1. This book provides a fresh look at soldiers experiences' by capturing the first-person account of a military surgeon.

2. The diary has never been published before and allows readers to experience battles as physicians saw them, exploring the relationship between the doctors and soldiers and how doctors managed soldiers' health, disease, injuries, and recovery.

3. The book also includes accessible chapters by leading experts in Civil War medicine, who put Fulton's experiences in context with the larger development of medicine during the war.