Spellbinding tale enveloped in the Civil War.
354277
Couldn't put it down. Beautifully (and sometimes harrowingly) descriptive narrative had me cheering for Callum and Ava from start to finish.
4397866
This is a novel about my great grandparent's family during the Civil War.  I found it unexpectedly.  I have been doing genealogy research for several years and was impressed by the accuracy of the book.  The author did a great job!  This is an adventure story.  This is a romantic novel.  This is a story of a family under great duress.  An interesting multi-dimensional book about the civil war that anyone will find interesting.  The characters are real people.  The war is real.  The setting is real.  The large events are real.  The day-to-day hardship is real.
713287
Mercy, this is a long and involved tale that is related in such depth, I feel that I was there!  If you like history, especially English history, and if you have any religious convictions at all, you will want to read this book.  Tim Vicary must have spent years researching the English countryside and the activities of the English people during the religious conflict that saw the Protestants rise up against a Catholic King.  He relates the intimate details of the events leading up to the battle along with each battle in minute detail.  The characters are realistic--and their convictions are so deeply held that one cannot avoid compassion for them.  The young heroine is beyond brave and always at war with herself.  She has been pledged to a young man in her village for marriage, but she has slipped away from her very strict home to rendevous with a young man who is above her social class.  Her love is returned, but he can only make her his mistress, not his wife.  Therein is the major conflict.  As she moves through the war and assists in tending the wounded, there is so much testing of her Christian beliefs and her morality, that one can become exhausted.  The ending is a surprise that deserves your reading if you like history at all.
1897760
Asunder is a highly enjoyable read, a Civil War tale based in Missouri.  Mr. Locklear takes advantage of the historical fact that Missouri's population was divided in its loyalties between North and South, and weaves various plot lines through that volatile situation.

My biggest regret was in reaching the end and realizing I'd have to wait for the final two volumes of the trilogy before finding out what happens!
27558
Told from both a slave and slave-owner's perspective, this novel gives the reader a good insight into life during the Civil War.
4350381
Wonderful vision of the Civil War as seen bu those in the North and the South. Well written and full of details.
4208935
Interesting story of racism and romance. The setting of Pre-Civil War through Emancipation is an unusual setting for the HEATED plots and interesting evolution of the main characters. Thoroughly engrossing.
2446049
A fascinating story about the life of women during the American civil war.
1961037
Fact and fiction intertwined to great a spellbinding story. The characters all could have their own books as they are all so intriguing and written to put you into the characters emotional highs and lows  but also making you appreciate the battles and headaches of the period. Well done!
47712
George has taken a factual base of history and developed a strong story line weaving the family into a troubled time with a strong writers voice.  I recommend this book to Civil War enthusiasts like myself and to those who know little about the war but like a good read.
94236
This is a haunting tale of love and life set in the languid South.  As the tale progresses, it becomes harder and harder to discern what is real and what is not.  A gripping page-turner from the very start, this book will leave you wondering about the symbolism throughout the story and whether a line really exists between reality and fantasy.
3181108
I cannot explain why it took me so long to read this book.  I am a student of the Civil War and the story of two sisters who enlist to fight for the South sounds really good.
And it is.
The two sisters- one beautiful and popular, one homely and awkward- are inseparable until love interfers and the twosome becomes a threesome and then a twosome with the sister, the odd woman out.
When the married sister's husband goes off to fight with Stonewall Jackson, his wife is convinced she must find him on the battlefield.  Her sister, who only wants to protect her, goes along.  Sadly, the husband dies.
Addled by grief, the widow decides to enlist, hiding her sex.  Despite serious misgivings, her sister comes along.  The widow is the angel of death on the battlefield but her sister cannot kill anyone.
So why is the ghost of the husband tormenting his widow with accusations that her sister murdered him.  The widow tumbles deeper and deeper into madness as the carnage and deprivation engulf the sisters.
It is a moving story of love in all forms, of sacrifice, honour and guilt.  It is a compelling and evocative tale.
Don't be as foolish as me in taking so long to read the story.  But if you do wait, I can reassure you, it is worth it.
2115342
This is a wonderful unfolding of our fascination with the Civil War.  Tony Horowitz spends two years crawling around the South after some Civil War re-enactors show up on his lawn one day.  He spends time with those re-enactors, and also visits a number of famous, infamous, and obscure Civil War sites.  He talks to Civil War historians like Shelby Foote, and also visits small-town museums and memorials.  What emerges isn't a single story, but a web of interlaced tales each with its own viewpoint.  We're introduced to the revered and the crackpots, the expert and the ignorant.  Horowitz' journey is something we might all daydream of doing after stopping at a roadside attraction or an historical marker that piques our interest about something.  The story that emerges is complex yet fascinating.  He explores the emotional as well as the factual side to people, places, and events associated with the war.  Sometimes humorous, sometime tragic, the result is a fascinating book that may provoke more questions than it supplies answers but leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of the mark the Civil War left on us all.
1286266
Very interesting background---the civil war and the whole depiction of slavery .It holds your attention ---you do not want to put the book down.
3797920
I admit a personal interest in this book, as one of the commanders of the Sumter Flying Artillery was my great-great-grandfather, Allen Sherrod Cutts (my first three names).  But even I was surprised and pleased to find the book absolutely captivating.  I couldn't put it down.  It really is reminiscent of Ambrose's Band of Brothers.  Like that superb book, it takes the reader through the Civil War viewed from the perspective of  Cutts' artillery battalion which from day one provided artillery support for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.  They were  present, it seems at every major battle, often singled out for gallantry.  Clearly, these soldiers had tremendous bravery, yet, like virtually all units of the Confederate armies, suffered terrible losses.  Speicher keeps the story moving with one gripping battle after another, and brings the conflict and the sacrifice very much to life.  Thanks for a great book.
Allen Sherrod Cutts Willingham (Atlanta)
1939296
Hampton Sides has brought history to life with a dazzling combination of detail, gut wrenching action, and the soldiers' own words in the story of the remnants of the soldiers in the Bataan Death March. Some descriptions are very hard to read as in the beginning where he details the slaughter of American prisoners on Palawan as the war nears its end. Details of prison life alternate from the horrifying diseases picked up by the prisoners to the sublime moment when the captives steal food and futons from the Japanese side of the prison camp. The nail biting rescue against impossible odds (about 200 American and Filipino soldiers against several thousand Japanese in the area)is a fitting climax to an enthralling, suspenseful story of heroes rescuing heroes. Let not anyone forget these men, and let not anyone forget our brave comrades-in-arms, the Filipino guerrillas who fought tenaciously to cover the withdrawal of the prisoners and U.S. Rangers from the prison camp. Hampton Sides deserves a Pulitzer Prize for this magnificent tale.
433986
Jack Lewis tells a ripping good story based on historical facts about events leading to the birth of West Virginia -- which joined the Union after seceding from Confederate Virginia -- as told through the lives of the great men and ordinary citizens caught up in the Civil War. Lewis writes with the added authority of his experience as a military officer, superb horseman, and dogged researcher: These are characters readers we identify with and care about as they make life-changing decisions, summon their courage as battles loom, and draw strength and comfort from the special bond between rider and horse. Readers will feel as if they've actually set foot on these 19th century lanes, fields, and battlegrounds through the author's evocative writing. You will also root for young Alexander Swaney (the author's great-grandfather). I can't wait to read the next installment in this series.