Rating: 
Summary: An excellent, detailed account of Chancellorsville
Review: This book is an excellent summary of the actions and reactions making up the battle of Chancellorsville. It debunks many of the myths surrounding both the Union and Confederate armies and generals. Sears does his best to relate exactly what happend (as near as we can tell).
At times, though, the text falters. Especially when you're trying to keep all the regiments, people, and locations straight. I also thought that this book didn't read as smoothly as others, for example, Shelby Foote's Civil War series.
All-in-all, though, this book is definitely worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb!
Review: This is a marvelous study only a hundred years late for poor Joe Hooker. Sears has not only brought us critical new information, but debunked some old information and placed more into an enlightening context. The author continues to improve his impressive grasp of detail and the view from ground-level participants. But what is more exciting is his grasp of the interaction of the many details and his ability to describe the forest as well as the trees. For a century this battle has been baffling, primarily because of the seemingly sub-par performance of the Union commander. But this telling casts light on apparent contradictions of Hooker's words and deeds. As a lifetime student of the Civil War I finished this book with a profoundly different view of what transpired in May, 1863. With this book Sears had finally led Joe Hooker, and all of us, out of the wilderness
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for both those new and old to the civil war.
Review: This is an excellent book. I am a well read civil war buff and still the book kept me turning pages to find out what happens next. That speaks a lot to the writing style of the author. Sears did a lot of extra research and took nothing for granted about the conventional wisdom concerning this battle
Rating:
Summary: No need for another Chancellorsville book!
Review: This is the definitive volume on the Chancellorsville Campaign, bar none! No other book need be written about this campaign, although more would be welcome. Mr. Sears is a great writer, and it shows. The Chancellorsville Campaign is considered by many "Lee's Greatest Victory," and, well, this book is Sears' greatest victory!
As if the terrific writing is not enough, the maps, by George Skoch, are excellent. There is also an abundance of maps, always a plus in my book. Maps are essential to a military history; these maps do not dissapoint. I found the account of the despise of General Burnside to be great, and the rendering of Stonewall Jackson's ill-timed death moving. If you are a buff of Civil War--or even military--history, this book is essential to your library. If this book does not go down as one of the greatest of Civil War writing, it would be a crying shame. Get this book!
Rating:
Summary: No need for another Chancellorsville book!
Review: This is the definitive volume on the Chancellorsville Campaign, bar none! No other book need be written about this campaign, although more would be welcome. Mr. Sears is a great writer, and it shows. The Chancellorsville Campaign is considered by many "Lee's Greatest Victory," and, well, this book is Sears' greatest victory! As if the terrific writing is not enough, the maps, by George Skoch, are excellent. There is also an abundance of maps, always a plus in my book. Maps are essential to a military history; these maps do not dissapoint. I found the account of the despise of General Burnside to be great, and the rendering of Stonewall Jackson's ill-timed death moving. If you are a buff of Civil War--or even military--history, this book is essential to your library. If this book does not go down as one of the greatest of Civil War writing, it would be a crying shame. Get this book!
Rating:
Summary: chancellorsville by stephen sears
Review: this was a well written book on one of the civil war's less popular battles.the first part of the book sets up general hooker's manuevers and placing of the union army done with precision and rapidity. then the author shows how hookers'plans became unravelled. it almost appears that there are two joe hookers fighting the battle. one,the confident,efficient general setting up the union army for victory and later a cowering confused hooker afraid of "his own shadow".what happened to fighting joe hooker at chancellorville? so hooker loses the first day,it's not a disaster,as the casualty lists attest to. alot of southern women will also be in mourning black. when grant was beaten at shiloh on the first day he says,"i'll get em tommorrow",and he did. hooker on the other hand seems to panic,which causes a crisis of confidence in the union army.from reading chancellorsville,i would say that the wound to the head that hooker received at the chancellor house,affected him more than is recognized, and affected his judgement. he was a member of the "walking wounded" and received blame that he might not have deserved.from reading sears book,i had more questions about chancellorsville which i needed answered,and that's always a sign of a good book. i went out and scouted out a book on fighting joe hooker,and sure enough,i found out that even though he had an active and inspiring career after chancellorsville,he was slighted off because of chancellorsville.the severe concussion that hooker suffered at chancellorsville,caused him medical problems later on,a series of strokes,but what would have been the result if he would have said after the debacle of the first day,"we'll get em tommorrow".the union army would have cheered and followed him to down the brutal and bloody road to richmond.
Rating:
Summary: Definitive account of the battle that dispells many myths
Review: Too often, the battle of Chancellorsville has been viewed as merely another of a series of humiliating defeats for the Army of the Potomac at the hands of RE Lee, and that the battle was further evidence of Lee's tactical genius triumphing over the bumbling leadership of his Union counterparts. Certainly Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia came to view it as such, and that misperception in no small measure contributed Lee's defeat two months later at Gettysburg.
What Stephen Sears presents is a considerably different picture, that of a battle which, although a tactical Confederate victory, represented more of a draw in the larger operational sense. Far from being an uncertain leader in the mold of McClellan or Burnside, Joe Hooker is shown by Sears as a leader who has a very clear idea of what his operational objectives, and his battle plan for Chancellorsville cannot fail to impress. Certainly he completely out-generalled Lee, successfully executing an elaborate maneuver which landed the Union army in the rear of the unsuspecting Lee. Lee's unconventional division of his forces is the one element of Chancellorsville that one always hears about, but what is often not emphasized is that Lee was forced to these desperate measures by Hooker's superior maneuvers.
Once Jackson begins his massive flanking maneuver, Sears really hits his stride as a writer. The reader is left awestruck at Jackson's skill as a corps commander. Even though the wisdom of this flanking maneuver certainly is open to debate, nevertheless Jackson was able to move a massive number of men a great number of miles largely undetected, and that is no minor accomplishment. Sears then describes the rout and destruction of the XI Corps that is both vivid and coherent. A scene such as that cannot be easy to describe so as to be followed by the reader, but Sears is more than equal to the challenge.
I remember how Chancellorsville was described in Ken Burns' celebrated (but at times flawed) documentary --- "the defeat was total." Well --- not exactly. Certainly the XI Corps was shattered, but by and large the Army of the Potomac gave as good as it took, and possibly could have taken the day had a counter-offensive been launched. Even with the element of surprise, Jackson's corps did not succeed in shattering Hooker's flank. How it came to be that Hooker, despite a significant advantage in numbers and superior maneuvering, failed to achieve his objectives is where Sears devotes the bulk of his energies and where is book is most valuable.
Some reviewers have faulted Sears for being nothing more than an apologist for Hooker, making excuses for Hooker's numerous blunders. Sears definitely does not have the scorn for Hooker that he has acquired for McClellan. While he obviously feels that Hooker's reputation has suffered unfairly, I don't know if I would call Sears an apologist. He makes it clear where the fault lies at Chancellorsville: Howard's complete negligence in fortifying his positions, even though he had an entire day in which to do it; Stoneman's utter failure to make even a dent in Lee's supply lines, despite having more than adequate strength in numbers; and Sedgwick's timid advance against a thinly defended Confederate position, which if pursued more aggressively would have resulted in yet another threatened flank for Lee. How can one argue with this? Hooker couldn't micromanage everything, and presumably these experienced officers should have known how to do their jobs. As far as Hooker's behavior after his concussion, one cannot blame him one way or the other, because that is the way concussions are --- one is disoriented without totally realizing it.
If Hooker is to be faulted, it is for making his battle plan so elaborate that everything had to work just right for it to be a success. If your gadget has too many moving parts, it is only a matter of time before one of those parts breaks. This was a plan that could have worked magnificently, but was just begging for something to go wrong with it. Sears does not really discuss this flaw in Hooker's strategy. As it turned out, virtually every bad turn of luck came to pass, almost unbelievably so. Lee never fully realized just how much of a role dumb luck played in his victory, and his army would soon pay the price for that.
Sears greatest strengths are in his blow-by-blow descriptions of the scenes of battle, and in his wonderful biographies in miniature of the participants. He is by now well-acquainted with the ranks of the Armies of the Potomac and Northern Virginia, and knows where to look in his primary sources for nuggets worthy of our attention. The reader will never be bored, and oftentimes will find it hard to put the book down --- even though we all know how this battle turned out.
Rating:
Summary: Lifts the fog from this complicated battle
Review: Want to get a clear understanding of this complex
Civil War campaign? Painlessly? This is the book.
Sears has a way of explaining a complex and chaotic
event in a logical and very readable way. The book is
very detailed, but Sears never lets you get lost in it.
I had a mental picture of this campaign pieced together
from a large assortment of other sources. That picture
has been profoundly changed by this book and it has my highest recommendation
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