Review of The Last Full Measure (Mass Market Paperback)

Jeff Shaara follows in his father's footsteps ... big shoes to fill indeed! He does a highly admirable job of researching and writing about the heroes, both North and South, who fought during the last two years of the Civil War. This book provides the reader a ring-side seat to key battles and positions, as each side fights to their last full measure of strength. The reader is provided personal information about the lives of the major players: General Robert E. Lee, General Ulysses S. Grant, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. We get inside the hearts and minds of these soldiers and although fiction it rings true to life. Historical fiction is a marvelous method to learn aboutdetailed and important battles which became turning points in this most fundamental war in the history of the United States.

Most impressive descriptions are provided as General Robert E. Lee struggles in his heart and soul to send his valorous troops against the much better equipped Northern soldiers. We learn how strategy and insight gave the South advantages over technology and numbers, in the beginning. We learn that after Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was given command of the North, the tides turned ... and the reasons why. Maps are provided which give proper visualization to the word descriptions of strategic locations and key battles. Divided into four parts, the prolog to each section uses the words of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address very effectively. Each section includes descriptions of a wide range of events, thorough analysis, and human emotions for the years of the war and post war events that it covers.

The book goes beyond the war to include descriptons of when President Lincoln is shot. It concludes with an afterward that gives a wonderful summary of the post-war lives of major participants both Blue and the Gray. Reading this book was truly an eye-opening experience, filled with illuminating moments and unforgettable real people. It leaves the reader hungry to read more about the subject It compelled me to buy more books by this author - for example, "Gone for Soldiers" (the Mexican War) and "Rise to Rebellion" (the American Revolutionary War). Erika Borsos (erikab93)



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Review of Home, Miss Moses: A Novel in the Time of Harriet Tubman (Paperback)

I found this book inspiring and enriching. It's a novel, but I learned a lot from it.It's a suspense story in some ways and a history lesson too.An intriguing, complex book, it follows a vast sweep of American history that this one woman's life covered in reality.Harriet Tubman was no ordinary woman.And you get an up-close and personal glimpse of her spirit and stunning courage and fortitude in these pages.The horrific injustice of slavery as she lived it and saw it leaps off the page.You get a window onto both the remarkable cunning and the deep heart of this visionary American patriot who sacrificed everything to end this shameful episode of our history.Although it's a bit of a struggle to get used to the "patois" of her voice (a slave dialect) and there are also a lot of people and places to keep track of as you read, keeping you on your toes, it's well worth it.Check it out.

Product Description
Inspired by the author's personal relationship with her, this compelling novel is a fictional account of the legendary Harriet Tubman and her life during the American Civil War. Told in the first person, the story begins with Tubman's life as a slave and follows her fearless pursuit of freedom, both for herself and countless others, on the Underground Railroad. Gripping and highly graphic, the novel reveals Tubman's days as a spy for the Union during battles in the South, presenting a new image of the horrors of war.



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