Until the End [Paperback]

Harold Coyle (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket Books (1996)
• ASIN: B0011MPTQQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced, realistic, gritty and enjoyable, July 24, 2000

By 

Simon Jackson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Until the End (Paperback)

Until The End is the second and final instalment of Harold Coyle's Civil War series. As with the first in the series - Look Away - the novel chronicles the lives of the Bannon brothers as they continue to fight on opposite sides of the conflict. Although Until The End is the second instalment of a series it can be read as a stand-alone novel. However, I would encourage you to initially read Look Away.

As with Look Away, Until The End is a splendid read if you're interested in the battles of the Civil War. This novel takes us to the end of the war and includes amongst others, battles scenes from the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, a particularly realistic account of The Bloody Angle, Jubal Early's aborted raid on Washington, the mud of the trenches at Petersburg and the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House. Although there are chapter notes at the end of the book I certainly benefited from a little previous knowledge of these battles. If you're able to get a copy you would find it useful to have The Conservation Fund's `The Civil War Battlefield Guide' as a reference source

I feel that the author has fine-tuned his skills in writing about this subject matter, as a result Until The End is the better of the two novels. It still has the realism of the War but has lost some of the need to over elaborate on the nature of social relationships that was to be found within Look Away. I enjoyed the focus on the Bannon's personal lives in the shape of Harriet Shields and Mary Beth McPherson and found that Coyle had developed this element of the plot in a more believable manner than the previous novel.

Until The End, as with Look Away, can not be described as high literature, it does not have any hidden agendas and it does not try to convert the reader to any particular Civil War bias. It is, however, fast paced, realistic, gritty and enjoyable. If these are qualities that you enjoy in your Civil War fiction then whether read on it's own or as a conclusion to the story of the Bannon brothers I do recommend this book to you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A one line summary is insufficient to describe this book., May 21, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (a librarian in Wake Forest, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Until the End (Paperback)

Look Away and Until the End were my first 2 Civil War novels. I was not dissappointed. The battles are described in vivid detail. Coyle makes the 1860's come alive with wonderful plot AND character development. The only bad thing that could possibly be said about this book is that it is not "to be continued".

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, could not put it down., December 22, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Manchester, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Until the End (Paperback)

Until the End kept me at the edge of my seat. It is a gripping story that brings home the torment that families had during the Civil War. It brings together the Bannon family, again. Mr. Colye also leaves the door open for more about the newly expanded family after the war. It's one story that I will not forget in a long time. I recomend it to readers of all interests.