Review: Of Blood and Bothers - Book Two

Of Blood and Brothers: Book Two

by E. Michael Helms

To say this is the second in a series is a little bit of a stretch.  It is, however, the second half of a single novel.  Helms frequently refers back to events from his first book with no exposition of those events.  A reader not having read the first book would not pick up on these queues nor understand their inferences.  Consequently, “Of Blood and Brothers: Book Two” is merely a continuation of the original story and not a stand-alone book.

That aside I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the stories of the Malburn brothers.  Daniel, fighting on for the Confederates and Elijah fighting with the Union Army during the Civil War, their reunion and the fiery aftermath of the early stages of reconstruction in the South.

The war is not the only thing dividing the Malburn brothers.  The love of a woman also pits Daniel and Elijah against each other in a love triangle.  We already know that Elijah is the brother who won Annabelle “Annie” Gainer’s hand in marriage, now we find out how that happened and what the fallout from that event was.  Needless to say the Malburn’s reunion at the war’s conclusion does not bring forth only tears of joy but tears of anguish as well.

Calvin Hogue, the newspaper reporter who brings the saga of the Malburn brothers to the readers of his uncle’s newspaper, is noticeably absent during most of this book.  His interactions with the brothers and other members of the extended Malburn family were part of the driving narrative of the first book in this series.  In this second installment he only appears in the beginning of the book, to restart the story, and at the end of the book, asking what became of the rest of the family.

Taken together, the two parts of “Of Blood and Brothers” is a great retelling of the Civil War, from both sides (though Eli is not a willing volunteer for the Union Army) and shows the horrors of battle and its aftermath, as well as life in the Northern Confederate Prison Camps.  In an interesting twist to the Civil War Fiction genre, Helms demonstrates that the conditions in Northern Prison Camps was just as bad as those in the South, such as Andersonville and Libby, which are overly portrayed in Civil War fiction.

Helms’ writes in a smooth, easily read style, and the story of the Malburn brothers is a compelling page turner.  I just wish it had been published as one book instead of being split into two, as each is weaker without its other half.

ISBN 978-1938467509, Koehler Books, © 2014, Paperback, 274 pages, $17.95.  To purchase click HERE.

Review: The Ones They Left Behind

The Ones they Left Behind

By Antonio Elmaleh

Harriman Hickenlooper, a veteran of the 6th Iowa Infantry, came back from what some would call “The War of the Rebellion” and what others later would call the “War Between the States” with an unkept promise, a score to settle and a debt to repay.  His parents who had taken out a mortgage on the family farm had both died during the war; his brother Alonzo would also die in the war in Harriman’s arms.  It has been two years since Harriman had returned home.  The Appanoose County farmer was heavily in debt, behind on the mortgage payments and struggling to keep up the family farm all on his own.

Walter Ridley, formerly the Colonel of the 6th Iowa Infantry and now after the war was on the board of directors of the “Farmer’s and Merchant’s Bank,” Centerville, Iowa’s only bank, which held the note on the Hickenlooper farm.  In a move to avoid the embarrassment to bank foreclosing on one of Appanoose County’s war veterans, Ridley, bought the loan from the bank.

At a meeting of Centerville’s veterans, Harriman proposes a bet between he and Colonel Ridley; that Harriman could walk from Atlanta to Savannah, following the path taken by the 6th Iowa during William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea, unarmed, while carrying a United States flag, and return to Centerville unharmed by January 1, 1868 (giving Harriman 44 to complete the fete) with tangible proof of his journey.  If he makes it back by New Year’s Day he will get his farm free and clear, if he doesn’t Ridley will get the farm.

Seventeen year old Rufus Dewes, a young man wanting desperately to become a newspaper reporter, instantly senses Harriman’s journey would make a great story, and convinces Harriman to let him tag along on the journey.  Rufus periodically sends back dispatches to Jack Connolly, editor of Centerville’s newspaper, The Loyal Citizen, in which they are published.  The articles are quickly picked up by other newspapers across the country, and Harriman’s journey becomes a nationwide sensation as people clamor for details and wonder whether or not he will make it back in time, or even make it back at all.

Along the their journey Harriman and Rufus are joined by a former slave named Jed, emancipated in name only, until the timely arrival of the Northerners, and Lucinda McWhorter, a young Georgia woman left destitute by the misfortunes of war.  Will the quartet make it alive to Savannah?  And if they do will Harriman make it back to Centerville in time to save his farm?  And who are “The Ones They Left Behind?”  You will have to read the book to find out for yourself.

Iowa and family connections added to my experience of reading this book.  Being a native of south-central Iowa, I was greatly surprised to pick up Mr. Elmaleh’s book, and realize it was partially set in Centerville, a real town in Iowa, and county seat of Appanoose County.  My great Grandmother, Mary Alice Byrd Luce, is buried in Jerome, a small town just a few miles west of Centerville, so I am familiar with the area.  Centerville and the 6th Iowa Infantry are the only real things in this book; the bank, the newspaper, the townspeople, and the members of the 6th Iowa Infantry are all fictional creations of the author.  My father’s uncle, Lowell Miller, a medic during the Korean War, was killed in action and died in his brother’s arms, which reflected the story of Harriman and Alonzo, and gave to me an extra sense of poignancy to the story.  And further my great great grandfather’s name was Alonzo Luce, and three of his brothers served in the Union Army during the Civil War, all of them, however were in different units and did not serve together.  I also have several other relatives who participated in the march to Savannah.

Mr. Elmaleh states he based his novel on a newspaper article about a real Civil War Veteran who retraced Sherman’s route from Atlanta to Savannah, but he does not reveal any details of the actual historical event.  “The Ones They Left Behind” is well written and engaging.  It is a quickly read page turner that I found myself unable to put down.

ISBN 978-0990640622, 21 Cent Imprints Llc, © 2014, Hardcover, 260 pages, $19.95.  To purchase click HERE.

Review: Abraham Lincoln Civil War Stories

Abraham Lincoln Civil War Stories:

Heartwarming Stories about Our Most Beloved President

Edited by Joe Wheeler

What can you say about Abraham Lincoln that hasn’t been said over and over again, again and again?  That’s the point of Joe Wheeler’s book “Abraham Lincoln Civil War Stories: Heartwarming Stories about Our Most Beloved President.”

Stories about Abraham Lincoln have been passed from person to person, first in orally and later written down, for a century and a half.  If one were to read them all they would have to search through many books, newspapers and magazines in libraries and archives to find them.  Mr. Wheeler has saved you the time and effort, collecting many of the most popular stories and poems in his book.  The stories span the breadth of Lincoln’s life and run from the humorous to the tear-jerker.  The book is split into four parts: The Frontier Years, Civil War – The Early Years, Civil War – The Later Years, and To Live on in Hearts is not to Die. 

I would venture to say that many of these stories are largely fictional, some more so than others, but all have some kernel of historical truth to them.  Included by Mr. Wheeler is one of my favorites, “The Perfect Tribute,” by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews, which was turned into a made for television movie in 1991 and starred Jason Robards as Abraham Lincoln.

This is a great book for people who don’t know much about the 16th President of the United States or the Civil War.  For those who have studied and know a great deal about Lincoln and the war this book may help to understand the folklore surrounding Lincoln.  The stories are simply written, and range in size from a two to twenty pages in length which are easily read in a short time, so that you can pick the book up when you have just a few minutes to spare or a couple of hours.

ISBN 978-1476702865, Howard Books, © 2013, Hardcover, 384 pages, Photographs, Illustrations, & Notes. $22.99.  To purchase this book click HERE.

In The Review Queue: True Blue Confederate

True Blue Confederate

by Staten M. Rall

Real events that occurred in the Civil War of Tennessee and a soldier's struggle to save his very soul. Stones River - December 31st, 1862 The battle in middle Tennessee has begun and Confederate Sergeant Jon Lyhton is lost amid scattered skirmishers. Jon obtains a Union overcoat to survive the freezing night, but his desperate attempts to survive backfire in a horrid twist that only war can deliver. Disillusioned with himself and the lack of Confederate efforts to win the battle, Jon is confronted with failure and dishonor. For atonement, he must take heroic, but drastic action to avert the very judgment of God and his faith is tested to the limits of the human will. In vivid contrast are Jon’s experiences of the previous summer at the Cumberland Gap in Eastern Tennessee. While in the 11th Tennessee Regiment, he is introduced to garrison duty, first combat and the cold realities of war. Unionist partisans populate the nearby hills and there, Jon meets Bethanna, the daughter of German farming emigrants. As her serene valley is threatened by the encroaching sectional conflict, she must find a way to rise above the chaos of love and war. True Blue Confederate is a dynamic historical fiction surging with action, morality, and compassion during extremely difficult circumstances. Culminating in a heart-clinching final day at Stones River (Murfreesboro), Staten M. Rall proves that passionate characters still live and breathe in deeds of chivalry and honor.

ISBN 978-0989379601, ABC Book Publishers, Incorporated, © 2013, Paperback, 444 pages, $18.99.  To Purchas this book click HERE.

Review: Grant vs. Lee, The Graphic History of the Civil War’s Greatest Rivals During the Last Year of the War

Grant vs. Lee: The Graphic History of the Civil War’s

Greatest Rivals During the Last Year of the War

by Wayne Vansant

On Wednesday, May 4, 1864 the Army of the Potomac, crossed the Rapidan River in north-central Virginia.  It was the last year of the war and the beginning of its end.  Newly installed General-in-Chief of the Union Army, Ulysses S. Grant determined the only way to win the war was to make it a war of attrition, to outlast and outwit his Confederate opponent commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee.  No longer would the Army of the Potomac retreat after a defeat, it would now only move southward.  The war’s final eleven months would prove to be its bloodiest and most destructive.

Wayne Vansant’s graphic novel, “Grant vs. Lee: The Graphic History of the Civil War’s Greatest Rivals During the Last Year of the War,” is an excellent tutorial on the war’s final year.  It follows Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign and covers the battles of The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, to the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia.  The Petersburg Campaign is neatly folded in, and includes the Battle of the Crater, The Beefsteak Raid, and the Confederate breakout attempt at Fort Steadman.  After the fall of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia the book concludes with the Appomattox Campaign and the Battle of Five Forks, and the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House.

“Grant vs. Lee” is told from both the Northern and Southern perspectives, and is just as much about the slow and steady retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia and how General Robert E. Lee tried to blunt Grant’s advances, as it is about the southward trek of the Army of the Potomac.

At 104 pages, it does not by any means encompass all of the events and personalities portrayed between its covers, but rather serves as a small sampler of each of its topics.  It can be easily read in an afternoon, and because of its graphic novel format it is a perfect starting place for younger readers interested in the war as well as older readers who are unschooled on the war.

ISBN 978-0760345313, Zenith Graphic Histories, © 2013, Paperback, Illustrated, 104 pages, $19.99.  To purchase this book please click HERE.

Review: Gettysburg, The Graphic History of America's Most Famous Battle and the Turning Point of The Civil War

Gettysburg: The Graphic History of America's Most

Famous Battle and the Turning Point of The Civil War

by Wayne Vansant

One hundred and fifty years have passed since the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863.  It was the largest and bloodiest battle to have ever taken place in the Western Hemisphere.  Volume upon volume has been written about what transpired in the small hamlet of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during those three days in July.  So much has been written about the battle that for those who are just beginning to study it may find the question “Where do I begin?” a bit daunting to answer.

Fortunately Wayne Vansant has written and illustrated a graphic novel which contains much of the basic, need to know, information about the battle and its participants, “Gettysburg: The Graphic History of America's Most Famous Battle and the Turning Point of The Civil War.”

Vansant provides accurate and detailed information about the battle in an easily read compact book which can easily be read during an afternoon.  Breaking his graphic novel into five parts Mr. Vansant’s prologue follows the events leading up to the three day battle.  Each day of the battle gets its own chapter, which is in turn followed by an Afterward, that contains Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

“Gettysburg: The Graphic History of . . .” is appropriate for young and older readers alike, though many current students of the battle and the American Civil War, may find it trivial, it is a great place to start for the young and old who wish to begin their study of the largest battle in America’s greatest conflict.

ISBN 978-0760344064, Zenith Graphic Histories, © 2013, Paperback, Illustrated, 96 pages, $19.99.  To purchase this book please click HERE.

Review: Of Blood and Brothers, Book One

Of Blood and Brothers: Book One

By E. Michael Helms 

“Brother against brother” is a frequent theme often used in literature about the American Civil War.  So prevalent is this theme that there is quote from a movie, the title of which I cannot seem to recall, that states, to the best of my recollection, “The worst fights I ever saw were between brothers.”  There are documented cases in the Civil War of brothers choosing opposing sides, though considering the number of men who would eventually fight in the war which spanned across four years,  such occurrences are relatively rare and increase in numbers the closer you get to the border states separating the North from the South.  The war did tear families apart, fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, and cousins often found themselves fighting on opposite sides.  The soldiers who came back from the war came back with not only the physical scars on their bodies, but emotional scars as well.  After the war it was left to its survivors to bind up their physical and emotional wounds, and not only heal a war torn country, but their broken personal relationships as well.  Some were more successful at it than others.  E. Michael Helms’ novel, “Of Blood and Brothers,” is on such tale of brothers, who by a quirk of fate found themselves fighting on opposite sides of the war.

It is May 28, 1927 and Calvin Hogue, a cub reporter on the staff of his uncle’s newspaper, the St. Andrew Pilot, finds himself assigned to write a feature article the Malburn Family Reunion at Econfina on Florida panhandle.  He first speaks with Alma Hutchins nee Malburn who points out her uncle, Daniel Malburn, a veteran of the 6th Florida Infantry, Calvin quickly introduces himself and thus begins the first of many sessions with the Malburn brothers.

Elijah Malburn, Daniel’s brother, while working at the salt works along St. Andrew Bay is taken prisoner by Union forces. Faced with imprisonment, he reluctantly chooses to join the 2nd US Florida Cavalry.

“Of Blood and Brothers” is the first of two books covering the story of the Malburn brothers as they tell their stories to Calvin. Book One follows the exploits of Daniel Malburn and the 6th Forida Infantry through the battles of Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain/Missionary Ridge, meanwhile Elijah learns to his horror must lead a destructive raid on the Econfina Valley — his lifelong home.

Mr. Helms’ novel is a well written and engaging and easy read.  My only criticism of it comes on its last page with the words “To Be Continued.”  For it is in reality only half of a novel.  Book Two, the sequel to Of Blood and Brothers, will be released in March of 2014. The story of the Malburn brothers, Daniel and Elijah, picks up where Book One in the series ends.

ISBN 978-1938467516, Koehler Books, © 2013, Paperback, 282 pages, $16.95.  To purchase click HERE.

Review: The Reckoning

The Reckoning

By Bob Larranaga

A veteran of the Mexican-American War, Ed Canfield is a man with a secret and a dark past.  A sufferer of “soldier’s heart’ (what we know today as post traumatic stress disorder), he must battle with the demons of his past as the American Civil War breaks out around him.

Mr. Larranaga’s novel is set in the Florida Keys and centers around a trio of characters: the afore mentioned Ed Canfield; his estranged teenaged son, Jesse Beecham; and Maureen Foster, Ed’s love interest.  Abraham Lincoln has already been elected as President at the opening of the book; it is Secession Winter and both North and South are raising opposing armies for a war that both sides think will be short and victorious.  Jesse wants desperately to join the Confederate Army his mother, the former Mrs. Ed Canfield, sends him to Cedar Keys to live with his father.  When Ed picks him up he is seeing is son for the very first time; immediately the father-son conflict begins.

Ed owns a gum patch at Cedar Keys and manufactures turpentine among other nautical stores that could be of military value to either side of the war.  Caleb Foster is one of Ed’s more recently hired employees, and thus Ed becomes associated with his sister, Maureen.  Ed joins the local church choir just to get nearer to her, but as their relationship grows, hostilities erupt; Fort Sumter has fallen and the War is on.

While Ed and Jesse are fishing on their boat the “Dead Reckoning,” Cedar Keys is shelled by a gunboat, destroying the gum patch, Ed’s livelihood, and scattering its residents to the four winds.  Ed and Jesse discover a mysterious stow-away aboard the boat, and together the three of them set sail with what remains of Ed’s naval stores in search of Maureen and her family, during which time Ed must decide where his loyalties lie.  Ed and Jesse get more than what they bargained for when the real identity of their passenger is revealed and they find themselves in a race against time to save Maureen and some of the other residents of Cedar Keys from what is sure to be a certain death.

“The Reckoning,” is inspired by the pocket-sized journal that Mr. Larranaga’ great grandfather kept during the Civil War.  It is one part historical fiction and one part historical romance, but a bodice ripper it is not.  The old adage “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” holds true here.  In a glaring miscalculation of art design, book’s cover features a trio of a middle aged man, an bare-chested younger man, both wearing cowboy hats, and a young woman, all who appear in modern 20th/21st century clothing, and gives the casual book store browser the impression that this book is a western “horse opera.”  The novel is written in the first person, as Ed’s memoir of the tumultuous first year first year of the war in Florida’s Key Islands.  Readers of historical fiction will most assuredly enjoy Mr. Larranaga’s tale of love and war.

ISBN 978-1478177296, CreateSpace, © 2012, Paperback, 290 pages.  $13.49.  To Purchase click the book click HERE.

In The Review Queue: Stonewall Goes West

Stonewall Goes West:

A Novel of the Civil War and What Might Have Been

By R. E. Thomas

Stonewall Jackson's death at the Battle of Chancellorsville is the great "what if" of the Civil War. In Stonewall Goes West, the fabled Jackson survives his wounding at Chancellorsville in 1863 to assume command of the South’s Army of Tennessee. In a final bid to reverse the failing fortunes of the Confederacy, a maimed but unbowed General Jackson confronts not only Sherman's Union armies on the western front, but his own recalcitrant generals. Stonewall Goes West gives the classic "what if” a fresh, new answer in a fast-paced tale, rich with authentic detail, filled with battle and strategy, and populated by the Civil War's most colorful personalities.

About the Author

R.E. Thomas is the Managing Editor of The Whiskey Reviewer, a freelance boxing and travel writer, and holds degrees in history and international relations. He has previously published a book about Port wine, and "Stonewall Goes West" is his first novel.

ISBN 978-0988892200, Black Gold Media, © 2013, Paperback, 256 pages, $12.99. To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Shiloh, Book 2 of “The Civil War Battle Series”

Shiloh: Book 2 of “The Civil War Battle Series”

By James Reasoner

James Reasoner continues the saga of the Brannon family of Culpepper County, Virginia, in “Shiloh,” the second installment of “The Civil War Battle Series.”

“Shiloh” picks up shortly after the conclusion of “Manassas,” the first book in Mr. Reasoner’s series, continuing the story of the Brannon family with the only member of the family we have not yet met, Coriolanus Troilus Brannon, the wayward son of Abigail Brannon.  Before the war he travelled west to find his fortune.  Things haven’t gone as well as he had hoped.  When the book begins Cory is a day laborer working on the wharfs of New Madrid, Missouri on the Mississippi River.  He is dirty, hungry and homeless.

Through a series of unfortunate events Cory is rescued by Ezekiel Farrell, captain of The Missouri Zepher, a river boat which frequently traverses the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Cairo, Illinois.  When Cory warns the captain that a torch-bearing crowd of abolitionists is on its way to burn the Zepher, Captain Farrell decides to quickly depart from New Madrid, and as thanks for the warning allows Cory to come along.  But Cory is not the only youngster onboard the Zepher, the Captain’s daughter, Lucille, is also aboard.

Cory spends the next few months on board the Zepher, travelling up and down the Mississippi River, learning the river and its hazards all the while falling in love with Lucille.  But in early 1862 Cory’s past catches up with him, and sends him, and the Zepher, fleeing from New Orleans with a cargo of cotton bound for Cairo and a shipment guns for the Confederacy.  After the cargo is delivered, Captain Farrell seeks the safety of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, but that isn’t far enough, the Union Flotilla is on its way.  Farrell sends Lucille to live in the safety of the home of her uncle and aunt, Charles and Louise Thompson, in Nashville, while Farrell and the crew of the Zepher stay to help defend the fort.  It is a disastrous decision, the Zepher and her crew are lost and only the Captain and Cory make it safely back to shore and eventually twelve miles over land to Fort Donelson where Captain Farrell is killed in Grant’s attack on that fort.

Many of Nashville’s citizens, including Lucille and the Thompsons have fled the city ahead of the occupying forces of the Union army.  After arriving in the city Cory fruitlessly looks for Lucille, and unable to find her heads to Corinth, Mississippi, where he volunteers, temporarily, and fights with Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry during the battle of Shiloh, his third battle in as many months.

Though most of Mr. Reasoner’s narrative concentrates on Cory Brannon, he briefly catches his readers up on what has been going on with the rest of the Brannon family: Will is still with the Confederate army; Titus, pining for Polly Ebersole has turned to alcohol to sooth his broken heart; Henry’s shoulder has healed; and Mac has captured and tamed the mysterious wild stallion and had decided he will soon join the Confederate army.

As with Mr. Reasoner’s previous book, “Shiloh” is a simple story told simply.  There is not much in the way of character development; the novel is purely a plot driven vehicle.  Though, there is more action in this novel than in the previous one, it is all in its last hundred pages: The attack on Fort Henry doesn’t occur until page 265.  Over all it is a satisfying novel, it is neither good, nor bad, but falls somewhere in the middle.

ISBN 978-1581820485, Cumberland House Publishing, © 1999, Hardcover, 362 pages, $22.95.  To purchase click HERE.

Review: Manassas, Book 1 of "The Civil War Battle Series"

Manassas: Book 1 of “The Civil War Battle Series”

By James Reasoner

“Manassas,” the first book of James Reasoner’s ten volume, “The Civil War Battle Series,” introduces the Brannon family of Culpepper County, Virginia.  The patriarch of the family, John Brannon, an Irish immigrant with a penchant for reading Shakespeare, died in 1851 leaving his wife Abigail to raise their family of six children: William Shakespeare, MacBeth Richard (“Mac”), Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus Troilus (“Cory”), Henry and Cordelia.

The novel begins in January, during the “Secession Winter” of 1861.  Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States the previous November. As the states of the South begin to secede from the Union and form a new country the Brannon family anxiously await Virginia’s decision to remain in the United States or to leave the Union and join her sister states in the Confederacy.

Will, the eldest child of the Brannon clan, and the central character in Mr. Reasoner’s novel, is the Sheriff of Culpepper County.  Will suspects the Fogarty brothers for a series of robberies and murders in the county, including the murder of his deputy Luther Strawn.  When Will corners Joe Fogarty in the general store and is forced to shot and kill him for resisting arrest, a feud erupts between the Brannons and the remaining Fogarty brothers.

When the Brannon’s barn is burned to the ground their neighbors gather on the Brannon farm for a barn raising during which Henry Brannon is shot through the shoulder by a hidden gunman.  Abigail, a Christian woman strong in her beliefs, blames Will for the violence that has been brought to bear on the family and disowns him, banishing him from the farm.

Abraham Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops to be raised after the surrender of Fort Sumter results in Virginia’s secession from the Union, and in an attempt to focus the attention of the George and Ransom Fogarty away from the rest of the family Will enlists in the 33rd Virginia Infantry to fight with the Confederate Army.  The Fogarty’s also enlist, seeing their opportunity to kill Will during a battle and avoid the suspicion of murder.  Together they march to battle the Yankee army, and each other, on the fields of Bull Run, near Manassas, Virginia.

Reasoner’s novel is a simple tale told simply.  Its linear narrative is mainly a plot driven vehicle with little character development, but all in all, still an enjoyable read.  Anyone looking for an in depth treatment of the First Battle of Manassas (or Bull Run, as the Union Army would later refer to it) should look elsewhere, as the battle does not begin until page 316 of this 336 page book.

ISBN 978-1581820089, Cumberland House Publishing, © 1999, Hardcover, 336 pages, $22.95.  To purchase click HERE.

Review: Hiram's Honor

Hiram’s Honor: Reliving Private Terman's Civil War

By Max R. Terman

It is the dream of most genealogists to travel backwards in time and interview their ancestors.  I suspect Civil War reenactors share a like dream of traveling through time to experience the life of a Civil War soldier as it really happened.  In his novel, “Hiram’s Honor,” Dr. Terman, a retired zoology professor, relives the horrors of the Civil War through the eyes of his great uncle, Hiram Terman, a private in Company F of the 82nd Ohio Infantry.

Based on ten years of research Dr. Terman assumes the personage of his great uncle, and uses a first person narrative to tell Hiram’s story.  From Hiram’s enlistment, and battlefield experiences, to his capture by the Confederate Army during the first day of Gettysburg, and imprisonment in such notorious Confederate Prison Camps as Belle Isle and Andersonville, Dr. Terman has unearthed the bones of Hiram’s military service and clothed them with his years of research to build a fully fleshed out narrative of what Hiram Terman’s Civil War experiences may have been.

Early on Hiram meets two friends, Seth who wears his religion on his sleeve, and Isaiah, an agnostic.  On the religious scale Hiram seems to float somewhere in the middle.  Throughout the novel the debate over religion, and the beneficence of God is a constant theme.

I found the first half of the novel a bit tedious as Hiram and his pards see action at McDowell, Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg where the three friends are captured on the first day of the battle as they retreat through the town.  The strength of Dr. Terman’s narrative grows in the second half of the novel, as Hiram and his friends are sent first to Belle Isle, an island prison camp in the middle of the James River, and then to the living hell of Andersonville.  It was compelling to read how Hiram and his friends learned how to survive, and it instantly reminded me of MacKinlay Kantor’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1956 novel and the 1996 film which it inspired, as well as John Ransom’s Andersonville Diary.  That is high praise indeed!

Published by Tessa Books (I could find almost no information about them on the internet), this book has an amateurish look to it.  The formatting is not what I would expect from a quality publisher; the text is a small, I would guess 9 or 10 point font, leaving very little “white space” on the books pages, and the book contains numerous photographs and maps, and the end of each chapter that would serve the reader better if they were interspersed throughout the text.  But these are very minor complaints.

All in all, despite its few minor flaws, if Dr. Terman, has not managed to make time travel into a reality, he has done something very much like it. 

ISBN 978-0615278124, Tesa Books, © 2009, Paperback, 242 pages, Maps, Photographs, Illustrations, Historical Notes & Acknowledgments. $16.99.  Click HERE to purchase this book.

Review: Pittsburg Landing - A Novel

Pittsburg Landing: A Novel

By Robert Burns Clark

In Robert Burns Clark’s debut novel, “Pittsburg Landing” two reluctant veterans of the Mexican War find themselves fighting on opposite sides during the Battle of Shiloh.

On the night of April 18, 1847, Amos Bingham, single handedly killed 34 men on a Mexican mountain top known as El Telegrafo.  After the war he came home to farm in Stafford, Alabama, married and started a family.  Amos kept locked away the memories of the awful and bloody night, and promised himself never to draw blood in anger again.  But with the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the recruitment and mobilization of the Confederate Army it is a promise that grows increasingly difficult to keep.

Amos’ son Noah is resentful of his father’s pacifist tendencies and thinks his father is a coward.  Determined to save the honor of the family name and despite being under age, Noah convinces his friend Buddy Sykes to run away with him and join the growing Confederate Army gathering at Corinth Mississippi.

Discovering his son missing, Amos chases after the boys, vowing to save his son, no matter who or what gets in his way.

William Moore, bore witness the gruesome scene at El Telegrafo, and in the spring of 1862 he too is caught up in the conflict that has torn America in two.  While raising and training Federal troops at Evansburg, Indiana, he falls in love with Sarah Delaney the daughter of an old acquaintance.  Soon they are married, and William’s troops are ordered to join Grant’s growing Army of the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing on the banks of the Tennessee River.  Sarah a nurse, organizes a medical team and follows her husband into the theater of war.

When Confederate Army of Mississippi moves north and attacks Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing, Amos, Noah, Buddy, William and Sarah find themselves at the vortex of what would afterward be known as the Battle of Shiloh.

Robert Burns Clarke is a former writer and producer of the CBS television series, “The Dukes of Hazzard” which aired between1979 and1985.  “Pittsburg Landing” is his first novel.  It is a good attempt.  It is neither a great nor a bad novel, but falls somewhere in between.  Burns relies too heavily on the melodramatic, and too little on historical detail.  The battle of Shiloh is not the focal point of the Clark’s novel, though it gives the novel its dramatic context, and propels Clark’s characters through the plot.  It is a quick and satisfying read, but does not leave the reader wanting more.

ISBN 978-0985537500, Definitive Words Cyber Publishing, ©2012, Paperback, 294 pages. $19.95

Review: Shiloh - A Novel by Shelby Foote

Shiloh: A Novel

By Shelby Foote

Shelby Foote’s 1952 novel “Shiloh,” is not your typical Civil War novel.  One character does not happen to be in all the right places at all the right times.  Neither does it champion the Union or the Confederate viewpoint.  Nor does if follow multiple characters during the battle from the first shot fired until its conclusion.  It is rather the story of a battle told in the form of a relay.

“Shiloh,” Foote’s fourth novel, tells the story of the two day battle at Pittsburg Landing on the western bank of the Tennessee River, eight miles south of Savannah, Tennessee, told through multiple viewpoints.  One chapter per character (with two exceptions) in which one piece of the battle is told through its narrator’s point of view.  The flow of the battle is never once interrupted by the novel’s constantly changing narrators, instead each character picks up narrative of the battle where the previous character’s ended.  From the battle’s beginning until its conclusion, the narrative is passed from character to character, much like the baton in a 4x100 meter relay race.

Foote begins with Lieutenant Palmer Metcalf, an Aide-de-Camp of General Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of the Confederate Army. Through his eyes the reader is witness to the march of the Army of Mississippi from Corinth, Mississippi to Pittsburg Landing, and the firing of the first shots of the battle.

The story continues as Captain Walter Fountain, Adjutant of the 53rd Ohio Infantry, in Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Tennessee, who has the misfortune of being on duty as Officer of the Day in the early hours of April 6th, 1862 when the swarming Confederate army overwhelms the unsuspecting camps of their Federal counterparts.

Switching back to the Confederate viewpoint Foote’s next narrator, Private Luther Dade of the 6th Mississippi Infantry, continues as the waves of Confederates gradually push the Union Army from their campsites and witnesses the death of General Johnston.

Private Otto Flickner of the 1st Minnesota Artillery bears witness to the hard fighting at “The Hornet’s Nest,” and having abandoned his post just before the Union line collapses makes his way at the close of the first  fight to the shelter of the riverbank bluffs of Pittsburg Landing, where several other “demoralized” Union soldiers have also sought refuge.

Continuing into Sunday night, Foote’s narrative switches once again to the Confederates with Sergeant Jefferson Polly, a scout in Nathan Bedford’s cavalry who from atop the Indian mounds next to the river witnesses the Major General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio crossing the Tennessee River to reinforce Grant’s troops.

The second day of the battle is carried forward by the first of Foote’s narrative exceptions.  Instead of being told from one character’s point of view, he instead splits it up into twelve short vignettes, each told by a member of a squad from the 23rd Indiana Infantry of Lew Wallace’s division.

In the novel’s final chapter Lieutenant Palmer Metcalf, in Foote’s second narrative exception, returns as the narrator and from his vantage point, relates the details of the Confederate withdrawal from Pittsburg Landing and Nathan Bedford Forrest’s stand at Fallen Timbers.

Each chapter builds from each previous chapter, and as the narrative progresses, characters from prior chapters appear, if only briefly.  Lieutenant Metcalf, is the only character to reprieve his role as narrator, and appearing in the novel’s first and last chapter is a satisfying conclusion to Foote’s narrative.

The book’s best feature is easily its map of the battlefield.  Each chapter’s corresponding number appears on the map is where the chapter begins.  Arrows trace the journey of each character across the battlefield, allowing the reader to easily follow the action.

“Shiloh” is not your typical Civil War novel.  Foote has deconstructed the battle, and reconstructed it piece by piece, covering the dramatic ark of the battle, in its entirety, in a clear linear narrative, which is easily followed, and never once overwhelms the reader.

ISBN 978-0679735427, Vintage, 1991 Edition, ©1952, Paperback, 240 pages, 1 Map. $15.95

Review: A Blaze of Glory

A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh

By Jeff Shaara

After authoring novels on the American Revolution, the Mexican War, World War I, and World War II, Jeff Shaara has found his way back to the conflict that launched his literary career, the American Civil War.  After penning a prequel and a sequel to his father, Michael Sharra’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “The Killer Angels,” Mr. Shaara now begins a new Civil War trilogy with “A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh.”

Shaara in “A Blaze of Glory” maintains the tried-and-true format of his and his father’s previous novels: using multiple characters and points of view, to give his reader a more-or-less balanced narrative of the Battle of Shiloh.  Major General Ulysses S. Grant, Brigadier General William Tecumseh Sherman, Brigadier General Benjamin Prentiss and Private Fritz Bauer of the 16th Wisconsin Infantry are the primary characters on the side of the Union.  Their Confederate counterparts are General Albert Sidney Johnston, Tennessee Governor Isham Harris and Lieutenant James Seeley of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederate Cavalry.

“A Blaze of Glory” begins in late February of 1862 with the building up the Confederate forces at Corinth, Mississippi, where the Mobile & Ohio Railroad intersects with the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; and that of the Union forces some twenty-two miles to the northeast at Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee River.  Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Army of Tennessee has been assigned to hold there until joined by Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio.  Once the two Federal Armies have united only then are they to launch an attack on the vital Confederate hub at Corinth.  Aware of the impending danger of two Federal armies bearing down upon his forces, Johnston determines to launch his Army of Mississippi a surprise attack and defeat Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing  before Buell’s joins with it.

Thus with all of his chess pieces set into place Mr. Shaara’s narrative, switching between the Union and Confederate armies, gradually picks up steam as the Confederate army, slowed by weather delays and muddy roads, nears the Union camps at Pittsburg Landing.  For those educated on the battle and its controversies, Mr. Shaara covers familiar ground: the surprise, or lack thereof, of the Confederate attack, the positioning of the camps (specifically those of the new, little trained regiments), the changing battle plans of the Confederate Army and who authored them, the death of Albert Sidney Johnston and the ascension of P. G. T. Beauregard as his successor, the “Hornet’s Nest,” Beauregard’s decision to withdraw the Confederate troops out of range of the Union guns on the evening of the first day of the battle and Lew Wallace’s late arrival onto the battlefield.

Mr. Shaara places particular credit to Prentiss’ delaying action at the “Hornet’s Nest” for the eventual success of the Union army on the second day of the battle, giving Grant enough time to form a stronger line, reinforced by the timely arrival of Buell’s army at the river landing.  I suspect this was done for dramatic purposes, as modern scholarship currently places more importance on Sherman’s fighting at the crossroads near Shiloh Church.

The book’s thirty-seven chapters are spread almost equally between the two opposing armies; 19 chapters for the Union and 18 chapters for their Confederate opposition.  Albert Sidney Johnston is the most featured character in the novel with 10 chapters, followed by Sherman and Bauer both with 8, Seeley at 5, Harris with 3, Grant, commander of the Union forces, strangely with only 2 and Prentiss with 1.

The novel is thoroughly researched, Mr. Shaara states in that he uses only original sources from people who were there.  It is well written and is an easy and enjoyable read.  Whether you are an advanced student of the Civil War or a casual reader of novels you will be entertained, and might just learn a little something along the way.

“A Blaze of Glory” is the first in a new Civil War trilogy, authored by Jeff Shaara, covering events in the war’s western theater.  The second volume of the series, “A Chain of Thunder: A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg,” will be released May 21, 2013.  The third volume in the trilogy will focus on Sherman’s March to the Sea and the Carolina Campaign.

ISBN 978-0345527356, Ballantine Books, © 20012, Hardcover, 464 pages, Maps, $28.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: The Battle of the Crater

The Battle of the Crater

By Newt Gingrich & William R. Forstchen

Walt Whitman wrote, “Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not — the real war will never get in the books.”

One hundred and fifty years have passed since the beginning of the American Civil War, and truer words have never been written.  Many have tried in words to capture the experience of those who fought this nation’s most tragic war.  A few are more successful than others.  Newt Gingrich and his co-author William R. Forstchen, are among those few.

Their novel, “The Battle of the Crater” is set during the summer of 1864.  The war in the eastern theater has settled into a stalemate with both armies entrenched and facing each other around Petersburg, Virginia.  Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pleasants of the 48th Pennsylvania, a mining engineer in his former civilian life, proposed to hasten the end of the war by tunneling under the Confederate line and detonate a large explosive charge directly beneath the enemy’s feet; leaving a hole in the line for the Union army to charge through.

Given the go-ahead by Major General Ambrose Burnside, Pleasants supervised the construction of the mine, while the troops who were expected to exploit the break in the Confederate defenses.  Two brigades of United States Colored Troops were chosen for the assault, one to go around to the left of the crater and the other to right.

James O’Reilly, an Irish artist correspondent for Harper’s Weekly is Gingrich and Forstchen’s primary protagonist.  But Harper’s isn’t his only employer.  O’Reilly, a close friend of President Lincoln has been sent by him to provide an honest report from the battlefront and also on the performance of the Colored Troops.

Under the guise of reporting for Harper’s O’Reilly is in the trenches of the Union Army around Petersburg, and witnesses the digging of the mine and the meticulous training of the Colored troops.  He is also privy to the bickering between Burnside and Major General George Meade, the commander of the Army of the Potomac.

The day before the attack Meade, fearing political ramifications if the assault should fail, ordered Burnside not to use the Colored Troops.  Brigadier General James Ledlie’s 1st Division was selected for the job.  The result was a catastrophe.  Instead of attacking around the rim of the crater as the colored troops were trained to do, the white soldiers charged into the crater, trapping themselves, and providing an excellent opportunity for the Confederate forces gathering on the rim of the crater to fire down into the swirling blue vortex of Union soldiers.

Burnside makes matters worse by sending the Colored Troops in and exposing them to dangerous cross fire.  O’Reilly follows the Colored Troops into the battle and not only witnesses the battle from within as it degenerates into bloody and savage hand-to-hand combat, but becomes a participant in it as well.

While listening to the audiobook of “The Battle of the Crater,” I was reminded of the opening fifteen minutes of Anthony Minghella’s film adaptation of Charles Frazier’s novel “Cold Mountain.” Though the film brings us closer to what it might have been like during the fighting in the crater, Walt Whitman may have been right.  The real war may never get in the books, but Gingrich and Forstchen have done an admirable job trying.

Book: ISBN 978-0312607104, Thomas Dunne Books, © 2011, Hardcover, 384 pages, Map & Illustrations, $27.99

Audiobook: ISBN 978-1427213280, Macmillan Audio, © 2011, Unabridged, 10 Audio CD’s, Running time: 12 hours.  $44.99

Review: Cain At Gettysburg

Cain at Gettysburg

By Ralph Peters

There are few events upon which one may point and state with confidence “The course of American history changed here.”  The battle of Gettysburg during the first three days of July 1863 is such an event.  Scores of books have been written about the battle, both fiction and nonfiction, including Michael Shaara’s 1975 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels.

A blurb from Booklist’s review on a sticker on the cover of Cain at Gettysburg, states Ralph Peters’ novel “Surpasses Michael Shaara’s classic The Killer Angels . . . Brilliant . . .Brilliant.”  Sadly Mr. Peters’ book comes out on the losing end of such a comparison.  The two novels cover vastly different territory, both in literal and figurative terms.  One is not the superior of the other, but rather they are two sides of the same coin.

While Shaara’s The Killer Angels is the emotional struggle of a nation torn in two and battling against itself, Peters’ Cain at Gettysburg takes on the physical reality of two giant armies battling to the death.

Each novel cover’s different areas of the battlefield:  Shaara highlights Buford’s delaying action northwest of Gettysburg on the battle’s first day, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s defense of Little Round Top on its second, and Pickett’s Charge on its last.  While Peters’ covers the Confederate advance on Seminary Ridge, Sickles’ advance to, and the subsequent fighting at, the Peach Orchard and the Union Army’s defense of Cemetery Ridge during Pickett’s charge respectively.

Both books in telling their version of the battle of Gettysburg, use essentially (as history would dictate) the same cast of characters.   Shaara focuses primarily on Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Lewis Armistead, John Buford, Winfield Scott Hancock and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.  Peters brings forward George Meade and Daniel Sickles as well the foot soldiers on both sides of the battle.

Shaara’s The Killer Angels is a romanticized, noble view of the battle and its participants, while Peters’ Cain at Gettysburg is the dirtier, grittier, bloodier picture of the battle.

Where Booklist’s review went wrong was stating that Ralph Peters’ novel is superior to that of Mr. Shaara’s.  Instead Cain at Gettysburg is rather a companion to The Killer Angels, for to read both books together would give the reader a more complete view of both the battle and those who fought it.

ISBN 978-0765330475, Forge Books, © 2012, Hardcover, 432 pages, Maps, $25.99

Review: "Civil War Adventure #2: Real History: More Stories of the War That Divided America"

Civil War Adventure #2: Real History: More Stories of the War That Divided America

Chuck Dixon and Gary Kwapisz, Authors

Gary Kwapisz, Enrique Villagran and Esteve,  Illustrators

History is more than names, dates and places.  History lives in every one, it surrounds us and shaped the world we live in, yet it can often be difficult to convince students as to why it is important to study history.  It is simply not enough to regurgitate the same old platitude, “Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.”  New ways, new tactics and new tools are needed to make history relevant to today’s students.  That being said, the creators of “Civil War Adventure #2: Real History: More Stories of the War That Divided America” have gone back to the drawing-board of the low-tech past, and created a comic book, or in today’s parlance what would be termed a graphic novel

A novel however it is not.  It is rather a book of seven, starkly drawn, black and white, graphic short stories:

•  The March To Romney
• The Gray Ghost
• Burning Vengeance
• Will The Back Man Fight?
• Sharpshooter’s Duel
• Pickett’s Diary
• Let Go Now . . .

Sadly the book fails at a few different levels.  First it’s subtitle: “Real History: More Stories of the War that Divided America.”  In a story titled “Burning Vengeance” a group of Union foragers are cursed by a grotesque witch who resides in an abandoned plantation house.  Real history?  I think not.

Secondly, many of the Confederate characters are bad stereotypes and misrepresentations of the Southern soldiers, and people from the South in general.  Many are missing teeth, and speak in dialect that would make Gomer Pyle look like the smartest kid in the class.  “Danged if that ain’t so!” and “G’wan back t’Boston Billy!” are just a few such phrases used.  This, coupled with the fact that the authors refer to the Civil War as “The War Between The States,” a name given to the war by Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, and adopted by those who took up the banner of “The Lost Cause,” is an odd juxtaposition.

And lastly, there are more than a handful of spelling errors in the book, discounting of course the dialogue written in a Southern dialect.

The book’s one shining moment, however, is the story of “Will the Back Man Fight?” highlighting the courageous fight of the United States Colored Troops during the Battle of Milliken’s Bend on June 7, 1863.

One story though is not enough to recommend this book.  If its aim was to generate the interest of today’s graphic novel generation in the Civil War, it utterly fails.  The stories presented are unrelated to each other and only the most minimal exposition is used to set each story in its context.  Often the stories are sensationalistic and best (discounting “Will the Black Man Fight?”), and pandering to the lowest common denominator at their worst.  I can’t imagine reading this book would motivate any one to read further on the history of the Civil War, had they not already been so motivated.

ISBN 978-0982446621, History Graphics Press, © 2011, Paperback, Illustrated, 144 pages, $14.95