Customer Reviews

Banners at Shenandoah: A Story of Sheridan's Fighting Cavalry

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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I read "Banners at Shenandoah" when I was 14, and have been hooked on the U.S. Civil War ever since. Considered one of the foremost Civil War historians, Bruce Catton has produced an excellent work of fiction that combines hundreds of small, authentic details into the highly personal story of a young soldier who serves under the legendary Union general, Phil Sheridan. While a work of fiction, Catton obviously wrote this book with a historian's eye for accuracy and truth. Highly recommended.

I first read this book as a teenager and went on to reread it throughout my teen/college years until my paperback copy disintegrated. It combines great history with horses, good writing and a nice coming of age story. I am buying it this Christmas for my son.

I was disappointed in this. I would have thought the great narrative historian could have produced more vivid and engaging historical fiction.

Banners at Shenandoah is very much young adult or even for younger audiences; it's the story of a young man who becomes Sheridan's guidon bearer. One thing I did like is that the account is not romanticized. Northern depredations in the Shenandoah, scouting in Southern uniform, etc. are described--though strangely separated from the idol-worshipping view of Sheridan himself.

But I found the account vague, bloodless both literally and metaphorically, lacking in description and tension. The Rebels, in particular, are faceless--you'd hardly know they wore gray.

Not something I'd recommend seeking out. There is better Civil War young adult fiction out there.