Battle Hymn (Lost Regiment, Book 5) [Paperback]

William R. Forstchen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

A regiment of American Civil War soldiers is swept from the battlefields of Earth to a distant alien world, where they face a wave of terror with only their ideals to save a fledgling human republic.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Roc (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451452860
• ISBN-13: 978-0451452863
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN has a Ph.D. from Purdue University with specializations in Military History and the History of Technology. He is a Faculty Fellow and Professor of History at Montreat College. He is the author of over forty books, including the New York Times bestselling series Gettysburg and Pearl Harbor (coauthored with Newt Gingrich), as well as the award-winning young adult novel We Look Like Men of War. He has also authored numerous short stories and articles about military history and military technology. His interests include archaeological research on sites in Mongolia, and as a pilot he owns and flies an original World War II "recon bird." Dr. Forstchen resides near Asheville, North Carolina with his teenage daughter Meghan and their small pack of golden retreivers and yellow labs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Solid Book in a Very Good Series, August 6, 2002

By 

Sonterro (Lakeland, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle Hymn (Lost Regiment, Book 5) (Paperback)

This really should be 4.5 stars.....

This is the Fifth in the series.... I have been reading them in the correct chronological order. With this series, that is the only way. There are too many events and people to start in the middle. Too many references to events in the past.

This is a good story. The alien hordes have a new leader. He has also come through the tunnel of light. His home world appears to be around 100 years ahead of earth of 1865. He talks about nuclear weapons and jets. It will be interesting to see how this character develops the hordes.

At one point, the author indicates that the total population of the humans on the planet outnumber the hordes by 10 to 1. That is an interesting fact.

Two new civilizations are introduced. The Zulus and the Chin. The Chin are currently enslaved by the Bantag horde.

This book is mostly about the life of imprisonment that a "pet" of the horde must endure. Towards the end, the slaves revolt and few escape. The last third of the book is devoted to the escape of this small band. Several minor clashes and one large one. A great description of a locomotive chase, similar to the one that occurred during the Civil War with Andrew's Raiders.

The series so far:

#1 - Rally Cry
#2 - Union Forever
#3 - Terrible Swift Sword
#4 - Fateful Lightning
#5 - Battle Hymn
#6 - Never Sound Retreat
#7 - Band of Brothers
#8 - Men At War
#9 - Down To The Sea

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a New Angle., August 11, 2000

By 

Sergio Flores (Orange, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battle Hymn (Lost Regiment, Book 5) (Paperback)

OK, so, I knew Sgt. Major Hans Schuder wasn't dead when I wrote the review for "Fateful Lightning." But I didn't know it when I read the book so, hoping that you will read these books in chronological order, I think my review kept the spirit of the novel by not revealing everything. This one is absolutely different. "Battle Hymn" is a vision of the Gulag on an alien world. Whereas "Fateful Lightning" gave us the terrible sacrifice of the Cartha, "Battle Hymn" shows us the enslavement of the Chinese, and others, with whom Schuder is now living. Major new character is Ha'ark, the Redeemer and, very important as well, a Zulu warrior friend of Hans. There will be a bit of confusion with come names. As in ther past, with Vuka's brother, in this book a companion of Ha'ark is named Jamul, but in the future will be referred to as Jurak. I do not know the reason for this. It may be an oversight, or it may be that these new commers have chosen to make their names more palatable to the natives. Still, all books have errors. The soul of this series is its conflict, big as a planet and enduring as the machines that transported the Yankees to a New World of War. Most of the book concentrates on the efforts by Hans and his confederates in escaping, the help they get from the Republic, the problems that the traitor Hinsen creates, and the menace that Ha'ark, with his modern, futuristic vision of warfare, means for the survival of humans on Valdenia. Suspenseful, filled with the heroics and folly of war that Forstchen has turned into a trade mark, "Battle Hymn" also introduces the tank into the series.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hans Schuder Lives! But under the Shadow of a New Threat., November 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Battle Hymn (Lost Regiment, Book 5) (Paperback)

Not as epic as its predecessors, this book is just as exciting and gives the conflict between the Humans and the Hordes an new excillirating perspective, that of the captives and slaves living under the heel of the Bantag tyrant Ha'Ark, an alien of the same species as the Hordes that has come through the Space Vortex armed with the knowledge of 20th Century Warfare. Hans Schuder, presumed dead after the Merki War, returns as a prisoner of the Bantag Horde forced to serve as an overseer in Ha'Ark's war industries. Schuder's knowledge of the Bantag preparations to conquer the human resistance and of Ha' Ark's new weapons could save the Republic if he can manage a daring escape accross hundreds of miles of enemy held territory.