"Of all the colorful and controversial figures who shaped the history of the Confederate States, few proved more versatile and paradoxical than Edward Porter Alexander, Longstreet's chief of artillery. A West Point graduate and professional soldier, he tempered his stern sense of discipline with a flair for eccentric clothes and unorthodox modes of command. Trained as an engineer, he won his greatest fame as an artillery officer. Famous for his scientific precision, he possessed a deep love of literature and was facile at turning out military history, scientific treatises, colorful stories for children, and maudlin poetry. In these and other respects Alexander embodied both the rich romanticism and the hard calculating mentality of the emerging technological age"-- From the book jacket.

pt. 1. A world going by -- pt. 2. The chasm crossed -- pt. 3. A singed phoenix.