Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is an informative and well-written book. It covers 13 gambles (actions taken with less than guaranteed success). It covers both Union and Confederate gambles, ranging from ones taken at a regimental level to those involving a whole army. Most of those covered were successful, but several were not. A previous reviewer has listed some of them, so there is no need to repeat the list of battles that are covered.
I enjoyed this book and was torn between giving it 4 or 5 stars. I settled on 4 stars because I feel that, while very good, it does not come up to the level I think is required for 5 stars. The coverage is not comprehensive and I do not think that "gambles" is a very strong basis to use as a unifying theme because to some degree most successful military engagements involve some sort of gamble. I also had some concern regarding what audience this book was aimed at. The general reader may find the episodic nature of the battles that are covered to be unsatisfying, whereas the expert may not find enough new material. I found all of the sections very interesting and I learned something from every one.
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In war, every decision is a matter of life and death: take a gamble and you may succeed gloriously...or fail disastrously. And, no conflict illustrates this better than America's Civil War, which was littered with cavalier actions by individual officers and entire units. These 13 dramatic "throws of the dice" show how all levels of command seized upon desperate chance in hopes of victory. Included are battles at Manassas, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Lexington, and Yorktown. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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