3 Review(s)

The passion of Robert E. Lee and the puritan streak in cavalier J. E. B. Stuart are only two of the surprises in Alf J. Mapp Jr.'s highly regarded psychological analysis of Confederate military and political leaders. In this beautifully written book, Mapp also brings to life the defensively genteel Jefferson Davis, the paradoxically bold retreater Joseph E. Johnston, the amazingly transformed "Stonewall" Jackson, and the mysterious and astonishingly durable Judah P. Benjamin. Mapp's first-rate scholarship, fresh insights, and exciting prose have made Frock Coats and Epaulets essential reading for generations of historians and readers interested in the Civil War. Revised and with a new introduction and updated bibliography, Mapp's classic study of the men who led the Confederate rebellion against the United States will appeal to a whole new generation of Americans.