A Brotherhood of Valor: The Common Soldiers of the Stonewall Brigade, C.S.A., and the Iron Brigade, U.S.A.

It's Wert's good fortune--and ours--that the two most interesting Confederate and Union units left such wonderful paper trails. Wert (Custer, etc.) takes full advantage of this and delivers a first-rate book about the two most renowned infantry commands of the Civil War, which confronted each other at Manassas (Bull Run), Fredericksburg, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Through skillful use of period letters, diaries and action reports, Wert paints a vivid portrait of the Confederate and Union soldiers who bled together across the killing grounds of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Particularly appealing is the way this volume allows readers soldier's-eye views from both sides of key battles. A good example of this is when we learn that the Union line that appeared so formidable to frightened young Confederates in the cornfield at Antietam was in fact a confused mix of equally terrified, equally young men in blue, unsure of their strategy and--at that moment--unsure of their commanders as well. In addition to being brave, the men of the Stonewall and Iron brigades were eloquent and prolific writers. Armed with a wealth of first-person accounts, Wert often (and wisely) steps back, allowing the soldiers to tell their own stories as no one else can. Agent, Robert Gottlieb at the William Morris Agency. (Feb.)