"LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY is the most insightful work on the generalship of Robert E. Lee and on the character and fighting power of the Army of Northern Virginia since Douglas Southall Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants. "Many writers try to explain Lee at Gettysburg without fully understanding the generalship of the Confederate commanding general. Bowden and Ward strip away the myth and confusion that are associated with Lee in the Gettysburg campaign. LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY is the first book to fully examine Lee's plans and why the Confederate general missed victory by a whisker."

"LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY is the most thought-provoking and intellectually refreshing piece I've read on Gettysburg and specifically the fighting on the 2nd day-period. "It certainly forcefully-damn near irrefutably-demonstrates where and why the Battle of Gettysburg was lost by the Confederates, and, surprise, it wasn't where and how most people think! Furthermore, the analysis in LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY lays waste to an almost innumerable litany of unfounded criticisms that have been leveled against Robert E. Lee."

"LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY, an extraordinary exhaustive study of Robert E. Lee and the crucial Gettysburg campaign, is a remarkably impressive contribution to American History.

"Writing in captivating style and packed with maps, illustration and footnotes, an incredible amount of research and thought has gone into this effort. Thank to this effort, Scott Bowden and Bill Ward carefully analyze events, circumstances and General Lee's decisions that led to critical confrontation, and the resulting battle at, Gettysburg. In the process, the authors completely dispel the arguments of Lee's critics by presenting an insurmountable amount of evidences that proves once and for all that Robert E. Lee deserves his place as one of the great Captains in the world military history.

"LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY is a thought-provoking volume that should occupy an important place in the library of every researcher or student of the War Between the States."

"Bravo! Just finished your book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Found your insight and observations enlightening and in many cases unlike anything I had read or seen interpreted before...I was riveted throughout your explanations. You truly brought the second day to life in a way that no one else has ever come close to.

"Congratulations on a wonderfully well written book...it was a splendid read!"

Excerpt from book review of LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY: ROBERT E. LEE AND THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN as published in the Journal Of Military History, Volume 65, No. 4 (October 2001).

Perhaps more books and articles have been written on the Gettysburg campaign than on any other in American history. The standard and definitive work has been Edwin B. Coddington's THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN: A STUDY IN COMMAND. Although not displacing Coddington's work, this outstanding new book should be read as its companion for any serious study of this campaign. As the title implies, LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY concentrates on the Confederate side in explaining the reasons for Lee's defeat.

Among the factors that make this work unique is its organization. Prior to examining the campaign, the book explores the relationship between Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, and the place of the Gettysburg campaign in Confederate strategy. Another chapter, "Robert E. Lee and His Art of War," describes the intellectual foundationos of his approach to war and operations. In addition, Bowden and Ward thoroughly examine the historigraphy of the campaign, addressing and often refuting the attacks on or interpretations of Lee's generalship. . .

The authors argue that many have misunderstood the method of Lee's attack during the second day of the battle. Although beginning as a flank attack, Lee modified the plan during the day to an attack en echelon. This method would cause the Union forces to be drawn to the left creating a break in the line north of the Round Tops. The attack failed due to problems of coordination, not of planning. . .

This is a handsome book, well researched and written, and effectively presented.

For a complete copy of the review as found in Volume 65, No. 4, please contact: The Journal of Military History, George C. Marshall Library, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA. 24450-1600.