Critics sometimes depict Lee as a general without an overall strategy. But Harsh (history, George Mason U.) argues that even though Lee's perception of the war was inaccurate, he did pursue a particular course that fit comfortably within the war aims of the confederacy. In this examination of Confederate conduct in the first year and half of the Civil War, Harsh asserts that both Lee and Davis understood that the rhetoric of a defensive struggle masked aggressive goals, and that in partnership they developed a grand strategy for victory. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.