Explains the political and historical significance of Sherman's Atlanta campaign, discusses the strategy of the campaign, and looks at the leadership on both sides The fall of Atlanta was a decisive event in the Civil War. As the authors show, it boosted Lincoln's reelection, jolted Confederate morale, and began Sherman's evisceration of the deep South. This is the most extensive review of the sources and the first modern interpretation of this dramatic campaign. The authors limn portraits of many soldiers, with a very favorable rendering of Sherman as strategist; offer revealing insights into Sherman's army; and look deep inside Atlanta's society and economy. Their comparison of fact with Margaret Mitchell's fiction adds to the book's worth. An excellent military study for university and Civil War collections. Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.