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Rating: 
Summary: Briliant Book.
Review: An absolutely brilliant book,it covers every move made by the two oppossing armies. The mistakes that led to the defeat of the volunteer Union army.And it is told like gripping novell placed in the most gallant time.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete account of the first major battle:
Review: Author William C. Davis has assembled a great amount of information on the Battle of Bull Run and put it together and a concise and easy to read format. Davis investigates the early generalship of both armies coming to grips with a divided nation and how each side will defend itself. The birth of Union and Confederate high command struggles early to define their strategies. Davis brings such issues to life as the very "green" Union and Confederate armies clash in and around Manassas. I liked how Davis built the climax of the battle together and how he wrote about the various brigades and regiments formed or that were directed as the birth of the first major battle formed. During the fighting Davis points out key areas of fighting in the short terrain near Bull Run and how brigades held together or either fall apart. It was interesting to read about how Davis downplayed the more popular events of the battle such as the myths surrounding the naming of Stonewall Jackson, or how the Washington's social elite were chased while being overwhelmed by a retreating Union army. Davis focused on the battle at hand while his references back up commentary, or soldier accounts. For anyone looking to understand the first major battle of the Civil War, they owe it to themselves to read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Complete account of the first major battle:
Review: Author William C. Davis has assembled a great amount of information on the Battle of Bull Run and put it together and a concise and easy to read format. Davis investigates the early generalship of both armies coming to grips with a divided nation and how each side will defend itself. The birth of Union and Confederate high command struggles early to define their strategies. Davis brings such issues to life as the very "green" Union and Confederate armies clash in and around Manassas. I liked how Davis built the climax of the battle together and how he wrote about the various brigades and regiments formed or that were directed as the birth of the first major battle formed. During the fighting Davis points out key areas of fighting in the short terrain near Bull Run and how brigades held together or either fall apart. It was interesting to read about how Davis downplayed the more popular events of the battle such as the myths surrounding the naming of Stonewall Jackson, or how the Washington's social elite were chased while being overwhelmed by a retreating Union army. Davis focused on the battle at hand while his references back up commentary, or soldier accounts. For anyone looking to understand the first major battle of the Civil War, they owe it to themselves to read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Good Account of the War's First Major Battle
Review: Davis has written an interesting read on the Civil War's first major battle: the narrative is interesting without being overly simplistic, the criticisms and praises are balanced for North and South, and the maps are okay (would have liked to have seen more and enlarged).
While the book's approximately 270 pages are small by Civil War standards (of course, other battles were larger and had more political developments and changes in leadership as opposed to the time of 1st Bull Run), Davis does a good job of weaving the political climate and military strategy in with the battle descriptions. I particularly enjoyed reading in the book's last chapter summarizing what happened to the battle's main participants after Bull Run.
All in all, a good and recommended read as the definitive account of the war's first major battle.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: The Battle of Bull Run is a lucid account of the early days of the war climaxing with, of course, the first major engagement at Bull Run. Davis does a fine job balancing the larger strategic and tactical issues surrounding the campaign with the simple, horrific and sometimes downright remarkable experiences of the common soldier. I very much recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: The Battle of Bull Run is a lucid account of the early days of the war climaxing with, of course, the first major engagement at Bull Run. Davis does a fine job balancing the larger strategic and tactical issues surrounding the campaign with the simple, horrific and sometimes downright remarkable experiences of the common soldier. I very much recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable account of this battle
Review: This new and revised edition of the original 1977 book offers the reader a splendid narrative of the first major battle of the American Civil War. On the 21st of July 1861, 60,000 American soldiers from the North and South met along the banks of Bull Run. In the fighting that followed the Union forces lost 2,900 out of the 20,000 men engaged while the Confederates lost 2,000 out of about 17,000 engaged.The first half of the book describes the Union and Confederate forces as they muster their men into the first armies of the Civil War. It continues with an outline of the events' leading up to the battle and gives you a feeling for, and an understanding of, the main characters involved. Future heroes and leaders of the Civil War come to the fore, such men as `Stonewall' Jackson, Jeb Stuart, A.P. Hill, Jubal Early and Joseph E. Johnston for the Confederacy and men like William T. Sherman, Ambrose Burnside and Irvin McDowell for the Union. The final chapters describe the fighting from Blackburn's Ford to the final rout of the Union Forces on the evening of the 21st. The author's description of the intense fighting is gripping and written in such a fluent style that it holds you to the narrative. Although the casualties for this engagement were not significant when compared to those bloody battles that followed you still feel for the individual soldiers who were caught up in this terrible War. This book is an enjoyable and easy to read story and is well presented by a number of photographs taken at the time of the battle or shortly after. The author has included 8 small, but easy to read maps that help you follow the outline of events during the battle. This book is recommended to any body who has a love for this period of history or to the general reader who likes a good story.
Rating:
Summary: Concise but Descriptive Enough
Review: While many narratives concerning Civil War battles and campaigns become extremely lengthy, Davis does a good job of covering the major events from April 12 - July 21, 1861 in only 260 pages, while still maintaining enough personal analysis, movements and primary accounts to make the read entertaining. The maps are few and far between until the engagment, during which the maps are plentiful and troop movements are easy enough to follow. Thus it would be helpful for those who know less about the land (or haven't read about it in books covering other battles throughout Northern Virginia) to have maps identifying areas like Centreville and the Shenandoah. The author himself analyzes the activities and decisions of nearly every brigade commander on the field. He concludes that Paterson bears the brunt of the blame for the junction of Johnston and Beauregard's armies, while lack of experience and raw troops lead to the breakdown of McDowell's offensive against the Confederate left. All in all it's a very good book. Other books on the battle will go into stronger detail, but this is a good first book to read about the campaign.
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