This second book in Catton's three volume study of the Army of the Potomac is, in my opinion, the best of the three. The reason it is the best is that it covers in epic detail, the climactic Battle of Gettysburg in one of the best treatments in print. This book has it all-high drama and suspense, heros on both sides of the line, and an incredible sadness and feeling for the troops, so many of them left on bullet-swept fields, that you cannot get away from the inherent grief of the entire epic, something on the level of a Greek tragedy.