Braxton Bragg

“A thoughtful reexamination of a man who has become, unfortunately and unfairly, the South’s 'chief whipping boy'. . . . [A] sharp-eyed profile of the general’s dour personality and snakebit career [that] will bring much-needed perspective to future studies of the Confederacy.”—Russell S. Bonds, Wall Street Journal

“Well-documented, Hess’s examination of Bragg is balanced and fair and will interest all Civil War aficionados.”—Library Journal

“Fleshes out [the] real Braxton Bragg. . . . [A] magnificent new study. . . . Exhaustively researched and trenchantly reasoned.”—Civil War News

“Deeply researched and fair-minded.”—News & Observer

“An enjoyable read that makes a thought-provoking argument. . . . [An] even-handed look at Bragg’s military career [that] will be useful reading for anyone interested in Civil War history, particularly the western theater.”—Civil War Monitor

“Hess is a prolific author on many Civil War subjects with a well-earned reputation for shedding new light on long accepted theses. Bragg could not have asked for a more thoughtful, careful, and scrupulously honest evaluator. . . . Hess writes with an easy grace born of erudite scholarship and years in the classroom challenging fresh eyes to look upon old stories and interpret them in new ways.”—Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia

“This important study successfully challenges the many stale caricatures of Bragg that remain deeply ingrained in the Civil War literature.”—Civil War Books and Authors

“Hess is a first class historian. . . . Among the best in current Civil War writing.”—Journal of America’s Military Past

“A significant addition to our understanding of the Civil War. . . . Any scholar of the war should consider it mandatory reading.”—Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

“An excellent synthesis that delves into Bragg’s decisions and relationships as a general combined with the usual superb writing we have grown accustomed to from Hess. . . . A first-rate analysis of Braxton Bragg and a superb piece of Civil War history.”—Army History