Sebastian Barry is an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet, noted for his dense literary writing style and considered one of Ireland's finest writers. His career began in poetry before he turned to plays and novels, with his fiction now surpassing his theatrical success. His prose delves deeply into Irish history and the human experience, often with a melancholic yet poetic tone. Barry's work explores themes of memory, identity, and the complexities of family ties with a distinctive linguistic sensibility.
Entering the U.S. army after fleeing the Great Famine in Ireland, seventeen-year-old Thomas McNulty and his brother-in-arms, John Cole, experience the harrowing realities of the Indian wars and the American Civil War between the Wyoming plains and Tennessee.