Customer Reviews

Antietam (The Civil War Battle Series, Book 3)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a student of the War's history, I am very hesitant when purchasing books of this nature. Many times the author sacrifices historical accuracy for a good story. This is not the case with Mr. Reasoner. I have found his books in this series very informative, enjoyable, and easy to read. I have purchased all three of the Battle Series releases and I am looking forward to #4.

Sorry, but I can't agree with other reviewers who say this is a "great" book. Of 358 pages, only 12 actually deal with the battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War. I'm no historian, but I know something of that battle and think that, even for an historical novel, Reasoner treats Antietam with too little regard for what it meant to the whole of the war.

While the book is a good read, its title is misleading.

The main problem with James Reasoner's "Antietam," Book 3 in "The Civil War Battles Series," is the same as its companion volumes. The book is not ABOUT the Battle of Antietam, but rather it ENDS with the Battle of Antietam. Ironically, of all the battles covered in this volume--Stonewall Jackson's campaign in the Shenandoah, the Battles of the Seven Days during the Peninsula Campaign, the Second Battle of Manassas--Antietam probably receives the least amount of space. However, with the Civil War in full swing "Antietam" certainly offers more war and less soap opera than the first volume, "Bull Run." The happenings back on the Brannon family farm in Culpeper County, Virginia is fitting reduced to a minor subplot, although the romance between Titus Brannon and Polly Ebersole takes some surprising turns. More intriguing are the feeling of Cordelia's beau, Nathan Hatcher, who refuses to join the Confederate army and fight for a cause he cannot support. But the focus of Reasoner's novel are the two oldest Brannon brothers, Will and Mac.

Reasoner takes full advantage of these two siblings in terms of where he positions them to allow us to watch the war in 1862. Will is a Captain, commanding a company in the Stonewall Bridge, part of Jackson's fabled "foot cavalry." In "Antietam," Mac finally joins up with Jeb Stuart's cavalry, where he has the fortune of being the aide of Fitzhugh Lee. Consequently, the Brannons have a chance to witness many of the pivotal moments in the Eastern Theater of the War. These books do not have a lot of historical detail of the sort that would warm the hearts of Civil War reenacters, but Reasoner certainly provides a swiftly paced narrative. The soap opera elements that overwhelmed the first book in the series has been modified, although there is still a chance encounter on the battlefield and a hint of something extremely wrong between Polly and her father. This is not a great novel of the Civil War, but it is reasonably entertaining and certainly integrates the events of 1862. The section on Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign is probably the best in the book. I am looking forward to the rest of the series and wondering how many of the Brannons will make

The 2nd year of the Civil War serves as the setting for the story of the Brannon brothers, Will and Mac, fighting for the Confederacy in the Army of Northern Virginia. Right off the bat, it needs to be said that Antietam is very much a novel, not an historical account, although the battle sequences are reasonably accurate. Will Brannon was the first to enlist, and now serves as a captain in Stonewall Jackson's unit. Mac, now in possession of a princely stallion, decides to leave the family farm in the hands of his two younger brothers, and signs on with Jeb Stuart's cavalry. Told exclusively from the southern perspective, this installment in the series takes them through the months leading up to the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg, which serves as the book's climax.

Historical fiction and nonfiction serve two different purposes, and readers looking for more than an engrossing story need to delve into nonfiction. It's fun to read a fictionalized version of the ways in which such icons as Jackson and Stuart might have interacted with and been regarded by their soldiers. Author Reasoner inserts a couple of new themes with a southerner who is a Union sympathizer, and a romantic interest for the widow Brannon, which work well as relief from the darker war intervals. Reasoner treats the horrific goriness of battle with respectful realism, and the reader expects the worst to happen to one or other of the brothers. Whether or not they survive this conflict remains to be seen.

Antietam continues The Civil War Battle Series. As a long-time owner and rider of horses, I particularly enjoy the way Mr. Reasoner writes the relationship between Mac Brannon and the mysterious wild gray stallion which Mac has "captured". Man and horse have formed an incredible bond, almost thinking as one. For anyone who knows and loves horses, Mr. Reasoner has captured those feeling beautifully.

And, the war continues to disrupt the lives of the Brannon family, pulling them further and further apart. Combine well-written characters with well-researched and depicted battles, and you have a winning historical novel.

The first three books of the Battle Series are WONDERFUL! I can hardly wait until #4 comes out in October and hopefully the rest of them will be published as quickly as possible. Mr. Reasoner has always been one of my favorite authors but he's outdone himself with this series. These are books that I know I'll read over and over again. Hurry and publish the rest!!!!

Amazon lists eighty-four titles under Antietam. Try any of the other eighty three, as this one is not worth reading. As two other reviewers note, scant attention is paid to the battle at Sharpsburg/Antietam. Rather, Reasoner uses this title as suberfuge to take the reader riding all over Virginia from March to September 1862. Even the dust cover is misleading. Twelve pages of over 350 have anything to do with this battle, which is grossly oversimplified and underdescribed.

Reasoner seems intent solely on telling one chapter of an eight-part life of the Bannon family, a cliched and boring Southern family if there ever was one. The plot is plodding, the characters are stereotypes. Even with an accurate title, there would be little here worth reading. The editor and publisher should be ashamed.

And one more thing: Although this is a novel, the reader deserves at least a map of Virginia with each of the numerous towns and battles mentioned in the book shown on the map. Unless you know Virginia geography intimately, you'll be more lost than some of the commanders who, as Reasoner notes, suffered from poor maps. He doesn't offer any assistance. Better yet, some of the larger engagements merit detailed battle plans. One map would be worth five thousand words.

My only consolation is that I borrowed this from the public library. And, in this case, my Amazon recommendations were way off the mark.

If you liked the first 2 books in this series, be sure not to miss Antietam. This book is well put together with enough fact to make it real and enough fiction to make it enjoyable. The only thing I don't like about these books is that I am Addicted to them and I can't wait to get the next one.

This story allows too much coincidence and too much familiarity between the Brannon brothers and the giants of the Army of Northern Virginia.

To me, this was uncomfortably similar to the device used by John Jakes to help his ordinary characters enter the direct orbit of famous persons through contrived coincidence.

Everything I've ever read about Stonewall Jackson leads me to believe he was far too eccentric and taciturn to ever take part in the contiuous stream of gregarious interchanges with even a Captain under his command, much less a newly minted cavalry corporal. The author made it far too easy for the Brannon boys to gain access to the inner circle of high command for the purpose of the plot. It just doesn't ring true at all.

This book has been a quick read and is not unenjoyable, but in no way is it a great piece of Civil War fiction. Both Michael and Jeff Shaara as well as Tom Wicker ("Unto this Hour") do a much better job.

Three for three, the "Battle of Antietam" just like "Manassas" and "Shiloh" were given space at the end of the story. This book's focus is on two of the brothers Will and Mac. There is an interesting romance with Titus and Polly. This is an easy and fun read. You will like it if you don't mind the way the author treats "Antietam." By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"