In following the quiet struggles of James Calhoun, Atlanta's Unionist mayor, who was forced to accommodate determined Confederates, and Robert Yancey, a black merchant who built a personal fortune despite his legal status as property, the author evokes a "great, growing, and all-welcoming Gate City, made by war, [that] now belonged to the war." Atlanta became a symbol of Confederate gumption, destined to be destroyed before it could be born again. Those benumbed by military jargon may wish to skim Wortman's descriptions of flanking maneuvers, bivouacking and artillery-shell sizes. But the presence of scorched-earth advocate Gen. William Sherman -- "Let us destroy Atlanta and make it a desolation" ranks among his gentler declarations -- prevents the narrative from slipping into the History Channel battle-tech ghetto.

FRONTIER. Flags -- Virginians -- Removal -- Sherman in the swamp -- Another passage -- The compromise -- GATE CITY. The cornerstone -- Earthquake -- Never! Never!! Never!!! -- Speculation -- Street Theater -- CLAMOROUS TOWN. The dead house -- Enemies within -- River of death -- A day's outing -- THE HUNDRED DAYS' BATTLE. Railroad war -- Candle ends -- Fighting, fighting, fighting -- Roman refugees -- Prayers -- THE THIEF IN THE GLOAMING. A perfect shell -- The Battle of Atlanta -- WAR IS CRUELTY, AND YOU CANNOT REFINE IT. Goodbye, Johnny -- The first bonfire -- The second bonfire -- The new South -- Epilogue : Sherman's return.