"The Struggle for Tennessee: Tupelo to Stones River" is the second of the volumes in the Time-Life Civil War series dealing with the Western Theater of the war after the Battle of Shiloh. Obviously this part of the war has never received the attention of the Eastern Theater where Lee's Army of Northern Virginia dueled the Army of the Potomac, so there is something intrinsically interesting about finding out more about what was happening out West. James Street, Jr. presents his subject as a war of maneuvers in and around Tennessee. After the capture of Corinth, Mississippi in May 1862, a portion of Major General Don Carlos Buell's Union army was dispatched towards Chattanooga, the critical railroad center that was the gateway to Georgia. However, Confederate armies under Generals Kirby Smith and Braxton Bragg moved from Eastern Tennessee into Kentucky to threatened Louisville and Cincinnati. After a drawn battle at Perryville, Kentucky on October 8, Major General William Rosencrans succeeded Buell and that December left Nashville to fight Bragg's reorganized Army of Tennessee near Murfreesboro, on the banks of Stone River.

Street divides these events into five chapters: (1) Heyday for Raiders focuses on the guerrilla tactics of both sides, including James J. Andrews stealing the Western & Atlantic Railroad locomotive named the "General," and the raids of John Hunt Morgan. (2) Stumbling Towards Perryville covers the Confederates campaign to retake Kentucky, or at least stop the Federals from moving deeper into Tennessee, climaxing with the Battle of Perryville where both sides claimed victory. (3) Clash at Doctor's Creek has Rosencrans' bringing a new spirit to the Army of the Cumberland preparing them for the key battle in the campaign. (4) The Fight for "Hell's Half Acre" tells the details of the first half of Battle of Stones River outside Murfreesboro on December 31, where the Confederates turned the Union flank in on itself like a jackknife. (5) Across Stones River and Back completes the battle as the successful attack of the Confederates on the left Union flank succeeded in driving the Federals behind the river, where massed artillery fire staggered the Rebels and set the stage for a successful Union counterattack. With this victory, the Union forces could plan their move on Chattanooga.

"The Struggle for Tennessee" is illustrated with the historic photographs, etchings and color sketches that have always been one of the richest parts of the Time-Life series. I appreciate the detail that Street is able to give to the Battle of Stones River, because by devoting two chapters to it he is able to elevate its significance in the Civil War in a way I have never appreciated before. The story of the Western Theater picks up in two volumes, one devoted to Grant's Vicksburg Campaign in "War on the Mississippi" and the other picking right up on this volume with "The Fight for Chattanooga."

I found this book to be quite interesting and informative. It discusses not only the trails themselves but their history. The physical descriptions of the trails are excellent, however I would have liked to see more detailed maps. It is a wonderful book to use as a reference.

An excellent listing of the trails of the South Cumberland. I bought it mainly for a guide to the trails of Savage Gulf.

Two g-grand nieces of Ellen House discovered these diaries in her trunk upon the death of an aunt. What a find! Ellen House had strong opinions and voiced them. The Siege of Knoxville (November 1863) is covered and Sutherland's footnotes make for GOOD history. Don't think, you WWII GIs out there, that "scuttlebutt" started in "our" war. There was plenty during the Civil War, some preposterous. Sutherland provides good interpretive notes. Highly recommended! Four stars only because there are a few gaps in Ellen's coverage of the War in Knoxville, but who can blame her. Deprivation was the order of the day.

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

This is a useful guide for identifying common birds in Tennessee. However, it includes only the drawings and sizes. I use mind to hand to friends when I am birding; it keeps them out of my Peterson's and Audubon guides.

I have found this chart very helpful, because I have only lived in Tennessee ten weeks. My backyard is so thick with trees that often I'll only see a flash of color--I can see a bird's approximate size and its colors, but not its shape or any details. This chart narrows down what kind of bird it might be, and I can then look up the bird in my bird books and look to see if I have the correct bird once I get another glimpse of it. It can't really be used alone, as it doesn't give much detail or even a very good picture, and I've seen one or two birds already that aren't in it because they aren't common in the state, but it is very helpful for what it does do.

I'm a biologist who has spent a fair amount of time in western NC. I know something of wildlife and the Smokies, and I buy books like this to learn more. I also judge the usefulness of guidebooks by how closely they fit with what already know. I only recently bought the Visitor's Companion, and it looked quite worthwhile. However, as I was doing an initial skimming of the volume, I noticed the illustrations were not at fine as I first thought. Many of the animals looked a little chunky, and the trees were a bit squat and artificial. The Box Turtle's plastron just didn't look right. But when I reached the deer. . . I know deer, and no whitetail has a rack like the one pictured on p. 198. It looked like a touch of mule deer, elk and possibly some Asian species all fused together. What it reminds me of is an illustration from a 16th century beastiary or on a heraldic emblem -- drawn with heavy artistic license. I guess I expected the photo-realistic quality of a Peterson guide rather than a drawn-from-memory sketch. Had I noticed this earlier, the book would have hit the shelf instead of the counter. As it is, I am looking over the drawings of salamanders and songbirds with a more critical eye, and will be more likely to doublecheck the facts in the text.

This book is loaded with interesting information on the history, and were to find the evidence of that history for middle Tennessee. Easy reading and enjoyable, even if you never take one of the suggested tours. The author makes the reader feel like they are listening to an old friend tell them how to enjoy a Sunday drive.

new smaller size and revized format inside makes the book much less reader-friendly.

The book has good information but the publisher has change the states included. The most Southeastern state, Florida is not in the 2001 edition (a separate book 16.95). With the additional states Arkansas, Louisiana, North and South Carolina the book is too thick over 750 pages, a new narrower page size and semi hard backs make it difficult to use.

I live in Nashville. The first thing I noticed when I read this book is a MAJOR mistake. The Cumberland River runs through Nashville, not the Columbia River, which is in the Norwthwest. There are other mistakes as well.

Many of the most interesting attractions in Middle Tennessee have been completely omitted from the book. However, there are twelve pages dedicated to a walking tour of the Stones River Battlefield. This is exactly the number of pages devoted to all of the attractions in Nashville!

Based on what I found in this book, I would recommend not buying any book in this series.