This examination of Sherman's Atlanta Campaign of 1864 focuses on the beginning of the campaign considers and how he made decisions. As Scales considers only the information that was available to Sherman at the time and not any reports or books written afterwards, the book deals with campaign planning and not the battles and is presented in the modern format of an "estimate of the situation." Its intended readers are military professionals and Civil War buffs. He introduces the Civil War and operational art, and gives guidelines for what a modern military planner would do, along with blank forms for the reader as well as his own solution to the situation. The last section describes what happened when Sherman's plan was put into place. Scales is a retired Special Forces officer and combat veteran. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)