Braxton Bragg: The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy

A thoughtful reexamination of a man who has become, unfortunately and unfairly, the South's 'chief whipping boy'. . . . [A] sharp-eyed profile of the general's dour personality and snakebit career [that] will bring much-needed perspective to future studies of the Confederacy.--Russell S. Bonds, The Wall Street Journal

Well-documented, Hess's examination of Bragg is balanced and fair and will interest all Civil War aficionados.--Library Journal

Fleshes out [the] real Braxton Bragg. . . . [A] magnificent new study. . . . Exhaustively researched and trenchantly reasoned.--Ted Savas, Civil War News

Deeply researched and fair-minded.--News & Observer

An enjoyable read that makes a thought-provoking argument. . . . [An] even-handed look at Bragg's military career [that] will be useful reading for anyone interested in Civil War history, particularly the western theater.--The Civil War Monitor

Hess is a prolific author on many Civil War subjects with a well-earned reputation for shedding new light on long accepted theses. Bragg could not have asked for a more thoughtful, careful, and scrupulously honest evaluator. . . . Hess writes with an easy grace born of erudite scholarship and years in the classroom challenging fresh eyes to look upon old stories and interpret them in new ways.--Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia

This important study successfully challenges the many stale caricatures of Bragg that remain deeply ingrained in the Civil War literature.--Civil War Books and Authors

Hess is a first class historian. . . . Among the best in current Civil War writing.--Journal of America's Military Past

A significant addition to our understanding of the Civil War. . . . Any scholar of the war should consider it mandatory reading." --The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

An excellent synthesis that delves into Bragg's decisions and relationships as a general combined with the usual superb writing we have grown accustomed to from Hess. . . . A first-rate analysis of Braxton Bragg and a superb piece of Civil War history.--Army History