Embattled Rebel
James M. McPherson
Penguin Group, USA
<span>History has not been  kind to Jefferson Davis. His&nbsp;cause went down in disastrous defeat and  left the&nbsp;South impoverished for generations. If that cause&nbsp;had  succeeded, it would have torn the United&nbsp;States in two and preserved the  institution of&nbsp;slavery. Many Americans in Davis’s own time and in&nbsp;later  generations considered him an incompetent&nbsp;leader, if not a traitor. Not  so, argues James M.&nbsp;McPherson. In <i>Embattled Rebel</i>, McPherson  shows us&nbsp;that Davis might have been on the wrong side of&nbsp;history, but it  is too easy to diminish him because of&nbsp;his cause’s failure. In order to  understand the Civil&nbsp;War and its outcome, it is essential to give Davis  his&nbsp;due as a military leader and as the president of an&nbsp;aspiring  Confederate nation. Davis did not make it easy on himself.  His&nbsp;subordinates and enemies alike considered him&nbsp;difficult,  egotistical, and cold. He was gravely ill&nbsp;throughout much of the war,  often working from&nbsp;home and even from his sickbed.  Nonetheless,&nbsp;McPherson argues, Davis shaped and articulated&nbsp;the  principal policy of the Confederacy with clarity&nbsp;and force: the quest  for independent nationhood.&nbsp;Although he had not been a  fire-breathing&nbsp;secessionist, once he committed himself to a&nbsp;Confederate  nation he never deviated from this&nbsp;goal. In a sense, Davis was the last  Confederate left&nbsp;standing in 1865. As president of the Confederacy,  Davis devoted&nbsp;most of his waking hours to military strategy  and&nbsp;operations, along with Commander Robert E.&nbsp;Lee, and delegated the  economic and diplomatic&nbsp;functions of strategy to his subordinates. </span>