Frock Coats and Epaulets

The passion of Robert E. Lee and the puritan streak in J.E.B. Stuart are two of the surprises in Alf J. Mapp Jr.'s 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 astonishing Judah P. Benjamin. Mapp's first-rate scholarship and exciting prose make Frock Coats essential reading for historians and Civil War buffs. Mapp's study of the men who led the Confederate rebellion against the United States will appeal to a new generation of Americans.