The Battle of Atlanta

‘An intriguing and convincing reassessment of the US Civil War’s Siege of Atlanta as one of great hinge moments of history.’ Saul David

1864.

The Civil War still rages on.

Lincoln is running for his second term of office.

There is war weariness in the north, riots against the draft, desertions from the army, the proclamation freeing the southern slaves is not universally approved of - and the Siege of Atlanta seems never ending.

American history was at a tipping point.

All the indications were that Lincoln’s Democrat opponent would win in a landslide, with a manifesto of an immediate end to hostilities and negotiations with the South - a two state solution.

The South did not have to win the war - only to avoid losing it. If they could hang on in Atlanta until the election, then a Democrat victory could provide a much-needed lifeline.

But the Confederacy made their greatest mistake of the war. They abandoned the policy of defend and wait and went on the offensive.

It failed.

Atlanta fell, morale in the North improved overnight, Lincoln won the election, and the Union was preserved.

Bestselling military historian Gordon Corrigan recounts the Siege of Atlanta, the events back in Washington and its aftermath - and what could have been.

Major Gordon Corrigan is a retired Gurkha officer, a member of the British Commission for Military History and Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. Fluent in the Nepali language, he is now a freelance military historian and battlefield lecturer. He is a well-known figure on the History channel. He is also the author of Sepoys in the Trenches, Loos: 1915 and Wellington: A Military Life.

Praise for Gordon Corrigan:

‘Political, fluent, well-researched and extremely argumentative.’ Andrew Roberts

'Meticulously researched and well-written.' Pennant

Sepoys in the Trenches:
'In this scholarly and eminently readable book, Major Gordon Corrigan . .. has, at a stroke, filled a significant gap in the historiogaphy of the the First World War.' Professor Peter Simkins

The Second World War: A Military History:
‘… will serve as an invaluable source of reference, but more to the point this book should be savoured for its trenchant opinions and its forceful and uncluttered prose.’ The Daily Express

The Battle of Aegospotami:
‘A masterful storyteller and expert military historian, Gordon Corrigan recounts the bravado, betrayal and bloody final battle of the multi-generational war that tore the Greek world into two. A thrilling account of one of history’s most decisive encounters.’ Hareth Al Bustani, author of Nero and the Art of Tyranny