The Civil War 100: The Stories Behind the Most Influential Battles, People and Events in the War Between the States

by Michael Lee Lanning

The Civil War was the defining event in American history. The Civil War 100 uses a truly novel approach to analyze the respective importance of the events, leaders and battles of America's most important war.
"Across this easily accessible reference, readers meet not only such icons as Lincoln and Lee, but also chronic fumblers whose tarnished reputations have most often sunk beneath the notice of the endless waves of Civil War histories…A recommended reference for the aficionado and the uninitiated alike. Those well-versed in Civil War lore will enjoy the intellectual challenge of supporting or debunking Lanning's rankings, while the merely curious will be exposed to an insightful world of detail that they may have otherwise missed." ―ForeWord Magazine

Genres: Civil War, Nonfiction, History

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lee Lanning (USA, Ret.) is an American retired military officer and writer of non-fiction, mostly military history.

After spending his early life in Texas, in 1964 Michael Lee Lanning graduated from Trent High School (Trent, Texas) and entered Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas), where in 1968 he earned a BS in Agricultural Education.

Upon graduation from Texas A&M in 1968, Lanning was commissioned a second lieutenant and received infantry, airborne, and ranger training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After serving as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and rifle company commander in the 2d Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. During subsequent tours of duty he served throughout the United States and Germany, as (among other things) an instructor in the U.S. Army Ranger School, a mechanized infantry company commander in the 3rd Infantry Division, and executive officer of an infantry battalion in the 1st Cavalry Division. He also served in several non-command assignments, including positions as public affairs officer, serving in that role first for General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and later as a member of the Department of Defense public affairs office. In 1979, he earned an MS in Journalism from East Texas State University (Commerce, TX); he was selected to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, KS) that same year.

Lt. Col. Lanning's first book, 'The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam' was published by Ivy Books/Ballantine Books/Random House, Inc. in September 1987.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to a lot of the topics in the book. There is an extensive bibliography at the end if you want to go deeper into any of the subjects, as this is just a very high level view.

If you're pretty familiar with the Civil War, you may want to do what I did and start reading this book from the back. That helped me learn about some things that I hadn't been aware of previously - particularly minor battles and generals.

I would say that if you think you want to start studying the Civil War, but don't know where to begin, this is a good place to start and let it lead you down the roads you find most interesting.

[Mikelkpoet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read every page of this book,
but the pages that I read were excellent.