Usual good historical novel frm Jeff Shaara
922184
Briefly, Jeff Shaara did his usual wonderfully researched historical novel.
Our historical characters were mainly General William Sherman, General Sydney Johnston, Colonel Bedford Forest and General Beaufort, with some soldiers of lesser rank to show us the gutsier side of battle.
I enjoyed the read and look forward to Mr. Shaara's next endeavor.

p.s. I recently had surgery and writing under the influence of pain killers, so please excuse the brevity and lack of accuracy of my review.
3649421
I enjoy the hangman's daughter series.  Gives an insight to the happenings of Tia time frame.  A good historical fiction novel.
386285
Jeff Shaara is one of my favorite historical fiction authors.  I have read many of his books the past 5 years, and this book follows his usual excellant story telling interwoven with all his research of the subject matter. The Chain of Thunder is the 2nd book of a trilogy that covers the  Civil War in the western areas of the country at the time. Jeff Shaara makes history come alive and quite an easy way to learn details of the actual battles.
3640270
Good book very interesting and informative. Learned from this book. Good historical novel recommend this to other readers thank you
3695500
This is a continuation of the World War II novels created by Jeff Shaara and is in the best traditions of the the first three. He not only spins a great fact driven yarn but draws an accurate picture of the real characters who participated in these events. His effort produced a unique picture of the last phases of the battle in the Pacific.

I only hope his next novel exploring the events and characters prominant in the Korean war is currently in work!!
1751495
Big fan of Jeff Shaara and own all his and Michael's books.  Was never particularly interested in Korean War history so I never purchased the book.  Decided, however, to eventually purchase the Kindle edition and to my surprise, discovered this is one of Shaara's best offerings.  Intense, dramatic, well researched and well written.
410852
Another GREAT Jeff Shaara war story!  Love the way he brings you along with his characters, some of which are generals all the way down to privates!  You get a real feel for the action on the battlefields and an amazing look behind the scenes in WWII!
1238479
This great historical novel by Jeff Shaara places the Battle of Vicksburg in its proper perspective in the landscape of Civil War History.  Fought on the same weekend as Gettysburg in July of 1863, Grant's Vicksburg victory propelled him in to being named General in Chief of the Union Armies by President Lincoln thus perhaps having greater impact on the outcome of the war than the Union victory at Gettysburg.  For an in depth review of A Chain of Thunder and the other Jeff Shaara historical novels go to gordonsgoodsreads.com
4585986
Always enjoy Philippa Gregory's historical novel. This one about the last Tudor was interesting in that I had never read anything about the Gray girls
1228802
I read a lot of western history type novels.  This one was very good.  I liked that it featured the trials and tribulations of a family, with some good historical settings and events to keep your interest.  And I like a happy ending.
2638459
Shaara is a wonderful writer. Brings history in well researched human terms.  A you-are-there experience. PS I wouldn't want to be there.
1123812
"The Fruit of her Hands, the Story of Shira of Ashken" by Michelle Cameron is a fine historical fiction novel based on some true events and people. It is a story of European Jewish history in the 13th century. There are definite historical figures including Rabbi Meir ben Baruch of Rothenberg, an outstanding rabbi (teacher) who wrote extensively about Talmudic law but also poetry. Rabbi Meir and the author are connected. The author apparently is one of his descendants. Nicholas Donin, a Jew who was excommunicated and became a Franciscan is featured in this book as well. He is portrayed as an instigator of Jewish persecution in France resulting in the deaths of 3000 Jews and conversion of 500. He was also involved in the burning of 12000 Talmuds in Paris.

Shira is portrayed as an intelligent and observant Jewish woman who is married to Rabbi Meir. She is fictional, but a similar person could have existed. The story takes us through her life in France, Germany and England. We also learn of riots, blood libel, and many other anti-semetic activities including among others, extortion and conversion tactics.

There is a pleasant and sometimes terrifying love story of Shira and Meir and their children. A nasty mother-in-law is included. The book was well written and polished. I enjoyed reading it.
3444161
Jeff Shaara continues a tradition, inherited from his late father Michael, of writing about a particular battle in a particular war.  The style is to thoroughly research the time, the conditions and the actions surrounding either one battle or several in the same area.  The Frozen Hours is Mr Shaara's description of the beginning of the war in Korea in late 1950.  The battle is the fight over the Chosin Reservoir taking place November and December between North Korea and a U.N. force.  The action described is centered on U.S. Marines and a huge force of Chinese soldiers.  The North Koreans had been chased away by the Americans and China stepped in to help their ally by sending in a massive army to front the combination US Marine and army assault.
  While the overall events are correctly reported Mr Shaara turns a report of events into almost a novel via the use of characters involved on both sides.  He puts conversations, thoughts, and feelings that probably resemble the interactions of his characters. Their reactions to the events they are involved in keep the reader feeling that this was surely the way it was at the time of the battle.
  An overlying event influencing the action was the record cold winter hitting the area during late 1950.  Frostbite became a common danger with arms and legs being frozen enough to make gangrene an ever present possibility.  Weapons froze and had to be thawed in order to use them.  Firing small arms was a chore not envisioned on practice gun ranges in training due to the coverings on hands necessitated by the cold.  Troops on both sides froze to death. The human wave Chinese army charges against US positions resulted in killing and wounding of thousands of men.  These attacks were certainly reminiscent of the mass slaughter that took place in WWI and were unlike anything the Americans had witnessed during the second world war finished just 5 years before Korea began.  The Chinese dead piled up were used by the Americans as shields placed in front of their foxholes to stop enemy bullets.
  General Douglas MacArthur operating from Tokyo was in overall command of the American soldiers and Marines in the conflict.  Mr Shaara paints him as a leader making ill advised decisions which placed MacArthur into conflict with than president Harry Truman and led to his ouster as commander.  An afterward gives him the excuse that he received incorrect information from his subordinates but Shaara clearly faults MacArthur as a man not taken to getting suggestions.
  Jeff Shaara supplies a summary of later action in the war as part of the "afterword", but there is certainly room for additional work regarding the "police action" in Korea.
1375541
I'm a big Jeff Shaara fan so I'm a little biased.  I thought this book was terrific.  Well written and a great story.  I love the way Shaara takes an historical event and turns it into a readable interesting story.
903249
As usual Jeff Shaara has come up with another outstanding novel of the civil war and left it open for maybe another trilogy.
182217
II have read 5 historical novels by Jeff Shaara including his two books about the Revolutionary War, the prequel and sequel to his father's novel "Killer Angels" and a historical novel about the Mexican War and was impressed by all 5 books.  They are some of the best fiction that I have ever read.  However, A Blaze of Glory was not nearly as good as his other historical novels.  The subject was interesting and I know little about the Civil War in the western theater.  The novel started in an excellent fashion relating the campaign in the West to the Civil War campaign.  However, it went down from there.  None of the characters except perhaps for Bauer, the Northern soldier was was clearly delineated.  I had no feeling as to who Grant and Sherman really were and even the character of Albert Sidney Johnston was too sketchy.  However, my greatest problem was the overemphasis on the killing, the endless description of corpses.  Shiloh was bloody, but so was Gettysburg.  In Killer Angels I felt somewhat elevated by the heroic nature of the combatants.  Here I felt thrown in the mud with the endless corpses.
In summation, this was the poorest of Jeff Shaara's novels that I have read to date.  However, I still intend to read his novel dealing with Vicksburg when it comes out.  I am interested in the subject and maybe the shortcomings of this novel will be corrected.
1528322
Good fiction with historical background. Story line is absorbing and keeps you reading along until the end. For people who like historical fiction, this is a good choice.