Instruct: Classify an Amazon review as either positive or negative.
Query: Winning ugly is still winning.

I liked this book by Taaffe. As the other reviewers have said, this is not original material. But heck, this is a 150 year old war. Taaffe thesis is that with all the manpower, materials, and numerical superiority, why did the Army of the Potamac take four years to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia. The issue was poor leadership. Taaffe looks at the army leaders, as well as the Corps commanders, and details their leadership pattern. Their early experience was awful. They wasted lives with poor strategy. The political generals were far worse. Yet they were needed too. Poltical interference clouded the judgement of some decisions. With time, the Army of the Potamac became more professional and competently led. That is when they started winning. An ugly win is still a win, and the Army of the Potamac beat Lee's Army.This is a nice read for those interested in the Civil War. The book is divided into the chapters on each General commanding the Army of the Potomac.