Where to begin with a review of this book? It is an extraordinary look at the soldiers and citizens who were involved in this siege and serves as a good counterpoint to the minutes on screen in "Gone With the Wind" or a few sentences of a book about the Civil War.

Hoehling has done a thorough job of finding letters, newspaper articles, and diaries for this time period. He has arranged this book on a daily basis, so each month is its own section. It starts with July, 1864 when the Union (Northern) army has left Chattanooga and is marching towards Atlanta. This capital city is important as a centerpiece of commerce due to its many railroad lines that supply goods to the rest of the Confederacy (Southern forces). The long, drawn-out Civil War can be brought to an end by destroying these rail lines and the city where they reside.

Starting on July 3, Hoehling provides an edited newspaper article from The Daily Intelligencer (Atlanta), then follows it with an overview of troop movements, weather, background to the upcoming seige, and overall view of the life in the city for a normal Sunday: church services, gatherings, hotels, and hospitals. On July 4, he provides an excerpt from the same Daily Intelligencer as well as an excerpt from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, a newspaper out of New York. And on, and on, daily through the first bombardments, to the cavalry movements, to the barricades and battles, to the bombs falling in the railroad lines and among the homes and businesses.

Each newspaper article is accompanied by a flag indicating whether it is a Union or Confederate publication. Diary entries form more of the daily events in this book as the siege progresses, since women were more inclined to keep journals/diaries. They range everywhere from a nine year old girl discussing knitting socks in the underground bunker outside her family home, to a nurse receiving the wounded (often from both sides) in Jonesboro (south of Atlanta). Decatur resident Mary Gay writes about opening up her ceiling to store Confederate uniforms and then re-plastering it so as to escape notice.

The most obvious exclusion from this book are the slaves, both newly-freed and those staying with their owners. A desire to capture their oral traditions is not part of this book, so while Mary Gay references communicating with "her" girl Talitha, who was deaf, we do not know Talitha's thoughts on the matter. She only communicated through signs. Literacy for enslaved peoples was not allowed in this place at this time. And sadly, Mary Gay's journey into Atlanta for supplies causes such hardship and stress on "her" boy, Toby, that he sickens and dies when they return to her Decatur home. There is a telling paragraph where she confesses to him the truth of "I have not always been just to you . . . " that speaks volumes.

July goes into August, and day after day the entries are the same from the citizens. Day after day of hot weather, the noise of shells, the death of soldiers and citizens both; the sameness of these days' writings emphasize the unrelenting bombardment of what it was like to live in a city under seige.

Finally, by the autumn, the battle is won, families are given the choice to leave and go north and start again, or join the lines of trains going south. Also to start again. Observations of the Union soldiers are most accurate here. And a letter from Union General William T. Sherman, leader of the Union forces, to the losing Confederate General, John B. Hood, who is complaining about the death, destruction, and removal of civilians from Atlanta, says it best:

In the name of common sense, I ask you not to appeal to a just God in such a sacrilegious manner. You, who in the midst of peace and prosperity have plunged a nation into war, dark and cruel war, who dared and badgered us to battle, insulted our flag, seized our arsenals and forts that were left in the honorable custody of a peaceful ordnance sergeant . . . you tried to force Kentucky and Missouri into the rebellion in spite of themselves, falsified the vote of Louisiana, turned loose your pirates to plunder unarmed ships, expelled Union families by the thousands, burned their houses, and declared by act of your Congress the confiscation of all debts due Northern men for goods had and received. ( )