Forthcoming: The Army of the Potomac's 2nd Corps vs. Army of Northern Virginia

Defeating Lee: A History of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac,Lawrence A. Kreiser Jr., Indiana University Press, 416 pages, 19 b&w illus., $34.95. Due May 1, 2011.

From the publisher: "Fair Oaks, the Seven Days, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, Petersburg -- the list of significant battles fought by the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac, is a long and distinguished one. This absorbing history of the Second Corps follows the unit's creation and rise to prominence, the battles that earned it a reputation for hard fighting, and the legacy its veterans sought to maintain in the years after the Civil War. More than an account of battles, Defeating Lee gets to the heart of what motivated these men, why they fought so hard, and how they sustained a spirited defense of cause and country long after the guns had fallen silent."

Blurb: "Kreiser breathes new life into this most important of Union Army units.... A remarkably well-written and superbly researched account." -- David E. Long, author of The Jewel of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln's Re-election and the End of Slavery

Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr., is Associate Professor of History at Stillman College, a historically black college located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He is co-author of Voices of Civil War America: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life.

CWL: CWL knows what he will be reading the first week in May.