"For countless readers, the books of Bell Irvin Wiley (1906-1980) remain a high-water mark in historical writing on the American Civil War. The Life of Billy Yank, The Life of Johnny Reb, The Road to Appomattox, Southern Negroes, 1861-1865, all are classics in the field, and Wiley's influence on contemporary Civil War scholarship has been immeasurable.

The Bell Irvin Wiley Reader offers for the first time many lesser known and unpublished writings of this eminent historian and provides an intimate portrait of the man Life magazine once hailed as "the nation's foremost authority of soldier life during the Civil War."".

"With previously unpublished family photographs and a complete bibliography of Wiley's books and articles, The Bell Irvin Wiley Reader will fascinate all Civil War enthusiasts, introduction new readers to and reacquaint old friends with the life and works of this unsurpassed scholar."--BOOK JACKET.