Customer Reviews

Seen the Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Gettysburg

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John Hough's new novel is a lovely book about some fairly typical subjects (life as a young soldier during the Civil War) and some less common ones (19th century life on Martha's Vineyard and the politics of abolition as seen by teenagers). Though its subtitle calls it "A Novel of the Battle of Gettysburg," readers expecting something like its distant cousin THE KILLER ANGELS will have to wait until the last fifty pages or so to get to the combat. The rest of the book is a carefully structured tale about how and why hotheaded boys get from home to battlefield and how they try to make their wartime sacrifices meaningful. Martha's Vineyard brothers Luke and Thomas Chandler have grown up with an abolitionist father and a Cape Verdean housekeeper, and they see on their isolated island a sort of microcosm for the different Northern reactions to the ongoing Civil War. When they finally enlist in 1863, the boys learn the expected lessons about the hardship of army life, the reality of death, and what it takes to learn about and get along with people from different backgrounds. Anyone who's read any good Civil War fiction will feel right at home with the protagonists' inevitable movement toward the climactic fight at Gettysburg; it is the balancing of that plotline with memories of life on the Vineyard that sets this novel apart. Hough crafts believable and sympathetic characters from many walks of life, and his colorful, evocative descriptions of hearth and home allow for a densely emotional history lurking in the memories of men who fight and die. A must-read for anyone interested in Civil War fiction or 19th-century domestic life.

From the very first scene of a runaway slave taking temporary refuge in the Martha's Vineyard home of a small town white doctor, until the heartbreaking aftermath at Gettysburg, I inhabited this beautifully constructed novel alongside the characters.
Seen the Glory is the riveting story of two young abolitionist brothers from Martha's Vineyard who join the Massachusetts 20th. It is also the parallel story of a small rural community and the little family left behind: their gentle physician father and enigmatic Cape Verdean housekeeper. The interplay between the two young brothers, in both words and gestures, is timeless. Their growth, from innocent boys in a loving abolitionist home to the hardened men they become in a war about race, is as authentic as anything I've read in fiction.
Author John Hough crafts every scene - the dappled shade of small town lanes, moths dancing in candlelight, the bloodbath of battlefields - with a watercolorist's eye and in language that evokes 19th century America, North and South. I wanted to loop back and reread scenes, just to absorb the beauty of his language.
Seen the Glory is a meticulously researched story of the Civil War, and it is a surprisingly complex love story. But the theme of growing up is just as powerfully drawn, as Luke and Thomas learn to balance ideals with reality, and that brotherhood means more than blood.

As compelling, brutal, and ultimately heartbreaking as Hough's rendering of the battle of Gettysburg, what came before is what most caused me to miss the book when I had finished. It was greatly enlightening to be privy to the details of life from that period, especially the racism of the north. And the story of brotherly love, friendship, and human decency in the midst of tragedy and horror is one I'll never forget. This book has taken a place in my list of all time favorites, next to Cold Mountain, Lonesome Dove, the Great Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath.

I've read a lot of Civil War novels, and this is one of the best. Like The Killer Angels, this one also climaxes at Gettysburg--but this book was actually more emotionally involving than that one. Heartbreaking, actually--two young brothers from Massachusetts go off to war and only one comes back, and there's a young freedwoman back home they're both in love with . . . so you've got a great war story along the lines of The Red Badge of Courage, crossed with what I think is an equally great love story. Like I said, extremely involving and heartbreaking, because the characters jump off the page, they're that real. And, finally, the writing itself: lyrical and spare, and in the climactic battle scenes, intensely vivid. This is a great novel.

Rarely, if ever do I stay up late to finish a book. The last time I did it was for The Green Mile, and before that for Lonesome Dove. But I stayed up until 2 in the morning to finish John Hough Jr.'s Seen the Glory and I'm glad I did. This is an incredible piece of work. I've read Killer Angels and Gods and Generals. Good books yes, but they more or less tell you about the war. This book allows you to feel the war and slavery and the times through incredibly well drawn, interesting and human characters. It is a book about love and hate and bigotry and friendship, all trying to coexist in the worst time in our nation's history. It is as honest a book as I have ever read. Read this book. You will not be disappointed. It is the best book I have read this year and for the past several years. This is a masterpiece, a writer at the top of his game and as good as any literary writer in America today.

Seen The Glory is a wonderful book and you should read it right away. The four and a half stars of five showing up at amazon.com this afternoon is more than a half a star light as you'll discover.

Beach book? It is for sure--or back porch or wherever you go to relax and experience the quiet, solitary joy of reading historical military fiction with the strongest of human and humane elements. It's historical fiction that reflects the importance of having the history right but, the greater importance, perhaps, of getting the sense of time and place in synchronization with characters whose voices you can hear clearly in John Hough's prose.

Seen The Glory is a novel but also a work of scholarship, not just in the historical verisimilitude of the narrative but also, and importantly in the vernacular of the conversations among the characters in Martha's Vineyard and, especially, among the men in Union blue on the march and at war.

It is a story of Martha's Vineyard brothers, sons of an abolitionist father who's a doctor, who join the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and go to war, fight in Northern Virginia and march back north through Maryland to fight still again in Gettysburg. The young soldiers, their father and Rose, the Cape Verdean housekeeper whom each of the three men love in different ways, come to life not through description but through what they say and how they act and move and react to one another. It may have been a war between the states or a war over state sovereignty versus federalism to some but, to the Chandlers, it was a war to end slavery and bring justice to those who had been for nearly the first century of the Republic deprived of the "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" being enjoyed the forebears of the majority.

John Hough's story brings color and texture to the bone-draining fatigue of marching, the bugs, the knee-weakening fear and terror before the battle and the worse terror of what transpires when men kill each other in combat, hand-to-hand and eye-to-eye.

What others are saying about
"Seen the glory":
5/4 Publishers Weekly/ review: "[A] dramatic and tragic tale of Civil War-era brutality and suffering...Hough writes about the Civil War with a novelist's insight and a historian's eye...Amid the blood and fury of battle, a tender and poignant story of idealism, love and brotherly devotion shines through."
6/1 Booklist/ review: "Hough excels at re-creating the chaos, the confusion, and the brutality of war, and his searing, authentically rendered battle scenes should satisfy Civil War enthusiasts. A heartrending family saga wrapped up in an epic clash of armies and ideals."
6/15 Library Journal/ review: "Following in the footsteps of Michael Shaara's classic novel about Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, Hough's epic novel draws in the philosophical conundrums of a country at war and in which the lines among ideology, trust, and love can stand the barrage of battle."
7/10 Fort Worth Star Telegram (TX)/ review: "'Seen the Glory' offers a vivid and brutal glimpse into one of America's most famous battles...a gripping read."
7/1 York Dispatch/ review, feature, and event mention: "Hough's prose is unsparing in its detail and lovely in its rhythms... "Seen the Glory" makes the Battle of Gettysburg accessible and fascinating for non-history buffs, for those who want their action-packed summer reading more thought-provoking than the typical fare. It has its tender moments, too, poignant scenes that make a reader's breath catch. And always, always, it is moving toward that critical battle."
7/3 Barnstable Patriot/ review and event mention: "Hough's powerful war narrative kept me spellbound throughout the course of this fine and rewarding novel...Hough has an admirable ability to impart the small details that lend this narrative its heartbreaking immediacy."

The story is rich, the characters fulsome, the conveyed sense of time and place powerful and persuasive.

Full disclosure

By way, as they say, of full disclosure - Hiring a family member isn't always wrong but it's always tricky.

Writing a review of a book whose author is a good friend and whose father hired me to be newspaper reporter at The Falmouth Enterprise 38 years ago this coming Labor Day is way tougher.

And I resolved to default to not writing this review and telling my friend I could not and would not unless I found the book to be one that I could both cerebrally and passionately recommend.

John Hough made it easy for me.

Put down what you're doing and go get Seen The Glory. And read it.

As someone passionate about our country's history, and particularly about the Civil War, I have published articles about the conflict, and read hundreds of books on this subject, over the past fifty years. Prior to receiving this novel, I can probably count the truly memorable, outstanding works of fiction about this period, on the fingers of one hand. So it was both with curiosity and a touch of doubt that I awaited receipt of it.

It has been a week since I completed reading John Hough's book. His treatment of the nation's passionate division over the slavery question, and development of the central characters he created to depict this issue, are both quitely understated and brilliantly depicted. His development of the plot, building tension and introducing us to the players in his story, as the armies march to their unmistakable moment in history, are as well-crafted as I have seen in years. The author's ability to re-create actual places, and to create emotional tones is truly exceptional.

In short, Hough's research, his knowledge, and his gifts as an author place "Seen the Glory" side by side with "The Killer Angels" and few others, as outstanding and memorable moments in the fictional library on the American Civil War.

I have to admit I don't usually have the stomach for war novels so I opened the first pages of SEEN THE GLORY with a little bit of trepidation. I was pleasantly surprised and amazed by the rich, multi-layered story I found. If you're looking for a novel about the Civil War you'll get plenty of the authentic details of war at that time--this book is meticulously researched. But there's so much more here than just war. (Actually the real fighting doesn't start till the last 50 pages of the book.) The rest of the book is devoted to relationships--between brothers Luke and Thomas Chandler, between the Chandler boys and their father, between the family and their Cape Verdean housekeeper, Rose, and also between the brothers and their close friend, Elisha, who also joins the army. Author John Hough Jr. seamlessly weaves the characters' lives before the war with the time period from when the boys march toward Gettysburg to when they fight. It's the relationships that make the end of this novel heartbreaking but realistic. And yes, there were a few parts at the end that made my stomach weaken but those were countered by so many other scenes of absolute beauty, whether that be in a description of the landscape of Martha's Vineyard (the Chandler boys' home), the tender and innocent love affair between Luke and Rose, and the bond of men in wartime. Whether you are a civil war buff or not, you'll enjoy this heartfelt, epic novel.

This is a beautifully written book. Although it does deal with the tragedy of the Civil War, that is a small part of the book. It is more about the Chandler family (including Rose) and the impact of those times on each of their lives. As you read this novel, you become almost a part of the family as you deal with the joy and heartaches of each character. One of the best books that I've read.

Author John Hough, Jr. has created a wonderfully insightful new look at the American War between the States. "See the Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Gettysburg" is more than a single battle, rather Mr. Hough uses it to show us the variety of feelings and causes that led to America's most bloody dispute. Although the basic plot of historical fiction is written in the text of period and place, Hough gives new meaning to the affair with his incredible gift of character development. We all know north vs. south, but we're seldom treated to the internal debates in south vs. south and north vs. north as differences of opinion in both regions surely existed. This author does it all with suspense, excitement, and the tension of logical credible characterization with differing motives and backgrounds.

This tension is further enhanced by his development of one of several subplots, the big brother/little brother affection of two main characters, the elder of whom is the natural protector of the two --- is the protector, that is, until they fall out (on the battlefield) over their love of the same woman. To add to the icing on that cake, the woman they both love is a black servant in their household. With that as just one sample, every character in this novel is shown with a complex set of motives and actions, none are depicted as simply villains or heroes. It is true, however, that the confederacy is generally depicted less admirably.

Of course, the basic plot in historical fiction is necessarily proscribed. For that reason, such authors need to be doubly responsibe for the facts when a story is as well known as the battle of Gettysburg. Fear not, John Hough, Jr.'s knowledge of the details and minutiae of the period and place is simply awesome, the armies and the leaders, the battle strategies, and the hour by hour progress of the battle and its war machinery. Once more presented from the viewpoints of his major characters, the plot becomes a nail biter as we watch over "our" most likable figures in the midst of massive carnage.

If you enjoy literature and "writerly" prose, author Hough's "Seen the Glory" will also thrill you. His use of the language can be lyrical as well as reportorial, e.g., "A little piece of the moon squinted down at them and the stars were dulled to tarnished silver by the soft heavy air"; "the stars wheeled up the sky"; ". . .the road wasn't far away, winding velvety-gray through the moon-filtered forest night". Furthermore, author Hough describes major emotional moments in ways that can only be called sensitive and profound, e.g. [an officer's thoughts minutes before he is killed]"They were one of the best regiments in the army and would do whatever he asked of them, and with the thought a sudden pride rose in him, like love in its strength and sweetness, and he knew he was where he should be, had to be, and that God had called him to it and would sustain him."

When I find a writer who does what this one does so well, I sometimes think this is as good as it gets. Indeed, this is a book that caused me to neglect my job to sneak in another chapter which I couldn't put down. And, what do you say of a book that is so good you don't want a war to end?