The 1863 siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi was the longest campaign of the American Civil War and left the Union Army in control of the Mississippi river. In this work, Waldrep (American history, San Francisco State U.) explores how historical memory of the battle has been shaped and contested from its immediate aftermath through the era of the New Deal. He describes how northern Federal officials, in control of the battle site, helped construct a Civil War narrative that is typically attributed to racist southern whites. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)