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The Blue and the Gray: A Novel
The bond of blood made them a family. War made them enemies.
The Geysers and the Hales: one set of cousins sweated its living from the soil, the other from a small-town newspaper. One made its home in the South, the other -- only a few miles ride away -- in the North.
The Geysers and the Hales were a family, bound by blood and faith and love, and a fierce indomitable pride that was the same on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Until a raging storm of controversy split the states, North and South. And the Geysers and the Hales discovered that -- until the nation stood united once again -- bonds of love and faith and family could have no meaning anymore.
The Geysers and the Hales: one set of cousins sweated its living from the soil, the other from a small-town newspaper. One made its home in the South, the other -- only a few miles ride away -- in the North.
The Geysers and the Hales were a family, bound by blood and faith and love, and a fierce indomitable pride that was the same on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Until a raging storm of controversy split the states, North and South. And the Geysers and the Hales discovered that -- until the nation stood united once again -- bonds of love and faith and family could have no meaning anymore.
213 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 5, 2007
What can I say? Didn't everyone go through a phase when they were obsessed with The Civil War?
January 19, 2013
I read this book with my son to supplement his history curriculum. It is an excellent work of historical fiction and really brings the Civil War period to life.
April 26, 2020
It's perhaps unfortunate that this novelization begins with an dying old woman comparing life to a patchwork quilt. She asserts that we are all given a heap of cloth pieces at birth but what we make of them is based on our free-will.
Here the author was given historical events and mini-series screen play crafts a novel that is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.
While "The Blue and the Gray" mini-series was not the best of its kind, it was worth watching and I still dimly recall some of the scenes from when I saw it in the 80s.
John Leekley is no John Jakes his characters never seem to really develop and while all the important touch points are there, none are given enough depth to make them memorable.
What's worse is that he's stolen a bit of the Sullivan Ballou letter and used it in a scene from the Battle of the Wilderness without any attribution. This is about as close to plagiarism as anything I've read in a widely published book. I'm surprised the editors at Dell let it pass." This may well have been in the mini-series as well but I don't recall it.
Several scenes are clearly crafted from the screenplay (such as the Barn dance behind Confederate lines) but there's no added meaning or depth in the written version and I felt that the dimly recalled scenes from the mini-series were better than the written version. But of course that may have been thanks to the efforts of Gregory Peck as Lincoln and and Stacey Keach as the enigmatic Jonas Steele.
Here the author was given historical events and mini-series screen play crafts a novel that is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.
While "The Blue and the Gray" mini-series was not the best of its kind, it was worth watching and I still dimly recall some of the scenes from when I saw it in the 80s.
John Leekley is no John Jakes his characters never seem to really develop and while all the important touch points are there, none are given enough depth to make them memorable.
What's worse is that he's stolen a bit of the Sullivan Ballou letter and used it in a scene from the Battle of the Wilderness without any attribution. This is about as close to plagiarism as anything I've read in a widely published book. I'm surprised the editors at Dell let it pass." This may well have been in the mini-series as well but I don't recall it.
Several scenes are clearly crafted from the screenplay (such as the Barn dance behind Confederate lines) but there's no added meaning or depth in the written version and I felt that the dimly recalled scenes from the mini-series were better than the written version. But of course that may have been thanks to the efforts of Gregory Peck as Lincoln and and Stacey Keach as the enigmatic Jonas Steele.
July 31, 2023
I would give this book 3.5 stars, but you cannot. I would say though, that this book is closer to 4 than 3, thus the rating. It was a good little book, nice and short. It is not the most memorable or impressive book ever, but it is a good book to read for fun. It was rather easy though, so maybe it is better for younger readers, although the battle scenes are gruesome.
The best scenes were likely the ones with John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. The scenes during the battle of Gettysburg and the Battle if the Wilderness were nice as well. The characters that are not historical however, are found lacking and the only one I really likes was Jonas. The battle scenes are nice though, so just for them I would recommend a read.
The best scenes were likely the ones with John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. The scenes during the battle of Gettysburg and the Battle if the Wilderness were nice as well. The characters that are not historical however, are found lacking and the only one I really likes was Jonas. The battle scenes are nice though, so just for them I would recommend a read.
June 13, 2019
I felt this was a review of the movie, it was abrupt at points and didn’t tell many details of the story. I really like the movie and was hoping for something more for the story to build on, but was disappointed. I also missed Kathy, who was a main character in the movie.
October 29, 2017
A look at the Civil War through soldiers lives in two related families. One set of cousins fought for the North and the other set fought for the South.
February 5, 2017
Jumped around way too much for me to care about any of the characters. Hard to believe this got made into a movie. Or is is just the novelized version of the miniseries?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews