Embattled Rebel

Steven Hahn, The New York Times Book Review: The best concise book we have on the subject... McPherson is... our most distinguished scholar of the Civil War era. The Wall Street Journal Mr. McPherson...mounts a defense of Davis is provocative; the book in which he argues it is quietly persuasive.... Mr. McPherson covers a great deal of ground. And there is an economical grace to his prose that makes the book a lightning-quick but lingering read that will appeal not only to Civil War buffs but also to those curious about the Southern presidency and government. The Washington Post [A] fine study of Davis's military leadership....To this day it is difficult for many Americans to view Davis with dispassion, but McPherson has made a noble attempt to do so....Davis himself does not make that easy. Christian Science Monitor Open minds are in short supply today, so it is refreshing that Civil War scholar and Pulitzer-winning author James M. McPherson has taken a fresh look at a subject with which is he eminently familiar: the life and times of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. With more than a dozen books about America's greatest crucible to his credit, the 78-year-old author is still challenging past postulations. North South Magazine Superb... McPherson succeeds admirably in recreating the world of 1861-1865 as seen through the eyes of a Southern nationalist and ardent defender of the established social order, and provides readers with a more balanced view of Davis than that handed down by many of his contemporaries. History Book Club: The first work to discretely consider Davis as head of his armies and navy... Crisply written, thoughtfully considered, and ultimately persuasive, Embattled Rebel is McPherson and biography at their best.