After months of relentless conflict, the Confederate army led by General Robert E. Lee holed up in the Virginia city of Petersburg as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's vastly superior forces lurked nearby. This tells the story of the Petersburg campaign from the perspectives of the two army groups. It does more than just recount the military tactics; it also connects the reader with how the war affected society and spotlights the soldiers whose experiences defined the outcome.

A. Wilson Greene is president of Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier near Petersburg, Virginia. He also has taught at Mary Washington College and worked for sixteen years with the National Park Service.