The Smoke at Dawn: A Novel of the Civil War $28.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2014)
As new in dust jacket.
“New York Times” bestselling author Jeff Shaara returns to the Civil War terrain he knows so well, with the latest novel in the series that started with “A Blaze of Glory” and “A Chain of Thunder.” In “The Smoke at Dawn,” the last great push of the Army of the Cumberland sets the stage for a decisive confrontation at Chattanooga that could determine the outcome of the war.
Summer, 1863. The Federal triumph at Vicksburg has secured complete control of the Mississippi River from the Confederacy, cementing the reputation of Ulysses S. Grant. Farther east, the Federal army under the command of William Rosecrans captures the crucial rail hub at Chattanooga. But Rosecrans is careless, and while pursuing the Confederates, the Federal forces are routed in north Georgia at Chickamauga Creek. Retreating in a panic back to Chattanooga, Rosecrans is pursued by the Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg. Penned up, with their supply lines severed, the Federal army seems doomed to the same kind of defeat that plagued the Confederates at Vicksburg. But a disgusted Abraham Lincoln has seen enough of General Rosecrans. Ulysses Grant is elevated to command of the entire theater of the war, and immediately replaces Rosecrans with General George Thomas. Grant gathers an enormous force, including armies commanded by Joseph Hooker and Grants friend, William T. Sherman. Grants mission is clear: Break the Confederate siege and destroy Braggs army. Meanwhile, Bragg wages war as much with his own subordinates as he does with the Federals, creating dissension and disharmony in the Southern ranks, erasing the Confederate armys superiority at exactly the wrong time.
Blending evocative historical detail with searing depictions of battle, Jeff Shaara immerses readers in the world of commanders and common soldiers, civilians and statesmen. From the Union side come the voices of Generals Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and George Thomas–the vaunted “Rock of Chickamauga”–as well as the young private Fritz “Dutchie” Bauer. From the Rebel ranks come Generals Bragg, Patrick Cleburne, and James Longstreet, as well as the legendary cavalry commander, Nathan Bedford Forrest. A tale of history played out on a human scale in the grand Shaara tradition, “The Smoke at Dawn” vividly recreates the climactic months of the war in the West, when the fate of a divided nation truly hangs in the balance.
The Last Full Measure $65.00
Sorry this book is currently out of stock.
New York, NY: Ballantine (2006)
Very good in dust jacket.
To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War $50.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2004)
A few pages creased. Otherwise, very good in dust jacket.
No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II $40.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2009)
Very good in dust jacket.
Gone for Soldiers: A Novel of the Mexican War $40.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2000)
Very good in decorated wrappers.
A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh $100.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2012)
Near fine in bound plastic wrapper. Early bound uncorrected proof.
The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II $50.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2008)
Fine in publisher’s wrapper.
A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh $75.00
Sorry. This book is currently out of stock.
New York, NY: Ballantine (2012)
In the first novel of a spellbinding new trilogy, “New York Times” bestselling author Jeff Shaara returns to the Civil War terrain he knows best. “A Blaze of Glory” takes us to the action-packed Western Theater for a vivid re-creation of one of the war’s bloodiest and most iconic engagements–the Battle of Shiloh.
It’s the spring of 1862. The Confederate Army in the West teeters on the brink of collapse following the catastrophic loss of Fort Donelson. Commanding general Albert Sidney Johnston is forced to pull up stakes, abandon the critical city of Nashville, and rally his troops in defense of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.
Hot on Johnston’s trail are two of the Union’s best generals: the relentless Ulysses Grant, fresh off his career-making victory at Fort Donelson, and Don Carlos Buell. If their combined forces can crush Johnston’s army and capture the railroad, the war in the West likely will be over. There’s just one problem: Johnston knows of the Union plans, and is poised to launch an audacious surprise attack on Grant’s encampment–a small settlement in southwestern Tennessee anchored by a humble church named Shiloh.
With stunning you-are-there immediacy, Shaara takes us inside the maelstrom of Shiloh as no novelist has before. Drawing on meticulous research, he dramatizes the key actions and decisions of the commanders on both sides: Johnston, Grant, Sherman, Beauregard, and the illustrious Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Here too are the thoughts and voices of the junior officers, conscripts, and enlisted men who gave their all for the cause: Confederate cavalry lieutenant James Seeley, Private Fritz “Dutchie” Bauer of the 16th Wisconsin Regiment–brave participants in a pitched back-and-forth battle whose casualty count would far surpass anything the American public had yet seen in this war.
By the end of the second day of fighting, as Grant’s bedraggled forces regroup for what looks like a last stand, two major events–one of them totally unexpected–would turn the tide of the battle and perhaps the war itself.
“A Blaze of Glory” brings the exhilaration of battle to life and illuminates a pivotal clash-at-arms that changed the course of American history.
A Chain of Thunder: A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg $28.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2013)
As new in dust jacket.
Continuing the trilogy that began with A Blaze of Glory, New York Times bestselling author Jeff Shaara returns to chronicle another decisive chapter in America’s long and bloody Civil War.
In A Chain of Thunder, the action shifts to the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. There, in the vaunted “Gibraltar of the Confederacy,” a siege for the ages will cement the reputation of one Union general–and all but seal the fate of the rebel cause.
In May 1863, after months of hard and bitter combat, Union troops under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant at long last successfully cross the Mississippi River. They force the remnants of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton’s army to retreat to Vicksburg, burning the bridges over the Big Black River in its path. But after sustaining heavy casualties in two failed assaults against the rebels, Union soldiers are losing confidence and morale is low.
Grant reluctantly decides to lay siege to the city, trapping soldiers and civilians alike inside an iron ring of Federal entrenchments. Ten days later, the starving and destitute Southerners finally surrender, yielding command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces on July 4–Independence Day–and marking a crucial turning point in the Civil War.
Drawing on comprehensive research and his own intimate knowledge of the Vicksburg Campaign, Jeff Shaara once again weaves brilliant fiction out of the ragged cloth of historical fact. From the command tents where generals plot strategy to the ruined mansions where beleaguered citizens huddle for safety, this is a panoramic portrait of men and women whose lives are forever altered by the siege.
On one side stand the emerging legend Grant, his irascible second William T. Sherman, and the youthful “grunt” Private Fritz Bauer; on the other, the Confederate commanders Pemberton and Joseph Johnston, as well as nineteen-year-old Lucy Spence, a civilian doing her best to survive in the besieged city.
By giving voice to their experiences at Vicksburg, A Chain of Thunder vividly evokes a battle whose outcome still reverberates more than 150 years after the cannons fell silent.
Monday June 8, 2015
Signing: 5:00
Reading: 5:30
The Fateful Lightning: A Novel of the Civil War $28.00
New York, NY: Ballantine (2015) As new in dust jacket.
From New York Times bestselling author Jeff Shaara comes the riveting final installment in the Civil War series that began withA Blaze of Glory and continued in A Chain of Thunder and The Smoke at Dawn.
November 1864: As the Civil War rolls into its fourth bloody year, the tide has turned decidedly in favor of the Union. A grateful Abraham Lincoln responds to Ulysses S. Grant’s successes by bringing the general east, promoting Grant to command the entire Union war effort, while William Tecumseh Sherman now directs the Federal forces that occupy all of Tennessee.
In a massive surge southward, Sherman conquers the city of Atlanta, sweeping aside the Confederate army under the inept leadership of General John Bell Hood. Pushing through northern Georgia, Sherman’s legendary “March to the Sea” shoves away any Rebel presence, and by Christmas 1864 the city of Savannah falls into the hands of “Uncle Billy.” Now there is but one direction for Sherman to go. In his way stands the last great hope for the Southern cause, General Joseph E. Johnston.
In the concluding novel of his epic Civil War tetralogy, Jeff Shaara tells the dramatic story of the final eight months of battle from multiple perspectives: the commanders in their tents making plans for total victory, as well as the ordinary foot soldiers and cavalrymen who carried out their orders until the last alarum sounded. Through Sherman’s eyes, we gain insight into the mind of the general who vowed to “make Georgia howl” until it surrendered. In Johnston, we see a man agonizing over the limits of his army’s power, and accepting the burden of leading the last desperate effort to ensure the survival of the Confederacy.
The Civil War did not end quietly. It climaxed in a storm of fury that lay waste to everything in its path.The Fateful Lightning brings to life those final brutal, bloody months of fighting with you-are-there immediacy, grounded in the meticulous research that readers have come to expect from Jeff Shaara.