In the Civil War Mississippi experienced a protracted and devastating invasion, and Confederate and Union armies fought fiercely at Corinth, Holly Springs, Iuka, Port Gibson, Vicksburg, and many other sites throughout the state.

With both tourists and Civil War buffs in mind, archivist Michael Ballard has written Civil War Mississippi: A Guide, the first comprehensive coverage of the war in the state. Containing easy-to-follow maps and a wealth of historical material, the book discusses the campaigns, the present-day battlefields, the battles, and the soldiers and generals who fought.

The war was complex in Mississippi, for it involved sieges, trench warfare, naval bombardments, and brilliant cavalry engagements. Some of the most storied names of the war— Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Pemberton— experienced their most triumphant and harrowing moments on Mississippi battlegrounds.

Ballard captures all the destruction, drama, and bravery of Mississippi's war. He examines the major campaigns, emphasizing why engagements occurred, how the battles ended, and how the war in Mississippi affected the ongoing struggle nationwide. Maps include current highways and Ballard has added present-day photos and recommendations about touring the sites.

Both the novice and the Civil War expert will relish this tour of the state's war legacy. Michael Ballard is University Archivist and Coordinator of the Congressional Collection for Special Collections of the Mississippi State University Libraries. Author of numerous works on the war, he has published A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy, and Pemberton: A Biography with the University Press of Mississippi. Both were History Book Club selections.