My middle son (then 4)loved this book while waiting for his own baby sister to arrive. The secondary storyline about Franklin worrying over his bean sprout is so sweet.
Now that my daughter is 2, this is her bedtime story of choice. As we get her ready for bed and I ask what book she'd like to read, we have to smile when she says, "Baby sister book!" We tell her all about when we were waiting for her to be born and remember the first time we held her. The boys will listen in, thinking back to that first day in the hospital when their waiting was finally over.

Franklin is impatient for his baby sister to arrive. He feels left out. Just like most kids do when there is a new arrival. He keeps trying to get spring to come so his mom can have the baby. The is so true to want most kids go through when they are waiting for their new baby to come. They get put on the back burner while everyone is focusing on the new arrival.

I absolutely loved reading this story to my daughter. This is a great addition the Franklin series and an excellent story for a child who is expecting a new brother or sister.

Objectivity is Absent Without Leave in Wiley Sword's book about the 1864 Tennessee Campaign by General John Bell Hood. In the latter months of the Civil War, a desperate Jefferson Davis, acknowledging the fading fortunes of the Confederacy, appointed the aggressive young Kentuckian John Bell Hood to command of the Army of Tennessee. Hood's orders were to try to break William T. Sherman's relentless siege of Atlanta. After Sherman's inevitable triumph, in a last gasp effort to save the Confederacy, Hood marched the Army of Tennessee on an ill-fated invasion of Tennessee. The mission was to attack Union occupied Nashville, and seize its considerable stores of weapons and subsistence supplies. This would cut off Sherman's supplies, and provide the same for the starving and ill-supplied Confederates. It would also provide the southern populace with renewed will to continue the war, and hopefully inspire enlistments in the shrinking southern armies. The results were disastrous for the Confederates, with Hood's forces suffering decisive defeats at Franklin and Nashville. A mere sixteen weeks later, Robert E. Lee would surrender his army at Appomattox. Although Wiley Sword does an excellent job of describing the strategies, tactics, and first hand accounts of the fighting, he is obsessed with consistently criticizing every aspect of Hood's performance, character, and even his entire career. Hood's prior brilliant record as a Brigade and Division commander, almost universally praised both during the war, and ever since, is astonishingly brushed off by Sword as dumb luck. Sword essentially censors Hood's admirers and defenders, while quoting his detractors and critics with great frequency. Virtually every explanation for every decision that Hood offered in his post-war memoirs is rejected by Sword as lies and distortions, often without corroboration. Even Hood 's childhood demeanor is mischaracterized. Sword persistently exaggerates Hood's flaws and failures, and minimizes (at best) his accomplishments and virtues. In a final claim of clairvoyance, Sword even accuses Hood of fathering eleven children after the war to impress the public. Unwitting readers, mesmerized by Sword's gifted style and extensive research, are nonetheless being denied balance and unbiased analysis. Objectivity is not only AWOL, it is guilty of Desertion in this work.

Sword's book is a marvelous written chronicle of the destruction of Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee. The authors ability to weave the horror of war into a detailed military history is especially enticing. This is combined with a keen analysis of the triumphs and failures of the leaders on both sides of the conflict.

The Last Hurrah is the story of the Confederacy's last and probably best chance to reclaim Tennessee and Kentucky for the South and to possibly bring the war once more to Northern soil. But more than that it is also the story of poor leadership on behalf of the Confederate General Hood and the political pressure on Union General Thomas to bring the battle to Hood. Sword, chronicles the planning of Hood's offensive and his miscalculation that the supplies to feed, cloth and arm his army could be obtained through a rail link and from the land that they were invading. This mistake perhaps doomed the campaign given that this was a winter campaign and the Confederate soldiers were often without shoes and blankets.

The best part of the book focuses on the battles of Franklin and Nashville. While Sword does a fine job in detailing the battles themselves as well as the strategy and tactics utilized by the respective Generals, he shines in discussing the human effects of the battles. The slaughter at Franklin and the Confederate charge against a heavily defended Union line, without the benefit of significant supporting artillery, makes one shudder. In reading the depiction of the casualties the horror of the war and the human costs were brought home.

Where Sword also excels is in his critique of the leaders of both sides. Sword obviously is a fan of General George Thomas. On the other hand he is very critical of General Scofield's conduct at Spring Hill and latter at Franklin and Nashville. Scofield's generalship would have led to the destruction of his army during the retreat from Spring Hill to Franklin but for the ineptitude of his Confederate counterparts. His conduct at Nashville, and his failure to commit his troops, probably allowed what remained of the Confederate Army to escape.

Sword's worse criticism was justly saved for Hood. The criticism was well deserved, especially for the decision to make the frontal assault at Franklin and again at Nashville. His poor generalship and inability to take the advise of Nathan Bedford Forrest led to the loss of almost two thirds of his army.

All in all this is a fine book and a must read.

One of the great "myths" is that a good history book is written from an "objective" point of view. In truth, this is simply not possible. Every author approaches the subject with a certain degree of bias and a certain "agenda" that they wish to push. Sword, unlike some other authors, does not seek to hide his "bias", but rather sets out his clear (and frankly rather convincing) case that Sam Hood's generalship was poor. Within this setting, he provides detail about some of the more important, but again forgotten, battles of the Civil War and sheds light on some of the more important, but again forgotten, figures such as Pat Cleburne. All in all a superb book and well worthy of the prizes that it has won and the accolades that it has received.

Buy this book and you will have something in common with Confederate General John Bell Hood. You will both be victims of author Wiley Sword. The defenseless Hood is villianized by Sword's vicious, albeit eloquently written spin. Hood's critics are given top billing in Sword's pages, while Hood's many defenders are silenced. Statistics are twisted to make Hood's performance appear remarkably poor. Sword's fact-filtering, and cut-and-paste journalism will unfortunately impress the unwitting reader, who will be sixty bucks poorer, and totally misinformed on the 1864 Confederate campaign to liberate Nashville. John Bell Hood has been described as the Civil War's most "famously unfortunate" commander. Much more accurate and complete information on the campaign can be found within the pages of Shrouds of Glory, by Winston Groom, who doesn't try to create a villian where none existed.

Without a doubt the best contemporary, secondary source on the Middle Tennessee Campaign. Wiley Sword writes a splendid military history that reads like a novel.The book is written with excellent prose and an obvious love for the topic.Also of great use to the historian is that the book is well documented with the best use of primary material that one will find in a book of this genre. The use of manuscript material further embellishes this fine book. I highly recommend this book to all those interested in Civil War history!

The book covers Franklin and Nashville better than any other book of the war. It shows the weakness of the Southern cause by this stage of the war and the weakness of General Hood. The book also show the courage of the Southern soilder and the men who led them.

Buy this book and you will have something in common with Confederate General John Bell Hood. You will both be victims of author Wiley Sword. The defenseless Hood is villianized by Sword's vicious, albeit eloquently written spin. Hood's critics are given top billing in Sword's pages, while Hood's many defenders are silenced. Statistics are twisted to make Hood's performance appear remarkably poor. Sword's fact-filtering, and cut-and-paste journalism will unfortunately impress the unwitting reader, who will be twenty bucks poorer, and totally misinformed on the 1864 Confederate campaign to liberate Nashville. John Bell Hood has been described as the Civil War's most "famously unfortunate" commander. Much more accurate and complete information on the campaign can be found within the pages of Shrouds of Glory, by Winston Groome, who doesn't try to create a villian where none existed.

The Civil War is rapidly drawing to a close. The Southern Confederacy is literally being ripped apart by the Union armies. In desperation Jefferson Davis turns command of the Army of the Tennessee to a crippled general with no experience at high level command. The outcome was almost foreordained. Mr. Sword's book recounts the tragic destruction of an army that had been scourged by the effects of bad leadership for far too long. The appointment of John Bell Hood proved to be, argueably, the single worst decision that the Confederate president ever made.
In spite of ample evidence of the futility of frontal assualts Hood sent his army into poorly coordinated, and futile, attacks that sapped both the heart and soul of his army as well as it's strength. The casualties incurred during Hood's 7 month tenure as its commander destroyed it's combat effectiveness and it's self-confidence and hope.
Mr. Sword's book meticulously documents the events that led to the fateful battles that destroyed the Army of the Tennessee with both passion and attention to detail. The suffering and privation of the men; the strategic and tactical decisions; the events that affected the overall war effort are all faithfully portrayed.
Unlike many works of military history this one is hard to put down. It reads like a novel but is backed by extensive research and documentation. One is left with a profound feeling of sadness from the descriptions of the torn and wounded survivors of both the Blue and Grey and also a sense of deep pride at the accomplishments and gallantry of so many of our forefathers.
Civil War buffs will find few books of this caliber and will be moved by the pathos in it's presentation. As a tribute to heroism and endurance this book is withour peer. The Army of the Tennessee was often defeated but never conquered and Mr. Sword's account does them the honor their sacrifices deserved.