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An Eye for Glory: The Civil War Chronicles of a Citizen Soldier

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It is normally extremely rare for me to find good faith based historical fiction that is published by major Christian publishers. I say this because the majority of Christian fiction that is historical is usually historical romance. There's nothing wrong with that but sometimes you need something more meatier that focuses on history than romance. I have been pleasantly surprised though in the past several months that the industry appears to be slowly changing and there are more good historical reads without romance coming out. This debut novel by Karl A. Bacon can be added to that list.

Bacon's historical research is absolutely awesome as we travel with the characters. The life of the soldiers is not glamorized or made appealing. Instead we are treated to the harsh realities of the war life and how the men had to deal with it. He goes into detail about the battles and then the aftermath and how this affected the lives of the soldiers. Death is constantly surrounding them and every day could be your last. Luxuries are scarce but when they do happen, it's a joyous celebration. Since the story is told from Michael's point of view, we are also treated to knowing the fate of his family back home. I found it interesting that when Michael went on furlough, he found himself not able to sleep comfortably in the bed with his wife after being used to being on the ground for so long. War changed the men and Bacon shows both the positive and negative aspects about this.

Faith in the story is handled appropriately to the time period. This means that it while it is historically significant in the lives of the soldiers, it is not preachy to the modern reader. In cases like this, religion is an important part of the lives of the people during this time period and to not include it would be damaging to recreating an authentic story. While the story is not heavily detailed into battle details as other Civil War novels tend to be, there is a great deal of information in the book. Since there is a lot of historical detail, those who aren't into that might be bored but me, being a history major, absolutely loved it. The lack of a romance (though we do see the main character think of his wife a lot) really strengthens the story and allows the focus more to be on the soldiers.

This is a wonderful debut. I really enjoyed reading it and it is one that I have been and will continue to recommend to fans of historical fiction and the Civil War. I am looking forward to any future releases from him. HIGHLY recommended.

An Eye for Glory is a riveting Civil War chronicle by a talented new author, Karl Bacon. Set against the back drop of a divided nation, this beautifully written and historically accurate debut novel is sure to please even the most fastidious history lover.

Michael Gabriel Palmer, a family man of integrity and conviction, answers the call to duty in 1862 along with his long time friend John Robinson. Together they learn how to become soldiers in the bloodiest war in U.S. history. Through sickness, hunger, loneliness, and political upheaval, Michael continues to pen letters to his beloved wife, Jessie Anne. It is his faith, his friendship with John, and his hope of being reunited with Jessie Anne that sustains Michael. But with every passing year, his loss becomes greater, and his battle becomes more personal. Duty is what drives him- kill as many of the enemy as possible and bring an end to the bloody war.

But when he meets a brother in Christ at the other end of his bayonet, Michael is forever changed. Long after the War Between the States has ended, the war within Michael G. Palmer continues. When alas Jessie Anne confronts his emotional absence, he confides in her the secret pain he has harbored. She knows what he must do. In order for Michael to be whole again, she must convince him to heed another call, one that will take him away from her again, and which will require of him the most difficult task yet.

An Eye for Glory is Michael's story, as told to his grown children many years later. It is a story of duty, honor, forgiveness, and hope. Bacon, a passionate student of the Civil War, weaves this like a master craftsman, with just the right blend of action, tenderness, pain, and prose. It's the everyday struggles, as well as battlefield strategies that Bacon brings to life so brilliantly. Not only do we experience the transformation of Michael Palmer, but of the 14th Connecticut Infantry as well. In fact, Bacon marches us through the evolution of an entire army. His rich character development and vivid scenes immediately engaged me, and held me captive until the last page. As I closed the cover, it seemed as if I'd done more than simply read a great book. It seemed as if I had been there.

Although he loathed leaving his beloved wife Jesse Ann and their children back in Connecticut, Michael Palmer heeds the call of President Lincoln and enlists in 1862. However, he quickly finds himself detesting the deaths of friends and the incompetent leadership of the political hacks in charge of the soldiers who sit in the rear sending people to their death without a thought. Still he vows to do his duty even as his anger at the killings of his comrades has him thirsty for the slaying of Confederate soldiers.

At Gettysburg, Michael keeps score of those he shoots until a dying enemy holds aloft his family bible. Michael is stunned as realizes he had demonized the foe, but like him they have families praying for their return. After he helps the soldier with his final dying breaths by reading scripture to him, Michael takes the bible with him. When the war ends, he tells his Jesse Ann what he did to Mr. Augustus Wyatt of North Carolina. She persuades him to find the soldier's widow in order to return to her the bible and pray she forgives his shattered soul.

This is an excellent historical tale with an insightful look at the 14th Connecticut Infantry through the eyes of Michael, who became immune to the death of the enemy as he no longer saw them as God's flock. He also loses his faith in the Lord with the deaths of his comrades. Bloody as the battlefields were and still are, the aftermath of combat in the survivors grips readers. Perhaps those who use the war card as a first option should peruse An Eye for Glory to comprehend first hand the true cost to God's children.

Harriet Klausner

An Eye for glory: The Civil War Chronicles of a Citizen Soldier is written by Karl a. Bacon a long-time student of the Civil War. The book chronicles Michael a citizen solider learns that war is more than battle on the field. While on long marches under extreme conditions, illness and disillusionment Michael's only desire is to kill as many confederate soliders as he can so he can go home.

After Gettysburg Michael begins to understand the high cost of war upon his soul. He begins to search for the man he once was and the faith he once cherished. With the help of his wife Michael takes steps towards redemption and reconciliation. In this book the author takes firsthand accounts of the 14th Connecticut Infantry, and weaves a story that will help you understand the times, culture, and tragedy of the Civil War. This is good book for those who are interested and or want to learn more about the Civil War.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

It's very difficult to write a review for this fine, fine book. It appeals to such a broad spectrum of readers. Civil War followers will find it acccurate and exciting. Christians will find good over evil,forgiveness, grace and peace.

Where does good stop and evil begin? What enters into the heart of a God fearing man when he is put into a situation that goes against everything he has ever believed? When does self survival turn into hate for fellow men? When does compassion leave? How far can you turn from God? Can you ever turn back? Will He accept you again? Will you ever stop suffering?

Read, as Michael goes full circle in this great story of the suffering of physical pain and a tortured soul finds peace in the arms of a God filled with grace and mercy.

An Eye for Glory is a special novel that takes you into a real life experience with a citizen soldier during the Civil War. From the front to the back cover, the main character Michael unveils raw emotions and feelings that truly bring the reader into his war experience. It's a war book that you don't want to miss.

How does war affect a marriage? How do you respond when hundreds of men die right in front of your eyes? What do you do when your good friend gets shot and killed? Where is God in the midst of all of this death, destruction, and famine? These are all questions that you see Michael deal with in this novel as he battles to remain a man of his conviction and one who does not grow weary is keeping his faith. He receives a lot of support from his wife Jesse Ann and his fellow soldiers which propels him to "keep fighting the good fight of faith" and to see victory in more than one area.

So who should read this? If you are a fan of history, and especially war stories, then this is a book for you. If you are into reading for a good romance novel, then this book is not for you. However, while this is Karl Bacon's first novel, it does not disappoint when it comes to an enjoyable historical fiction novel.

So as for some final thoughts, I would recommended this book, and any future ones that come out from Karl Bacon. It is filled with rich content and a story that will captivate you as a reader and hopefully bring you to the same place Michael found himself and that is, with An Eye for Glory.

Michael Palmer against the advice of his wife enlists in the Union Army for the Great War of Rebellion---the Civil War. He and his wife Jessie Anne and their children live in Connecticut. Michael manages a dry goods store. After hearing that President Lincoln needed 300,000 more men for duty, Michael feels the urge to enlist. His wife Jessie Anne does not understand at first, but stoically she handles his decision with grace.

Michael and his best friend John Robinson are in the 14th Connecticut Infantry. Their first battle is Antietam, September 17, 1862.

he battles that Michael fought in would become infamous: Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Stony Mountain, and Gettysburg.

The descriptions of these battles are horrific, gruesome, bloody; and the aftermath is of destruction and carnage.

For Michael as the battles continue, his thinking and response becomes: "load, aim, fire; stick, twist, pull."

Until he comes upon a wounded Confederate soldier that in his final moments holds up his Bible to Michael.

I had been anxious to read this book, having heard only good things about it. While reading this story it spoke to my heart on a deeper level than just being swept away by Michael Palmer's experiences of the Civil War.

Michael's story is kindred to any person that has fought in combat. I thought of my own dad, he fought in World War II--D-day the 6th of June 1944 and The Battle of the Bulge. And of my own son's 2 combat tours in Iraq.

Michael Palmer is a fictional character, but the experiences that he endured are a reality of war. For a soldier having available food to eat on a daily basis is not a given, or if there is food it may not be palatable. Sickness and disease, a simple enough problem with feet can become a deadly problem for a soldier. The feelings of loneliness and worrying about family back home. The fears of not knowing if they will survive the next battle is common to all. And all survivor's feel the same way, how to deal with what they've been through, and the death that surrounds them.

The introduction of characters in a story to me is an intricate and exciting thing--I am being given a glimpse of a character with black ink words on white page only, that then conjure and shape the person as if they are standing before me. The more descriptive the character, the more real they become, and the more real they become, the more I become swept away with the story. In An Eye For Glory Karl A. Bacon created his characters, especially those of Michael Palmer and the other soldiers he is with, in to believable men that I can almost picture standing before me. For example: a soldier that is young, too young for battle, with youth and vigor, yet behind that is a fear that rattles him and can be seen in his eyes, his stance. Or those soldiers that were in charge, some were men of valor and just by their demeanor earned the respect of the men they were with. Or that empty look in their eyes, the far away look, that is called the thousand yard stare.

The battle scenes made my adrenaline flow with the fear of what was over that hill waiting for them.

I understood more fully what it was like to be in an Infantry unit dealing with the environment, battle scars both physically and emotionally, and the deep level of commitment that most of us will never comprehend.

The scenes are not softened by hiding the brutal and bloody fighting of combat, instead Karl A Bacon reveals the turmoil, fear, and mania that ensues.

But, the battles that are fought are by men that each have their own stories to tell, and An Eye For Glory is told from the voice of a Union soldier named Michael Palmer. The Civil War is personalized in this account of Michael, it becomes not a war that is written about in text books rather sanitized and unemotionally. Instead it becomes more real, raw, and unforgettable.

I loved this story! I so hope that the author has plans for further books on the Civil War. Maybe a confederate soldier's life will be next?

Thank you to Zondervan for my free review copy.

This book is a fascinating perspective on the Civil War as seen through the eyes of a civilian that volunteers for a 3 year term as a Union soldier. I am intrigued by the Civil War so I was excited to read this book, but I was concerned that I might have a hard time getting into it. Boy was I wrong. I jumped in and was swept away to the another time and place. I followed Michael Palmer as he enlisted, left his family, trained, went into battle for the first time and the time after that and the time after that... It was really interesting to follow the battles and the process of the war through Michael's eye. A very good book, I look forward to my high schooler reading it soon!

As we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, we read much of what both sides experienced and we recall the enormous toll of lost lives.

An Eye for Glory, the Civil War Chronicles of a Citizen Soldier is the story of one man who answers the call of duty leaving his wife to raise their three children.

Many years later he recalls for his children and others what it emcompassed to be a federal soldier in this terrible conflict and this is indeed where I discovered Karl Bacon's magnificent talent for storytelling!

Michael Gabriel Palmer is a recruit in the 14th Connecticut Volunteers who will soon become a seasonned veteran and with him we travel through muddy tracks, fight minor skirmishes and major battles. Along the way we feel his pain when losing friends, we experience the frenzy of the bayonnet charges when locked in hand to hand combat and we hear the screams of the wounded laying on the battle fields. With him we experience the daily struggles of the federal army facing an implacable enemy, the challenge of holding on to his beliefs while killing as many confederates as possible.

But ultimately this is a story about faith, loosing it yet finding God is always there even in the cruelest of time.

Michael Gabriel Palmer's story is to be experienced as the author describes what happened to this Citizen soldier!

Karl Bacon skillfully involves the reader whilst weaving each character into actual historical events and has a true gift for writing. Brilliant, emotional but always inspirational, this is a must read for anyone insterested in the Civil War particularly Civil War buffs!

This is Karl bacon's first novel and a book I am sure I will return to time and time again!

It is nothing short of an amazing feat and deserves 5 stars!!

I received this book free from Zondervan Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not asked to write a positive review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

I have a hard time imagining that An Eye for Glory: The Civil War Chronicles of a Citizen Soldier is Mr. Bacon's first novel. Indeed, I had to continually remind myself throughout the book that it was a work of fiction, so authentic and transparent was Bacon's narrative voice. As I read the last two chapters aloud to my wife Nancy, I struggled to get the words out between sobs as their eternal truth impacted me again and again. Normally I dislike and avoid tear-jerking novels, being an incurable, emotional sap, but the struggle was well worth the reward of beholding anew God's glorious grace toward me.

The novel's story line may have originated in Mr. Bacon's mind rather than as a fact of history, but this fictional account rings true in its brutally accurate recounting of factual events. Without actually having interviewed Mr. Bacon about his experience in researching and writing this work, I know he must have struggled with reading actual correspondence and eye witness accounts of the Civil War's awful carnage.

As I am a child of the entertainment age, one would think my exposure to realistic, dramatic depictions of the Civil War would have desensitized me to one more telling, but I was entirely unprepared for AN EYE FOR GLORY. I recommend most strongly that everyone read this story of one soldier's journey from unchallenged belief in a Sunday school gospel to a deep, abiding faith tested by fire and flying lead, lost friends and disillusionment. I feel that AN EYE FOR GLORY changed my life, and it might do the same for you.