Army History *