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This is one of the all time classic military auto-biographies, written by one of the most successful and most controversial of American Civil War generals. After a fairly poor start to the war, Sherman joined U.S. Grant in time to fight at Shiloh, and from then until the end of the war was closely associated with Grant, taking part in his campaigns from Shiloh to Chattanooga, before taking direct command for the famous march to Atlanta and then to the coast. This proximity to Grant and involvement in some of the most important campaigns of the war make this an invaluable work for anyone with an interest in this period.
The first quarter of this book takes us from Shermans's childhood, through his early army career and to the start of the civil war, while the rest of the book concentrates on the war itself, as seen from Sherman's own point of view.
The book has a slightly uncomfortable mix of very readable narrative and original documents, making it of great value to the historian but perhaps less accessible for the casual reader. Having said that, Sherman's text is clear and uncluttered, and like Grant's memoirs feels surprisingly modern.
Author: William Tecumseh Sherman
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 880
Publisher: Penguin Classics