Civil War Petersburg provides an expertly researched study of the city that was second only to Richmond in size and strategic significance. Industrial, commercial, and prosperous, Petersburg was also home to a large African American community, including a large population of free blacks. Initially, the city elected a pro-Union approach to the sectional crisis but switched to pro-Confederate sentiments on the eve of Virginia's secession. Over the next four years, Petersburg's citizens watched their city become a conduit for transient soldiers, an armed camp, and finally the focus of one of the Civil War's most protracted and damaging campaigns. At war's end, Petersburg's antebellum prosperity evaporated. Greene's book tracks both Petersburg's civilian experience and the city's place in Confederate military strategy and administration. It weaves a uniquely personal story of thousands of citizens--free blacks, slaves and their holders, factory owners, merchants--all of whom shared a singular experience in Civil War Virginia.