Counter-Thrust

Benjamin Franklin Cooling is a professor of national security studies and former Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Washington, DC.  He is a well-known author in military, naval, and air history and specializes in Civil War history, including studies of the conflict in Tennessee and Kentucky and defending Washington, DC.

• List of IllustrationsList of MapsSeries Editors’ IntroductionPrefaceAcknowledgements1.  Summer Impasse2.  From Tidewater to Cedar Mountain3.  Stonewall and a Virginia Reel4.  Lee and Pope at Second Manassas5.  In the Rain at Chantilly6.  Maryland, My Maryland7.  South Mountain and Harpers Ferry8.  The Bridges of the Antietam9.  Opportunities Found and LostNotesBibliographic EssayIndex

"Cooling provides a new way of looking at the Maryland campaign and makes Counter-Thrust a necessary read for any Civil War scholar."—Joseph-James Ahern, On Point"Far from offering simply a book of battles, Cooling places the battles into a well-defined context and demonstrates how strategic decision making occurred at the highest levels during the Civil War."—S. J. Ramold, Choice "Not only is [Counter-Thrust] exceptionally well written, but also it offers a highly critical account of what many scholars argue are the most significant campaigns of the Civil War."—Alex Mendoza, Journal of Southern History "Counter-Thrust has few peers as an introductory volume to one of the most dramatic campaign summers in military history."—Christopher S. Stowe, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"[Counter-Thrust] is the tenth volume to be released from the University of Nebraska Press's Great Campaigns of the Civil War series. Author Benjamin F. Cooling has always been a great writer of historical narrative, but what makes his latest effort a wonderful addition to the series is the expert manner in which he mines the literature for the best scholarship the subject has to offer, dissects the findings, and concisely reprocesses it for the benefit of a wide range of readerships while at the same time injecting his own insightful analysis."—Civil War Books and Authors Blog "Cooling's analysis of McClellan is especially insightful, as he synthesizes the latest scholarship on that enigmatic figure. . . . Counter-Thrust delivers as advertised with thorough research, historiographical knowledge and excellent writing, melding this with sharp analysis. It is a worthy addition to the University of Nebraska's Great Campaigns of the Civil War series."—Civil War Book Review