Instruct: Classify a review into positive or negative sentiment.
Query: Authentic and gripping

The best part of this book comes not from the letters of Daniel Chisholm, but from Sgt. Samuel Clear, who was in the same Company as the Chisholm brothers were. His day to day entries during 1864-65 are the real deal. Pragmatic, prosaic and utterly without pretension, Sgt. Clear comes across as a decent and likable soldier.Think of this book as a 19th-century weblog followed by 19th-century emails and you'll see how life as a soldier hasn't changed much emotionally. Modern-day soldiers will nod their heads sympathetically reading these flashes from history.