Amazon.com description: Product Description: Acclaimed historian Jay Robert Nash spent twenty-five years researching and writing the Encyclopedia of Civil War Battles, possibly the most comprehensive reference work ever created on this subject. The Encyclopedia is unparalleled in both scope, with detailed entries for every single military engagement of the war, and also in accuracy, stemming in large part from Nash's extensive use of primary sources. These sources include the actual battle reports, written by high ranking officers from both sides, as well as pertinent memoirs, letters, autobiographies and government documents of the era. While thousands of secondary sources were also consulted, the Encyclopedia's foundation of primary sources sets it apart as the definitive volume on Civil War battles.

As such, it does much to clarify the errors, oversights, and myths perpetuated by many other works in this field. For example, the conventional understanding of the first land battle of the war, the battle of Big Bethel, Va. (June 10, 1861), contends that this was only a minor skirmish, lasting no more than twenty minutes. Nash's meticulous examination of the complete battle report from the Confederate field commander revealed that Big Bethel actually lasted several hours and inflicted heavy casualties on both sides. This peerless accuracy makes the Encyclopedia of Civil War Battles a valuable addition to all library collections and to bookshelves of any military historians or Civil War enthusiasts.

General readers, historians, and enthusiasts alike will find the work eminently readable. While the narrative of the Encyclopedia accurately details the lofty strategy and hardscrabble tactics of the commanders of this war, it also realistically depicts in human and passionate terms the lot of the average foot soldier, whose perspective is seen through thousands of eye-witness reports. The summaries that precede all major entries make browsing easy and enjoyable, and the more than 3,000 illustrations vividly bring the materi