"Early on in the book, through photo and captions, the story is told of the rise of Ellsworth and the emergence of the 'Zouave craze' created by the 1860 tour of the Chicago United States Zouave Cadets. Alcock's narrative starts with the formation of the Fire Zouaves in April 1861. To help distinguish between the Atlas and the Leader entries, different fonts were used for each. There are no footnotes, with the exception of the letters relating to Bull Run and some prisoner of war material which do not begin until August 16, 1862, since Alcock had been a prisoner of war in the interim ... Alcock's narrative is an excellent source for those riveting months prior to Bull Run in which the Fire Zouaves played a featured part. His letters will hopefully help dismiss some myths or misunderstandings ... His letters also give insight to what it was like to be held as a prisoner of war in 1861, which is rather unique in itself"--Preface.