Reader recommendation: War Like the Thunderbolt

Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.

I recently finished "War Like the Thunderbolt," by Russell S. Bonds. Written in a narrative style, the book is packed with primary source material and fascinating profiles of key characters. Bonds is especially effective in connecting modern readers with devastating events and personal experiences of those who lived through the fighting for and destruction of Atlanta during the summer and fall of 1864. He provides both fair and nuanced portraits of opposing commanders, Union General William T. Sherman and Confederate counterpart, John Bell Hood. The writing is compelling, and pulls one back for more.