Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater Series

Recommended Reading Order

1. 1

   A Blaze of Glory

   • Jeff Shaara

   • 480 pages
   • 17 hours of reading

   4.0(4316)Add rating

   “[An] exciting read . . . [Jeff] Shaara returns to the U.S. Civil War in this first book of a new trilogy. . . . This novel is meticulously researched and brings a vivid reality to the historical events depicted.”—Library Journal NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Spring 1862. The Confederate Army in the West teeters on the brink of collapse. General Albert Sidney Johnston is forced to 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: Ulysses Grant 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. Drawing on meticulous research, Jeff Shaara dramatizes the key decisions of the commanders on both sides of the conflict—and brings to life the junior officers, conscripts, and enlisted men who gave their all for the cause. With stunning immediacy, Shaara takes us inside the maelstrom of Shiloh as no novelist has before. “Brilliant . . . riveting . . . a work to be embraced.”—Bookreporter Includes a preview of Jeff Shaara’s next Civil War novel, A Chain of Thunder

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2. 2

   A Chain Of Thunder, A

   • Jeff Shaara

   • 608 pages
   • 22 hours of reading

   4.2(2501)Add rating

   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

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3. 3

   The Smoke At Dawn

   • Jeff Shaara

   • 544 pages
   • 20 hours of reading

   4.2(1979)Add rating

   "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, Federal forces under the command of William Rosecrans are routed in north Georgia at Chickamauga Creek. Retreating in a panic back to Chattanooga, Rosecrans's army seems doomed to the same kind of defeat that plagued the Confederates at Vicksburg. A disgusted Abraham Lincoln has seen enough. He elevates Grant to command of the entire theater of the war. After replacing Rosecrans, Grant gathers an enormous force, including armies commanded by Joseph Hooker and Grant's friend William T. Sherman. The mission is clear: break the Confederate siege and destroy General Braxton Bragg's army, already rife with dissension and disharmony. Blending evocative historical detail with searing depictions of battle, Jeff Shaara vividly re-creates the climactic months of the war in the West, when the fate of a divided nation truly hangs in the balance."--Back cover

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4. 4

   The Fateful Lightning

   • Jeff Shaara

   4.3(1480)Add rating

   "From New York Times bestselling author Jeff Shaara comes the riveting final installment in the Civil War series that began with A 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 g

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