After reading many books about Gettysburg, "Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage" rates as one of the best. It shines many lights on the brutality of the battle and how confusing it was. Trudeau takes Lee off of his ivory pillar and holds him responsible for some of the mistakes that he made, which so seriously impacted battle planning and results. In fact, he peels back the layers of myth for many of the participants and helps the reader see their fallibilities. This is war in detail with all of its ugliness. The book is a "must read" piece. Put lots of time aside to read it, as you will be rereading many sections of it. I intend to read it again...someday.