The Smoke at Dawn by Jeff Shaara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book of the series "Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater." I started reading this series this year because I heard it was a trilogy. No, there will be yet another book.
I like the format of describing a campaign from various viewpoints of generals on both sides plus the viewpoint of an infantryman. However, sometimes this includes repetition of topics and repetition of phrases that annoys this reader. Note to Shaara--try doing a word search for cigar in your next draft to see just how many times you use it in your chapters about Grant and Sherman, and just how many times similar phrases are used when describing smoking cigars.
I recommend this book to fans of well-researched novels of the Civil War. My preference is for a historical narrative such as written by Allan W. Eckert who quotes dialogue when he can find the words in historical documents and suggests what might have been said when nothing has been recorded for this reader is given a better understanding of the individual voices of the characters.



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A Chain of Thunder by Jeff Shaara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Chain of Thunder is the second book of the Civil War:1861-1865, Western Theater trilogy, and I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first one.

This is the story of Vicksburg campaign told in a narrative style that uses the view points of Federal generals Grant and Sherman, Confederate general Pemberton, a Federal infantryman, and a Vicksburg civilian. My preferences were for the chapters about the infantryman and the civilian because empathizing with these people and their roles were easier to do than making the hard choices the generals did.

I recommend this book for all readers, especially those who have an interest in this period of our American history.

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A Blaze of Glory by Jeff Shaara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third book of this trilogy recently printed, and my husband and I started to read the first book of the trilogy together. This is a historical narrative of the Battle of Shiloh from the viewpoints of both Union and Confederate generals, officers, and infantrymen.
Don enjoyed it better than I did. That is not surprising for he is more familiar with the facts about the battle and the generals. I found myself referring back to the beginnings of the chapters where pictures of flags let me know whose viewpoint from which I was reading. Kudos to Mr. Shaara for his descriptive writing and pacing of the battle scenes. His writing brought me to tears more than once.
I recommend this book to all readers of American history.

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