Bernard Cornwell The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War

In the historical novel, The Fort, Bernard Cornwall brings the reader another tale of the American Revolution. Like the first historical novel, Rebel, it is set in the New England colonies, this time in eastern Massachusetts. The British needed a site to which Loyalists could seek sanctuary and where their navy could have a safe harbor. They chose Majabigtwaduce, a small settlement in the eastern part of Massachusetts.

Outraged, the leaders in Massachusetts determined to drive the British out. Toward that end they pulled together a fleet of over 40 vessels under the command of Commodore Dudley Saltonstall. With him, they also sent almost one thousand militia under the command of Major General Solomon Lovell. Upon the arrival of this expedition in Majabigtwaduce, they found a much smaller British force.

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Robert Brookover's Novel - Wish Is My Master: The Honor of Love

The first of a four-novel series, this opening story is set in pre-Civil War rural Georgia. Teenager George Yardley learns the life of a small farmer and leather worker from his father. Orphaned when his parents die in an epidemic, he moves to his aunt's home in nearby Atlanta.

There he meets Amy Frey of Atlanta. She is the beautiful daughter of a very rich commodity broker, Alexander Frey. He is a confidant of Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens and Robert Toombs.

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My Interview With David Kentner

Here's a link to a great interview I recently did with David Kentner from JournalStandard.com.

Dr. Deeb has the ability to do just that – to captivate the reader in the period, the character, as well as the events, and the consistent reviews his work receives only serve to verify it.

His attention to detail and skillful portrayal of life have been recognized in that he now also writes book reviews for The Civil War News and New York Journal of Books.

Read the whole interview.

Review of Nathaniel Philbrick's Novel The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and The Battle of the Little Bighorn

As every schoolboy knows, George Armstrong Custer and 230 men of his beloved 7th Cavalry were massacred on June 25th 1876, by Indians led by Chief Sitting Bull at the battle of the Little Bighorn.

Much has been written of this battle and the men involved. Custer's widow, Libby devoted the remainder of her life to assuring her husband's enshrinement as a hero. Buffalo Bill Cody immortalized Custer and Sitting Bull in his traveling Wild West show when he ended each performance with a reenactment of the 'Last Stand'.

Nathaniel Philbrick's complete presentation of his exhaustive research attempts to bring the reader to a clear understanding of the forces involved in this tragedy. He goes far beyond a focus on one or two of those involved. Instead, we are made to realize that the actions of Custer, Sitting Bull and the other personalities involved, were more influenced by the pressures of their time and place than by their own personalities.

Read the rest of this review at: www.civilwarnovels.com/reviews/.

The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War A Novel by Donald Stoker

Of the thousands of books written about the conduct of the American Civil War, precious few have devoted any space explaining how each side sought to achieve its political objectives: the strategy employed to win the conflict. Donald Stoker devotes this study to fill that gap.

When a war breaks out, leaders of the belligerent powers must identify the political objective they desire: the why of the conflict. Once this is done, the stage is set to develop a grand strategy for success: a formula for achieving that political objective. This is followed by the identification of the specific military tactics needed to achieve that victory.

Early in his work, Stoker points out that the leaders in the American Civil War did identify their overall political objective for going to war; and did so very quickly. The majority of the people living in seven of the slave-holding states wanted to leave the United States in order to from a new political entity; they were joined by four additional slave states after Lincoln called for troops to suppress the 'rebellion'. Once Fort Sumter was fired upon, the majority of the people living in the non-slave holding United States opposed secession and supported Lincoln's desire to restore the anti-bellum union.

Read more at www.civilwarnovels.com/reviews/.

Review of For All The Tea in China A Civil War Novel by Sarah Rose

Sara Rose begins her story "For All the Tea in China", this way. "There was a time when maps of the world were redrawn in the name of plants, when two empires, Britain and China went to war over two flowers: the poppy and the camellia." Could this actually have been the case? Were tea and opium of such great importance? Let us examine her case.

Centuries past, England's Queen Elizabeth gave the East India Company a monopoly of all British trade in the Far East. That included the control of India and all things produced there, like opium. For two hundred years thereafter the Company exported this addictive product from India to China. The Chinese, who had an almost complete monopoly on the production and processing of tea, exchanged this mild stimulant for the addictive opium: so history records.

Read more at: civilwarnovels.com/reviews/.

Larry Elliot Channel 12 Interview with Mike Deeb

Here's a video of the interview I had with Larry Elliot of Flint's channel 12 during my latest speaking tour through Michigan.