Neely considers the war¿s destructiveness in a comparative context, revealing the sense of limit that guided the conduct of American soldiers and statesmen. Modern overemphasis on violence in Civil War literature has led many scholars to go too far in drawing analogies with the 20th century¿s ¿total war¿ and the grim guerrilla struggles of Vietnam.

Mark E. Neely, Jr., is McCabe-Greer Professor of the History of the Civil War Era at Pennsylvania State University and the author of the Pulitzer Prize¿winning The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties.