Robert L. O'Connell received a Ph.D. in history at the University of Virginia, and spent thirty years as a senior analyst at the National Ground Intelligence Center. He is presently a visiting professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, and was a contributing editor to MHQ- The Quarterly Journal of Military History. He is the author of numerous books, including The Ghosts of Cannae- Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic; Of Arms and Men- A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression; and Soul of the Sword- An Illustrated History of Weaponry and Warfare from Prehistory to the Present.
“A superb examination of the many facets of the iconic Union
general who emerged as Ulysses S. Grant’s most trusted battlefield
commander. [Robert L.] O’Connell’s biography of Sherman brings to
life an enigmatic, fascinating figure who emerged a brilliant
strategist and a master of maneuver, and whose victories in 1864
helped to ensure Abraham Lincoln’s re-election and ultimately
turned the tide of the Civil War.”—General David
Petraeus, Politico
“Sherman’s standing in American history is formidable. . . . It is
hard to imagine any other biography capturing it all in such a
concise and enlightening fashion.”—National Review
“A sharply drawn and propulsive march through the tortured psyche
of the man.”—The Wall Street Journal
“[O’Connell’s] narrative of the March to the Sea is perhaps the
best I have ever read.”—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
“William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the great characters in
American history—protean, highly effective, cunning, outrageous,
and in every way memorable. He has found just the right biographer
in Robert L. O’Connell. Fierce Patriot is a surprising, clever,
wise, and powerful book.”—Evan Thomas, author of Ike’s Bluff:
President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World
“For those who think they know a lot about William Tecumseh
Sherman, this book will be a revelation. Those who are meeting him
for the first time will be equally mesmerized.”—Thomas Fleming,
author of A Disease in the Public Mind: A New Understanding of Why
We Fought the Civil War
“To his family and friends he was Cump; to his soldiers he was
Uncle Billy; to generations of Southern whites he was the devil
incarnate. But to biographer Robert L. O’Connell, William T.
Sherman was the quintessential nineteenth-century American: full of
energy, constantly on the move, pragmatic, adaptable, determined to
overcome all obstacles, a nationalist and patriot who teamed with
Grant and Lincoln to win the Civil War and launch America as a
world power. This readable biography offers new insights on Sherman
as a husband and father as well as a master strategist and
leader.”—James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
“A fascinating dissection of the multifaceted lives of William
Tecumseh Sherman—military genius, brilliant organizer, inspired
observer, and occasionally wayward husband. Sherman, O’Connell
reminds us, was as brilliantly unpredictable on the battlefield as
he was off it.”—Victor Davis Hanson, The Hoover Institution, author
of The Soul of Battle and Ripples of Battle
“William Tecumseh Sherman has to be our premier grand strategist,
who set unexpectedly bold boundaries, not just for war but for
peace, and kept to them. In Fierce Patriot, Robert L. O’Connell has
fashioned a remarkable, and remarkably original, portrait of one of
the people who truly defined America.”—Robert Cowley, founding
editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History
“William Tecumseh Sherman was the most fiery, complicated, and
inconsistent of America’s great generals. In Robert L. O’Connell’s
aptly titled Fierce Patriot, he brings this conflicted American
hero vividly to life. For both the Civil War buff and the general
reader, Fierce Patriot offers new and arresting insights into this
remarkable figure and his impact on the world in which he
lived.”—Charles Bracelen Flood, author of Grant and Sherman: The
Friendship That Won the Civil War
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
