An argument settler--and starter--for Civil War buffs who want to know which side had the better soldiers: Armies South, Armies North definitively compares the military forces of both sides. Civil War buffs are always arguing over which side had the better soldiers. Armies South/Armies North by Alan Axelrod helps readers reconsider their understanding of America's most harrowing war. Axelrod is the author of more than one hundred books with a passion for military history and leadership. Each chapter of his new book compares the military forces with both quantitative and qualitative measures. Axelrod analyzes the equipment, the leadership and strategies, and the men who fought in each army, with additional focus on lesser known flash points during the war.
Alan Axelrod is the author of many books on leadership, management, history, military history, corporate history, career, general business, and more. After receiving his Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa in 1979, Axelrod taught early American literature and culture at Lake Forest College (Lake Forest, Illinois) and at Furman University (Greenville, South Carolina). He then entered scholarly publishing in 1982 as associate editor and scholar with the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum (Winterthur, Delaware), an institution specializing in the history and material culture of America prior to 1832. Axelrod was a featured speaker at the 2004 Conference on Excellence in Government (Washington, D.C.), at the Leadership Institute of Columbia College (Columbia, South Carolina), and at the 2005 Annual Conference of the Goizueta School of Business, Emory University (Atlanta), and the 2014 annual conference of Ecopetrol (Bogota, Colombia).
About Miracle at Belleau Wood (Lyons Press, 2007): "Axelrod is one of America's great military historians. He's done it this time with riveting non-stop action that reads like the best of Hemingway's frontline reports plus the Marine Corps novels of W. E. B. Griffin. Axelrod pushes you right into the action, onto the battlefield, and never lets up. You become a firsthand witness to one of the world's great battles, proud and heart-pounding as the elite force, the Devil Dogs, are born in a small forest outside Paris. This is one book I wish I'd written!" --Paul B. Farrell, JD. PhD, syndicated columnist for DowJones's MarketWatch and former staff sergeant, USMC "Alan Axelrod has perfectly captured the embodiment of U.S. Marines and their unparalleled esprit de corps ... As a former Marine, I find Axelrod's descriptions of the combat in that bloody battle for which the Corps became legendary--and which is the foundation of its mythic lore--compelling and gut-wrenching. Miracle at Belleau Wood puts the reader in the front row, witness to the heroism and ups and downs endured by the Marines as they defeated the Germans at overwhelming odds. A must read!" --Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman, USMCR (Ret.), best-selling author of From Baghdad with Love "Axelrod brings us back vividly to the shocking casualties of 'the war to end all wars, ' opening up fresh insights into the nature of the fighting and the decisions that shaped a generation." --Bing West, correspondent for The Atlantic, award-winning author of two books on the Iraq War, former Marine, and Assistant Secretary of Defense In ''Miracle at Belleau Wood: The Birth of the Modern U.S. Marine Corps," Alan Axelrod has demonstrated his mastery at portraying battle at its most brutal and bloodiest. The fight for Belleau Wood is like a bayonet in the belly every step of the way. The distant mirror that Alan Axelrod shows us reflects the fearful face of life and death in World War I. --Paul Weishaupt, Marines: The Corps' Official Magazine, October-December 2007 About Patton's Drive: The Making of America's Greatest General (Lyons Press, 2009): "Like Patton at his best: [Alan Axelrod's writing is] polished, precise, and persuasive."--Kirkus Reviews
