ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996                  TAG: 9604050145
SECTION: BOOKS                    PAGE: 4    EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: BOOK REVIEW 
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY DAN FREI

GENERALS COMPROMISE ON STRATEGY

DAVIS AND LEE AT WAR. By Steven E. Woodworth. University of Kansas. Price not listed.

Those who enjoy reading about the Civil War will welcome and enjoy this history by professor Woodworth. Here, through letters, dispatches, telegrams and testimony, the relationship between Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the South's greatest general, Robert E. Lee, is explored in wonderful narrative detail.

Davis and Lee had conflicting views on how the war should be prosecuted, with Davis favoring a defensive strategy and Lee favoring an aggressive strategy. This book details that tug-of-war and Davis' pursuit of a compromise that did not allow either strategy a chance for success.

All of the South's generals are included in this discussion of strategy. The commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of each of them, both by Woodworth and by the subjects amongst themselves are what give this book its texture and personal perspective.

Covering the entire period of the war, this book concentrates on the war in Virginia. It is a history of military difficulties shared by the Confederate military and political commanders and their attempts to meet or solve them.

Clean, well researched and well written, "Davis and Lee At War" is certain to be included in the libraries of Civil War buffs and historians for years to come.

Dan Frei is owner of Dan Frei Communications.

LENGTH: Short :   37 lines