The Sands of Pride: A Novel of the Civil War (Hardcover)

by William R. Trotter (Author) "On the last day of the year 1860, John Williams Ellis sat alone at his desk in the governor's in the governor's mansion in Raleigh,..." (more)
Key Phrases: runner captains, blockade line, gun chamber, Mary Harper, North Carolina, Cyrus Bone (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
By the author of the notable nonfiction trilogy The Civil War in North Carolina which Charles Frazier acknowledged as source material for Cold Mountain this all-encompassing roman … clef unfolds as a quixotic, skirmish-by-skirmish account of the early battles of the Civil War along North Carolina's labyrinthine coast, stretching from Elizabeth City, south of Norfolk, Va., to Fort Caswell on the Atlantic banks, opposite Fort Fisher at the mouth of the Cape Fear River south of Wilmington. Opening on New Year's Eve 1860, almost six months before North Carolina's grudging decision to secede from the Union on May 20, 1861, this sprawling account revolves around the bustling seaport of Wilmington, which serves as the lifeline of the Confederacy. The future North Carolina governor, Zebulon Vance; the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis; the architect of Fort Fisher, Col. William Lamb; Lafayette Baker, deputy director of the fledgling Secret Service; Gen. Robert E. Lee; Gen. Ambrose Burnside; and the naval commander William Barker Cushing are some of the real-life historic figures that are artfully integrated with an extensive dramatis personae of flamboyant and idiosyncratic fictional characters including Belle O'Neal, a sensuous rebel spy; Cyrus Bone, a Confederate deserter; and Largo Landau, the daughter of a Wilmington merchant who becomes a patron of the poor. This masterful epic offers insight into the perfidious political agendas and personal greed underlying the bumbling and horrors suffered by both sides during the war. As it concludes in July 1863, portending the fall of Fort Fisher some two years later, a sequel seems likely.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Historian Trotter provides an epic novelization of the Civil War set primarily along the windswept coast of North Carolina. Using Wilmington, North Carolina, as a geographical focal point, the author interweaves the fascinating stories of more than two dozen fictional and historical characters whose destinies are forever altered by the vagaries of war. Pivotal to the action is Fort Fisher, the formidable earthen fortress that provides cover for the daring blockade runners willing to risk everything for both personal profit and Confederate glory. Naval officers, plantation owners, merchants, politicians, and spies are all represented in a sprawling narrative that combines a number of self-sustaining tales into a superlative overview of a city and a lifestyle under siege. Definitely a page-turner, jam-packed with an abundance of adventure, romance, tragedy, and historically accurate information about an often-overlooked arena of the Civil War. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786710136
• ISBN-13: 978-0786710133
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,243,725 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Author "not quite dead"...yet, July 28, 2003

By	William R. Trotter (Greensboro, N.C., USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sands of Pride (Paperback)

The two most recent reader reviews of the trade paperback edition of SANDS OF PRIDE were very gratifying; my thanks to the readers. For reasons too opaque to explain here, the book's hardback publisher made a plausible *marketing* decision NOT to include the words "Volume One" anywhere in the text (although the clear implication at the end is that there MUST be a sequel coming.) This was my only serious argument with Carroll & Graf and my superb editor, Mr. Philip Turner, during an intense four-year relationship, so I did not dig in my heels about the matter.
But, just so you'll know: Yes, there is a sequel; I just finished revising the ms. on July 27, and yes indeed, it will carry the story of these heroes, rogues, and Steel-Magnolia ladies through the second half of the Civil War. The title is THE FIRES OF PRIDE, and hardback release date is mid-November. All the myriad strands and characters' fates do finally converge in the epic battle for Fort Fisher (late Dec. 1864 - early Jan., 1865), the largest amphibious campaign in US Navy history until Guadalcanal. I hope you'll find the climax suitably thunderous...
... Thank you for your kind attention.

Bill Trotter

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Never too many Civil War Mariners!, January 6, 2004

By	"ctaverner" (Northeastern Seaboard) - See all my reviews

It's fascinating to me that a small charge of nautical (and semi-nautical) Civil War novels has recently reached the book store shelves after the subject's near neglect for decades. Mr. Trotter's first book of a new series does justice to the subject and alongside of James L. Nelson's "Glory in the Name" will serve to sate any Civil War nautical buff on the subject. Mr. Trotter quite obviously has the historical chops as well as a the knowhow to construct an engaging characters and a moving, riveting plot. The follow up to "Sands of Pride" is due out any day now, so grab them both. The second in Nelson's series is also due soon, so now is the time to cast anchor with a host of great American characters and two great writers.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Civil War Classic, June 12, 2002

By	Mark Rainey (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A sprawling, epic novel, THE SANDS OF PRIDE details the lives and exploits of several dozen characters--both Rebel and Yankee--during the conflict in North Carolina between 1861 and 1863. Many of the main characters are actual historical figures, rendered both realistically and dramatically, with as much care as any of Trotter's (many) fictitious characters. The author's treatment of historical fact is colorful and exciting, and even the passages that are obviously speculative read as authentically as those which are factually documented. Trotter draws upon the vast well of knowledge he has gained over many years of research (first evidenced in his CIVIL WAR IN NORTH CAROLINA trilogy--easily the most extensive and best-documented nonfiction work ever published on the subject) and infuses as many details as possible into the novel--usually seamlessly and in appropriate measure to the context of the narrative; there's no squealing of brakes so the author can go off on a binge of self-indulgent detailing of his expertise.

There's more to come, for a sequel is in the works, which will (hopefully) wrap up the threads left open in SANDS, and take us to the end of the war. I can give this book no higher recommendation, and I also suggest checking out Trotter's WWII novel, WINTER FIRE, which is as gripping in its context as SANDS is in its.