Most histories of the Civil War explain victory and defeat in terms of the skill of commanders and their troops.Intelligence records disappeared after the war, and thus a critically important element has largely been ignored. Fishel has unearthed substantial collections of such records, and his "intelligence explanation" radically alters history's understanding of the campaigns. The Secret War for the Union is one of the most important Civil War works ever published. AUTHOR: Edwin C. Fishel began thirty years of service during World War II, working first as a chief intelligence reporter in the National Security Agency and later as the director of the National Cryptologic School Press. He lives in Arlington, Virgina.