The Civil War was the bloodiest war in America's history, comprising 149 general engagements of importance and 2200 skirmishes. The author, a leading expert on the subject, narrates the history of the war and also describes how such factors as generalship, staff work, organisation, intelligence and logistics affect the shape and decisions of the battlefield. He looks closely at the strengths and weaknesses of the opposing sides - the North's industrial strength and the South's material shortages, for example - and the effect of new weapons on tactics. The author also covers the other crucial wars of the nineteenth century, the Crimean War and Prussia's wars with Austria and France.