Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American

This is a workable biography of Sherman. I do not recommend it for any except the dedicated Civil War buff. Basil Liddell Hart, author, was a famous British strategist (the strategy of the indirect approach,) military historian and journalist in his day. His day has passed. Yes, it is better to

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approach a tactical, operational, or strategic problem indirectly, to avoid the costs of matching brute force to brute force. It is not so easily done. So yes, Sherman's tactical and operational methods did involve indirect approach in many cases. That is because he was a good general. LH faults Grant against Lee, but it is hard to see how Grant could have indirectly approached the Army of Northern Virginia. LH also has the annoying habit of most Briton's writing about the US (Paul Johnson excepted) of being suppercilious at a level just below the conscious. He is also racist, but he wrote in the 1930s, and was a product of his class and time.

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