I've finished off a few books recently, and not mentioned them here. A week or two ago I finished "Vicksburg 1863" by Groom - it covers the entire Vicksburg campaign of 1862-1863, with a lot of coverage of the principal players: Grant, Pemberton, Sherman, and Johnston. Groom is pretty down on Johnston, and is unflinching in his portrayal of Grant - he includes an anecdote by journalist Cadwallader about a supposed bender on a Mississippi voyage in June of 1863 (not long before Vicksburg fell).

It's a fascinating book, and makes the case that a rational south would have sued for peace after Vicksburg fell. There was no such luck for anyone alive then, though - nearly two more years of war, including Sherman's march to the sea, lay ahead.

It's a good read - quite often more like a novel than like a history book. Highly recommended.

The other book I just finished is "Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West" by Christopher Caldwell. It's a discouraging look at how Europe (as a whole; it's not focused on any one nation) has been dealing with mass immigration over the last few decades. Caldwell doesn't make any recommendations; it's more of an observational book than anything else. I found it to be both fascinating and discouraging. Since the topic of the book gets into contemporary politics, I'm not going to give any opinion here beyond this: it's well worth reading, regardless of what you think about this entire area. It's full of food for thought, IMHO.