Although the 37 essays sometimes contradict each other, "How to Lose the Civil War" is an effective collection of thoughts on Civil War battles, generals, politicians, and wartime economies that will provide plenty for the average reader to ponder. There are also more than a few glaring editorial failures on the part of the book's editor, Bill Fawcett, that should have been caught and corrected before "How to Lose the Civil War" went to print...such as placing Hagerstown in Pennsylvania rather than in Maryland as one essayist managed to do.

Readers seeking a general understanding of the war from this book will get considerably more than that from it. The book should lead the curious reader along several research tracks of his own, and this is probably it's biggest contribution to amateur historians everywhere. There is plenty to argue about in this book...and about...this book. ( )