“[Connelly] follows the Army of Tennessee from the renewed offensive of General Braxton Bragg, which began near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in late 1862, to the lingering days of retreat and defeat in North Carolina in 1865. With meticulous research and careful interpretation, he traces this army’s actions as it dramatically defends but loses mile after mile in battle after dreary battle in the ‘heartland’ of the South—thus sealing the Confederacy’s doom. . . . This book. . . . may be equaled by historians writing about the Civil War in the West, but it will not be surpassed.”—American Historical Review

“With this work, [Connelly] takes a place in the forward ranks of Civil War historians, North and South. His grasp is sure, his prose superb.”—Florida Historical Quarterly