Description: In the first comprehensive biography of President Lincoln's chief war advisor from 1862-1864, a prize-winning historian recreates the life of a man of enormous achievement who bungled his most important mission. Marszalek unearths the seeds of Halleck's fatal wartime indecisiveness in personality traits and health problems.
Brief description: John F. Marszalek is William L. Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Mississippi State University and Executive Director Emeritus of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. His numerous books include Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order and, with Louie P. Gallo and David S. Nolen, The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: The Complete Annotated Edition.
Review Quotes: Not only does this study fill a biographical void; it is also remarkably evenhanded for an examination of a figure who never quite measured up to the Civil War responsibilities of his offices... Scrupulous in its scholarship and fair in its judgments, John Marszalek brings to the work a comprehensive mastery of Civil War history that is indispensable.--Russell Weigley, author of The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy