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Courage on Little Round Top: A Historical Novel
written by Thomas M. Eishen
Studio : Skyward Publishing
by Skyward Publishing
Publisher : Skyward Publishing
Released : 2004-09
Availability : In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. and eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781881554387
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 20 reviews)
Our Price : $16.95
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Product Description |
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Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels is the sweeping story of the Battle of Gettysburg told from the point of view of officers from both sides of the fight. Thomas Eishen's Courage on Little Round Top is a detailed look at one of the battle's most be |
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How bout more of the engagement? |
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Now I'm not saying this was a bad book. I actually read it in two days. However, with the title "courage on little round top" i was expecting a little more of the engagement on little round top. it wasn't until the very last chapter of the book that the engagement took place. if you really want to read about little round top i would say Shaara's Killer Angel's will do the trick. Again, a very good book just took a while to get to the actual "courage" |
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Fluff ! |
The author credits Michael Shaara's "Killer Angels" as being responsible for the start of his interest in the Civil War. This novel is a piece of lightweight fluff which I find difficult to read because boredom sets in quickly. Most of the book is meaningless dialogue and character's thoughts which do little to inspire the reader.
As an avid Civil War buff who has read plenty of history, both primary and secondary source material, finds enough historical inaccuracies in this book to wonder how it ever managed to find a publisher. Characters wander around the novel with no good reason. Major historical figures make an appearance with little connection to the fictional characters and the true story of the battle on Little Round Top. The author takes forever to set the scene for that struggle and the reader has to struggle with boredom to ever reach that point in the novel.
I have visited the battlefield at Gettysburg many time since my first trip at the age of 2. I have walked the field many times in many years. Eishen may have made a visit to the monument to the 20th Maine, but I wonder if he climbed Little Round Top by the route of attack by the Alabama regiments.
I had expected more mention of the other units involved in this engagement and I was sadly disappointed.
As an aside, there are enough typos and mispellings throughout the book which make it even more annoying.
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Gettysburg history lesson |
Thomas Eishen nails a good one. Gettysburg is perhaps the greatest single battle of the civil war in terms of how the war ended. Eishen does an excellent job in novel form to keep the reader's attention. Written similar to the style of Jeff Shaara, one will not have a hard time reading this one. It is not boring history. It is an easy and enjoyable read and will add knowledge to what you think you might know about Gettysburg. Buy it. Enjoy it.
C Park |
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Commendable in a lightweight sort of way |
After seeing the Civil War epic Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition) when it was first released, I made a special trip cross-country to the battlefield and, like the author of COURAGE ON LITTLE ROUND TOP, stood at the monument to the 20th Maine at the left extremity of the Union line and paid silent tribute to Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and his regiment which waged there such a stalwart defense. In a contemporary world so lacking in heroes, I put the gallant Chamberlain on a modestly tall pedestal, an atypical action that even survived my subsequent reading of the man's biography, In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War.
Here, author Thomas Eishen strives to add a human side to the battle for Little Round Top on the second day of the Gettysburg collision by re-creating in novel format the thoughts, words, and actions of Chamberlain and one of his opponents, 2nd Lieutenant Robert Wicker of the 15th Alabama Regiment, as they may have occurred during the couple of days prior to and during the assault.
It was the fictionalization of the days prior that perhaps reduced this book in my estimation inasmuch as Chamberlain and his regiment are assigned their do-or-die position by brigade commander Col. Strong Vincent only on page 250 of this 289-page volume. So, if you're hoping for an exhaustive immersion in the struggle for the hill, forget it. Rather, the preceding pages are filled, much like GETTYSBURG the film, with protagonists' dialog and mental preoccupations that are, at best, plausible but unremarkable script-filler and, at worst, an inane look at men under arms as they swan about the countryside pre-battle. Moreover, I was singularly unimpressed with the very few maps accompanying the text. Indeed, the one showing the opposing lines on Little Round Top was not much bigger than a postage stamp and would've required the use of a magnifying glass had I cared to bother with it.
I'm at obvious odds with other 5-star reviews of COURAGE ON LITTLE ROUND TOP. Perhaps my expectations were too great. In any case, I wouldn't recommend spending the money for this title unless you're seeking a very light read for an airplane trip to Pennsylvania, in which case it's perfectly satisfactory.
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Following in the footsteps of "The Killer Angels" |
If you have read Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" and Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" you have an excellent basis to read and enjoy Thomas Eishen's novel that combines some of the aspects of both. This book features Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a prominent character in Shaara's novel, and Lt. Robert Wicker, who is only alluded to by Shaara.
Eishen's novel unfolds around the impending confrontation between these two men on July 2, 1863 on Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. Wicker, whose unit is the 15th Alabama, had fled the scene during a previous battle, and, like Private Henry Fleming in "The Red Badge of Courage" worries that he in fact may be a coward. Since many of the soldiers in his company are friends and relatives from back home in Alabama, his fear is that a repeat performance in battle will make him a laughingstock and he will become an embarrassment to his family members. Chamberlain, on the other hand, has to deal with his two well-intentioned but meddlesome brothers who are members of his staff.
Eishen does a fine job of relating the evolution of these events through dialogue fashioned for these characters. The run-up to the actual confrontation between Chamberlain and Wicker is an interesting perspective on the daily lives of the common soldier in camp and while on the march.
First time novelist Thomas Eishen has done a commendable job of describing these fast-paced events, and readers will find that the situation only alluded to in "The Killer Angels" takes on new meaning, and the characters involved come alive.
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