Has anyone read this book?

War and Ruin: William T. Sherman and the Savannah Campaign
by Anne J. Bailey

This is the book description from the Amazon.Com site:

"The "March to the Sea." It shocked Georgians from Atlanta to Savannah. For the first time, suffering and carnage came to their very doorsteps in the form of 60,000 battle-hardened Union troops led by General William Tecumseh Sherman. In the late autumn of 1864, as his troops cut a four-week-long path of terror through Georgia, Sherman accomplished his objective: to destroy civilian morale and with it their support for the Confederate cause. His actions elicited a passionate reaction. Sherman became the ruthless personification of evil, an arch-villain who made war on innocent women, children, and old men. But does the Savannah Campaign deserve the reputation it has been given? And was Sherman truly this brutal?"

"In her new book War and Ruin: William T. Sherman and the Savannah Campaign, Anne J. Bailey examines this event and investigates just how much truth is behind the popular historical notions. Bailey contends that the psychological horror rather than the actual physical damage–which was not as devastating as believed–led to the wilting of Southern morale. This dissolution of resolve helped lead to ultimate Confederate defeat as well as to the development of Sherman’s infamous reputation."

"War and Ruin looks at the "March to the Sea" from its inception in Atlanta to its culmination in Savannah. This is a chronicle of not just the campaign itself, but also a revealing description of how the people of Georgia were affected. War and Ruin brilliantly combines military history and human interest to achieve a convincing portrayal of what really happened in Sherman’s epic effort to smash Confederate spirit in Georgia."

Is this an apologia for Sherman and his infamous March to the Sea? I'd like to hear comments from those who have read this book and your perception of its scholarship and historical validity.

Jim Martin