The book is a work of historical fiction based on the documented real history of
battles as well as the leading personalities. The scenario begins when Grant
comes East to assume command of the Union Army and traces the battles of The
Wilderness and Cold Harbor. The style is conversational. It flows as if one is
in the presence of Lee or Grant and their major commanders. Peters constantly
bouncers back and forth from the Union side to the Confederate side. The
conversations are fictional but are based on reports of that time: unit after
actions reports, newspaper accounts, private letters, journals, biographies,
etc. Most important was War of Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies. We can read also of the supposed thoughts of the characters.
The realistic content and the style present a vivid picture of the military
situation at the time with all its glory, gore, heroism, and violence.
Peters says that he tried to make this novel as accurate as possible. Despite
his personal beliefs or opinions, he strived to give each character a fair
hearing to understand why they believed as they did and how their beliefs shaped
their lives as well as the country. One Union character, Henry Hill, was based
on Peters firsthand knowledge of the Hill family, formerly of Schuylkill Haven,
his hometown in Pennsylvania, and his relations through an aunt's marriage. The
real Henry Hill was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the
Wilderness.
The author does not provide in the epilogue what became of the characters of the
book. The reason is that he plans to follow his major characters: Barlow and
Gordon, Upton and Oates, Grant, Meade, Lee , and the others through two more
novels that will deliver them to Appomattox unless their fate is sealed before
that. I highly recommend this novel for students of the Civil War/the War
Between the States. It is both historic, an easy read, and interesting.
 |
|
|
Lt Col Ralph Peters,
U.S. Army (Retired) is a retired Army Intelligence Officer,
a controversial strategist, a veteran of the intelligence world, a journalist
who appears frequently in the broadcast media (a military consultant to FOX
News), and a lifelong traveler with experience in more than seventy countries on
six continents. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Cain at
Gettysburg. In addition to many novels and numerous books on strategy under his
own name, he is also the author, under his pen name Owen Parry, of a series of
award-winning Civil War mysteries. Peters has studied the Civil War since
childhood. He combines detailed research, years of walking the battlefields, and
insight into the thinking of generals gleaned from his own military career.
|
|
