In the interest of saving time (mine), I agree with Camille's 6/03/09 review, which states, in part:
"This was a good overview of the Fort Henry and Donelson campaign, but it didn't talk about what was to come in the future campaigns that pitted Grant against Forrest. I didn't learn much that I didn't already know, but it provided more detail about the capture of the two forts and their strategic importance in having control of the Cumberland River."
( )

This book wasn't just a description of the battles at Forts Henry and Donelson, but also described the behind the scenes intrigues on both sides of the Civil War.  Hurst described the frustrations and tribulations that both Ulysses S. Grant and Nathan Bedford Forrest faced during their campaigns.  The focus of the book was on the Forts Henry and Donelson campaigns, but Hurst did an excellent job describing the events leading up and after the campaigns.  He also gave an epilogue of how each person fared after the War until their deaths.  This was interesting and well-written. ( )

I’ve been extremely negligent in by Civil War reading, I have all but ignored the West. I read this account of the Battles of Forts Henry and Donelson in an effort to begin correcting my deficiency and I picked an excellent place to start. The battles amongst Federal generals over who does what and who is in charge of who sound more like high school then high command and made me wonder how the Federals could have possibly won the war. Once the discussion turned to the Confederate generals my question was soon answered.

The only problem I had with the book was the title. Hurst really concentrates on Grant, Forrest doesn’t get much more mention then any of the other generals involved. This is understandable since this was really Grant’s show and Forrest was only a Lieutenant Colonel at the time and didn’t really play a major role. Hurst also never explains the title's claim that this was the campaign that decided the Civil War. Without these battles Grant would have probably been relieved and would therefore not have been around for his later victories which actually did decide the war. This campaign also alienated Forrest from the Confederate high command and prevented his being given important commands later in the war that could have influenced the war’s outcome. I don't think you can say this campaign decided the war based on these two facts, but Hurst doesn't present any others to support the claim. In spite of these minor issues I highly recommend Men of Fire. ( )

If you are looking for a badly written, badly structured and biased book on the Fort Henry and Fort Donelson campaign that concentrates on gossip, look no further. ( )