A Fierce Glory

"A colorful, deft, beautifully paced account of the bloodiest battle in American history. Justin Martin carefully tends Antietam's 'glowing embers,' approaching the day on the ground and from every angle."--Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra and The Witches

"More than the repulse of a Confederate invasion, the Union victory at Antietam paved the way for black freedom--thus proving, in its way, the most important battle of the Civil War. Appropriately, A Fierce Glory is more than a military history (although it depicts the actual fighting vividly). Martin has culled a vast array of sources to explore the political, religious, medical, and, ultimately, the societal impact of Antietam. A highly original work."--Harold Holzer, winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

"What an achievement! Both panoramic and intimate in scale, it situates Antietam within the context of Civil War history but also takes the reader in close, face to face with the personal reality of 19th century warfare."--Amanda Vaill, author of Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War

"With a great eye for colorful detail, Martin has pulled off the feat of contextualizing the battle for a general audience. I learned something new on every page--not just about Lincoln, McClellan, and Lee, but about medical pioneers Clara Barton and Jonathan Letterman, photographer Alexander Gardner, and the fates of average soldiers on both sides. An absorbing read."--Jonathan Alter, New York Times bestselling author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One

"Martin has given us an engrossing, important new look at Antietam, making a convincing case that the outcome had more impact on the course of the war, and on U.S. history, than any other Civil War engagement."--Marc Leepson, author of Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed American History

"Martin takes you to the fabled Antietam battlefield in an engagingly written 'you are there' style that has you virtually feeling the bullets whizzing above your head. This is no dry military history or conventional Civil War book but a riveting group biography that delves into the hearts and minds of a number of colorful, larger-than-life characters, all of it placed in the context of the fateful deliberations of Lincoln over issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. A tour de force."--John Oller, author of The Swamp Fox and American Queen

"In this succinct, highly readable book, spiced with telling anecdotes and vivid character sketches, Martin seamlessly interweaves a clear, suspenseful account of the battle with a careful depiction of Lincoln's road to emancipation."--Michael Burlingame, award-winning Lincoln scholar and author of Lincoln: A Life (2 vols.)