Jeb Stuart: The Last Cavalier [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

by Burke Davis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The narrative is excellent.... This sympathetic and carefully researched work belongs in every Civil War collection".

-- LIBRARY JOURNAL --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
From the author of They Called Him Stonewall. Definitive biography of the dashing Confederate general is history at its best: fascinating, colorful, provocative. Includes portraits of Stuart's early life, training at West Point, the fateful decision to side with the South and action-packed battle scenes. 7 maps. 8 pages of photos. 470 pages.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517185970
• ISBN-13: 978-0517185971
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #730,696 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Colourful Biography For A Very Colourful Civil War Leader, April 18, 2000

By	Alan Rockman (Upland, California) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

While there have been many biographies written about the life and career of the famed Confederate General James Ewell Brown (JEB)Stuart, this one, written by noted Civil War Historian Burke Davis ranks near, if not at the top.

Davis, author of "The Civil War: Strange and Fascinating Facts" (used by this author in preparing my own book!), and of biographies of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, meticulously chronicled the Civil War career of Jeb Stuart.

The book begins with a stirring accout of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry prior to the war, and Stuart's critical role in his eventual capture. The narrative grabs the reader's attention, and never lets go - even into the maelstrom of battle and Cavalry engagements. Stuart riding circles around McClellan during the Seven Day's Battles, his role in being Lee's eyes at Antietam and Fredericksburg, and his taking command of Stonewall Jackson's Corps when that great Confederate leader was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville.

Then it all goes downhill from there. No,not the book, which does keep the reader enthralled to the grim end, but for Stuart and the Confederate Cavalry. Mistakes are made at Brandy Station, and shortly afterwards at Gettysburg, where Stuart encounters a Union Cavalry General just as flamboyant as he - George Armstrong Custer.

Other Union Cavalrymen make their mark - Pleasanton, Buford, and finally Sheridan - as the worn and tattered Confederate Cavalry decline towards the bitter end and Stuart rides to meet Sheridan and Custer at a little hamlet called Yellow Tavern.

Davis' narrative makes the reader feel as if he or she is indeed riding with Stuart - the smell of leather, of gunpowder and the sweat of the horses. The Rebel Yell and the fast gallop.Stuart's family is also given fine coverage, his devoted wife Flora, his hapless father-in-law, General Cooke, who remained loyal to the Union, and who was soundly thrashed by his own son-in-law! and his entourage, including the amazing Heros Von Boercke and banjo man Sam "Jine The Cavalry" Sweeney. It is all there.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great one by Burke Davis, March 4, 2002

By	Floyd Eugene Canfield "Oscarkeeper" (Linden, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the third civil war book by Burke Davis that I have read, and it is just as good as the others. Davis gives a complete and well researched account of the life of Jeb Stuart, but his main gift is that he can really tell a story. You will be interested from the beginning to the end, and in the process, you will realize that you have learned a thing or two.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Excellent, Excellent, July 10, 2001

By A Customer

JEB! If you don't know him, you will after this....and you SHOULD if you have any interest in the Civil War. The book reads so well you could finish the 400+ pages in a weekend. I've become a Burke Davis fan after this. JEB Stuart could have easily been some character right out of a Hollywood movie, but he's not....he was REAL. Ride with the General, you won't regret it.