Contemporary Civil War scholarship has brought to light the important roles certain ethnic groups played during that tumultuous time in our nation's history. The axiom that the winners of wars write the histories is especially valid in regard to the story of the Irish who fought for the Confederacy from 1861-1865. Throughout the course of the Civil War, Irish Confederates made invaluable contributions to all aspects of the war effort. Yet, the Irish have largely been the forgotten soldiers of the South. In Irish Confederates: The Civil War's Forgotten Soldiers, author Phillip T. Tucker illuminates these overlooked participants. Phillip Thomas Tucker, winner of the Douglas Southall Freeman Award in 1993, has written fifteen books on Civil War, Irish, and African American history. He is a historian for the United States Air Force in Washington, D.C., and lives in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.