I am a Civil War buff and couldn't wait to start reading this book. Though I'm a Confederate gal through and through, this Union soldier's journal is the story of every Civil War soldier. I expected it to be a dry, less-than-detailed diary. Boy, was I wrong. While this is written in dated wording (which I enjoy immensely!), the writing is superb, the details are whole, and when I read instances like when they were marching down the street in front of the President, my jaw dropped. Yes, he was speaking of Abraham Lincoln. I guess at the time, Honest Abe wasn't THE Abraham Lincoln we know today. He was just the President. To read a first-hand account of something so historic is amazing. 
 The narrative of this book reads as if it were written by a real author, not a soldier. I can't recommend this book anymore highly than I do. It is history. It is America. Whether Union or Confederate, the soldier's stories were the same. If you want to experience a first-hand look into the daily life of a Civil War soldier in vivid and sometimes painful detail, do not pass up this important book.