Matt Hoover’s Reviews > Sickles at Gettysburg: The Controversial Civil War General Who Committed Murder, Abandoned Little Round Top, and Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg > Status Update

Flattering to Sickles as frequently as can be done. Critical of Meade in as many opportunities as arise.

"Dan Sickles' most admirable quality was his ability to conquer adversity, and the loss of his leg merely became one more career obstacle to overcome." (p. 246) Hardly an unbiased treatment.

All in all, well researched and evidenced, but a deeply apologetic book on Sickles' behalf.

Hessler seems to revel in the scoundrel qualities and romanticize the moral flaws of his character; hardly an objective perspective, but, then, how objective can one be when addressing "Devil Dan"? Hessler is occasionally critical of Sickles, but also hard on other officers, particularly Meade (sometimes undeservedly so) and Longstreet (tritely so). Still well-researched and well-written, but could be more polished.

Rovingly researched with impressive depth, Hessler never ceases to remind us in the first chapter that Sickles was a temperamental, reprehensible scoundrel, yet he never fails to skew the narrative in a favorable light toward 'Dan.' He also does give the impression that he truly understands the man's personality. Apart from the author's indisguisable subjectivity, I look forward to seeing how this book progresses.