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Rebel #1
Ride Proud, Rebel!
Young Drew fights for the South and after enduring many of war's hardships, must finally accept defeat
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
74 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
Andre Norton
691 books1,393 followersAndre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 5, 2018
Ride Proud, Rebel! is a Civil War novel set in the western theater during the final days of the war. As the story opens, the protagonist, Drew Rennie, has been serving as a cavalry scout in Confederate general John Hunt Morgan's command for two years, having left home in 1862 after a final break with his harsh grandfather, who despised him since his birth because of his mother's runaway marriage to a Texan. Already a seasoned veteran at eighteen, during the final year of conflict Drew has the additional responsibility of looking out for his headstrong fifteen-year-old cousin Boyd, who has run away from home to join Morgan's command and has a lot to learn in the school of hard knocks the army provides. The story follows the two of them and a new friend, a Texas trooper named Anson Kirby who provides both common sense and light comic relief, through campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee and later on deeper into the South, first with Morgan and later under Forrest.
It's adventure, but not romanticized adventure. Norton paints a vivid picture of both men's and horses' struggles with exhaustion, hunger, cold, heat and thirst, aside from the horrors of battle. The historical detail is good and left me curious to know more about battles such as Cynthiana, Harrisburg and others mentioned. I read a lot about the Virginia campaigns a few years ago, but the western theater of the war is less familiar to me. On another level, the story also follows the characters' personal development throughout their travels, as Drew wrestles with the conflicting desires to know more about what caused the split in his family years ago, or to shut off all thoughts of the past to avoid being hurt by it.
Barring a bit of awkward dialogue, I found the writing to be good. Norton does tend to use passive voice a lot. The only place the passivity seems to grate is when it's paired with the aforementioned dialogue or appears unexpectedly in the middle of action. The final chapter wraps things up rather quickly and abruptly, but then again, it is laying ground for a sequel.
It's adventure, but not romanticized adventure. Norton paints a vivid picture of both men's and horses' struggles with exhaustion, hunger, cold, heat and thirst, aside from the horrors of battle. The historical detail is good and left me curious to know more about battles such as Cynthiana, Harrisburg and others mentioned. I read a lot about the Virginia campaigns a few years ago, but the western theater of the war is less familiar to me. On another level, the story also follows the characters' personal development throughout their travels, as Drew wrestles with the conflicting desires to know more about what caused the split in his family years ago, or to shut off all thoughts of the past to avoid being hurt by it.
Barring a bit of awkward dialogue, I found the writing to be good. Norton does tend to use passive voice a lot. The only place the passivity seems to grate is when it's paired with the aforementioned dialogue or appears unexpectedly in the middle of action. The final chapter wraps things up rather quickly and abruptly, but then again, it is laying ground for a sequel.
February 5, 2015
Drew Rennie is a scout in the Confederate Army during the last year of the Civil War as General Sherman advances into their heartland and the Rebel forces zigzag southwards.
Like many Kentuckians, Rennie comes from a home divided in sympathy by the conflict.
When his fifteen year old cousin, Boyd, threatens to enlist, Rennie tries to persuade him, but to no avail. Their Aunt Marianne tasks Rennie with finding and looking after the boy, who is about to suffer a rude awakening about the inglorious realities of war.
Andre Norton is actually Alice Norton, an influential genre novelist primarily known for her work in that most un-female friendly of all fields, science-fiction.
She proves here to be a dab hand at a Civil War story and the Western too, all in one, for 'Ride Proud, Rebel!' is a smart and satisfying blending of those two genres, where battles and raids are juxtaposed alongside stick-ups and range riding.
There is also a compelling back-story as Rennie, in the company of Anson Kirby, a laconic Texan with a fine line in Lone Star state slang ("Lucky I ain't in a sod-pawin' mood, hombre" etc), mulls over his own heritage, for his father was from Texas too, which for some dark reason gave him an outsider's upbringing within his adopted family.
As the trio do their best in a losing cause at famous sites such as Harrisburg, the Yankee 'blue bellies' are not the only trouble they face. They also have to deal with the bitter cold weather, starvation, the scavenging of bushwhackers and, in one instance, the designs of their own Rebel comrades.
This book was a real pleasant surprise. I have read a fair few novels covering similar territory over the years, but few as understated yet convincing.
The battle scenes were short but grittily told, the characters brave and likable but not unrealistically heroic such as they often are in similar works.
There was a follow-up story written, called 'Rebel Spurs', which I will certainly be reading soon.
Like many Kentuckians, Rennie comes from a home divided in sympathy by the conflict.
When his fifteen year old cousin, Boyd, threatens to enlist, Rennie tries to persuade him, but to no avail. Their Aunt Marianne tasks Rennie with finding and looking after the boy, who is about to suffer a rude awakening about the inglorious realities of war.
Andre Norton is actually Alice Norton, an influential genre novelist primarily known for her work in that most un-female friendly of all fields, science-fiction.
She proves here to be a dab hand at a Civil War story and the Western too, all in one, for 'Ride Proud, Rebel!' is a smart and satisfying blending of those two genres, where battles and raids are juxtaposed alongside stick-ups and range riding.
There is also a compelling back-story as Rennie, in the company of Anson Kirby, a laconic Texan with a fine line in Lone Star state slang ("Lucky I ain't in a sod-pawin' mood, hombre" etc), mulls over his own heritage, for his father was from Texas too, which for some dark reason gave him an outsider's upbringing within his adopted family.
As the trio do their best in a losing cause at famous sites such as Harrisburg, the Yankee 'blue bellies' are not the only trouble they face. They also have to deal with the bitter cold weather, starvation, the scavenging of bushwhackers and, in one instance, the designs of their own Rebel comrades.
This book was a real pleasant surprise. I have read a fair few novels covering similar territory over the years, but few as understated yet convincing.
The battle scenes were short but grittily told, the characters brave and likable but not unrealistically heroic such as they often are in similar works.
There was a follow-up story written, called 'Rebel Spurs', which I will certainly be reading soon.
April 1, 2020
Drew Rennie is a seasoned scout in the Confederate Army, under Morgan's banner, when the story begins. Despised by his grandfather who yet saw his "duty" in raising him after his mother died, Drew has absolutely no ties to the place he grew up in, and calls the army home.
While scouting out good horses for the army on his grandfather's plantation, he runs across his best friends younger brother, and afterwards Boyd joins in spite of his orders not too. Add a Texan under the name of Kirby who's goal is to learn the art of war so he can go home and revenge his family's death by the Comanche's, and a few other scouts who come and go, and you have a pretty good story of what it was like for the men fighting for their cause in the last years of it's life!
Guerrillas, sickness, battles and always the uncertainty of "after the war" very well portrayed. There is a sequel and I can't wait to get my hands on it as this one leaves so many unfinished parts!!
While scouting out good horses for the army on his grandfather's plantation, he runs across his best friends younger brother, and afterwards Boyd joins in spite of his orders not too. Add a Texan under the name of Kirby who's goal is to learn the art of war so he can go home and revenge his family's death by the Comanche's, and a few other scouts who come and go, and you have a pretty good story of what it was like for the men fighting for their cause in the last years of it's life!
Guerrillas, sickness, battles and always the uncertainty of "after the war" very well portrayed. There is a sequel and I can't wait to get my hands on it as this one leaves so many unfinished parts!!
October 30, 2015
This was one of the most disappointing books that I have read in a while. Trite, flat, characters that you have seen a dozen times before, always done better, in a story that brings nothing new to the Civil War genre. I remember enjoying Andre Norton's science fiction books when I was growing up, and I was intrigued by a story about the Civil War set in Kentucky about a soldier who fought under John Hunt Morgan, the favorite son of my home town Lexington, whose mounted statue stands in front of our courthouse. I was further attracted by learning that the protagonist ends the war fighting under the enigmatic Nathan Bedford Forest, who is unfortunately largely remembered today as one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan. So I dived in, not expecting great literature, but hoping for a rousing adventure populated with interesting and colorful characters. But I got none of that -- just a by the numbers story about a young man with a difficult childhood who runs away to join the Rebs and grows to manhood in four long years of bloody fighting and privation. Morgan and Forest are distant figures with no real participation in the story. I have trouble understanding why most of the Goodreads reviews are positive, as I found little here to like.
October 2, 2014
Well written and well researched historical fiction. Very straight forward. The story centers on a teenager serving under Bedford Forrest in the last days of the war. Norton has an excellent ear for dialects and uses it to great advantage here. Andre Norton is a bit of a magician as a writer. She simply disappears as soon as the story starts, and there is only the story. She's better at this than most, and while I hate to trot out cliches like "underrated," it's applicable here.
July 23, 2021
This is a novel about a young man, Drew Rennie, in Kentucky who in 1862 at the age of 16 runs off to join the Confederate Cavalry. As a young man seeking adventure, he joins in with General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry. The story really starts during the Spring of 1864, the above background information is provided in the story narrative. Drew is now a seasoned veteran and his dreams of adventure have ago been destroyed. Yet, he still believes it is his duty to full fill his commitment to the Confederate cavalry and his fellow cavalrymen. Shortly after the story begins, Drew is reassigned to General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry due to the Death of General Morgan. It is a very interesting story about the day-to-day life of a cavalry scout in the Civil War. It is not a pretty picture as the men bear privations associated with minimal logistical support from the Confederate Army. Most of their resupply comes from raids against the Yankees. Death from battle and disease stalk many of these men as the war winds down to its last days. I believe this novel presents a very realistic look at life in the Confederate Cavalry during the last couple of years of the Civil War and Drew and his companions are fairly and realistically presented.
August 27, 2025
Read against my better instincts
I was born in Bakersfield, CA, and raised in an LA suburb (one that used to be a sundown town). My birth parents split when I was a toddler, and the three kids were split between the two aunts (one living in Bakersfield still, and the other in LA). My brother, raised in Bakersfield, grew up in a racist environment, while my sister and I, though raised in a conservative household, made it into adulthood as very progressive liberals.
I'm giving this as background info for what I'm about to say. I despise everything to do with how blacks were treated in the past (and still are, to this day). It sickens me that one isn't judged on one's character, but on the color of their skin. I'm also not a fan of war, either, so that was two strikes against it. While there was no overt racism in this book, the entire background is full of it. It made it very difficult for me to finish it, and Andre's been my favorite author for 45ish years now. The ONLY reason I finished this book is that I'm a completist, and I dislike not finishing something I've started.
This was written in a different time, for a different audience. I am NOT that audience, and hopefully, you'll choose not to be that audience too.
I was born in Bakersfield, CA, and raised in an LA suburb (one that used to be a sundown town). My birth parents split when I was a toddler, and the three kids were split between the two aunts (one living in Bakersfield still, and the other in LA). My brother, raised in Bakersfield, grew up in a racist environment, while my sister and I, though raised in a conservative household, made it into adulthood as very progressive liberals.
I'm giving this as background info for what I'm about to say. I despise everything to do with how blacks were treated in the past (and still are, to this day). It sickens me that one isn't judged on one's character, but on the color of their skin. I'm also not a fan of war, either, so that was two strikes against it. While there was no overt racism in this book, the entire background is full of it. It made it very difficult for me to finish it, and Andre's been my favorite author for 45ish years now. The ONLY reason I finished this book is that I'm a completist, and I dislike not finishing something I've started.
This was written in a different time, for a different audience. I am NOT that audience, and hopefully, you'll choose not to be that audience too.
July 14, 2020
As an Andre Norton fan and collector, I purchased this book years ago and then never read it. It is a historical novel, not fantasy or science fiction, and I wasn't that interested in the Civil War era. However, I pulled it out this spring when cleaning out our book collection and tackled it.
I won't claim it was an easy read for me. Not that it isn't well-written, because it was done at the height of her career and it is well-done. But I occasionally had difficulty with the language of the characters and the subject matter. I'm glad I persisted, for the story is a good one and I learned a bit more about the Civil War.
I won't claim it was an easy read for me. Not that it isn't well-written, because it was done at the height of her career and it is well-done. But I occasionally had difficulty with the language of the characters and the subject matter. I'm glad I persisted, for the story is a good one and I learned a bit more about the Civil War.
February 11, 2021
I got this as part of an Andre Norton omnibus book. I didn't know she wrote non-SF books.
It was published in 1961, so I had already read books of hers, but wouldn't have been stored in the same part of my school libraries.
The protagonist is a Confederate soldier during the end of the civil war, and we see how tough it was to be in that war, not only for the soldiers but for everybody. He is from Kentucky and parts of his family went Union and parts went Confederacy.
The book ends with him going home after the war, but there's a sequel where he goes west, searching for a friend, family, and himself.
It was published in 1961, so I had already read books of hers, but wouldn't have been stored in the same part of my school libraries.
The protagonist is a Confederate soldier during the end of the civil war, and we see how tough it was to be in that war, not only for the soldiers but for everybody. He is from Kentucky and parts of his family went Union and parts went Confederacy.
The book ends with him going home after the war, but there's a sequel where he goes west, searching for a friend, family, and himself.
August 12, 2023
Excellent history
Norton obviously did a lot of research for this book. It is the story of a boy who joined the Confederates and became a man through the years of war. Definitely gives a feel for what the men faced during those terrible years, and the comradship among the soldiers. Definitely recommend it for any history buff, whether of that period or just in general. As always a good, rousing tale by Norton.
Norton obviously did a lot of research for this book. It is the story of a boy who joined the Confederates and became a man through the years of war. Definitely gives a feel for what the men faced during those terrible years, and the comradship among the soldiers. Definitely recommend it for any history buff, whether of that period or just in general. As always a good, rousing tale by Norton.
October 25, 2017
Young Drew Rennie's adventures during the Civil War.
This book is told in an unromantic, realistic way that brings the time to painful life. Drew rides under General Forrest, which is interesting. Most people avoid Forrest for his involvement in either Fort Pillow, or his post war activities. However, he was a brilliant general, and this book focuses on that. I highly recommend it.
This book is told in an unromantic, realistic way that brings the time to painful life. Drew rides under General Forrest, which is interesting. Most people avoid Forrest for his involvement in either Fort Pillow, or his post war activities. However, he was a brilliant general, and this book focuses on that. I highly recommend it.
February 5, 2020
This is not my usual genre, being female and into flowers, fairies, and afternoon teas, but this kept my interest through the tough adventures of a soldier. I have even begun the next story in the series. Great characters and writing style.
November 10, 2020
Great read
After the Civil War a young man travels to the west to find his father. The characters are very will developed. The story is violent as were the times with a great conclusion. I would recommend to reader of history. Enjoy reading 2020
After the Civil War a young man travels to the west to find his father. The characters are very will developed. The story is violent as were the times with a great conclusion. I would recommend to reader of history. Enjoy reading 2020
July 17, 2025
A piece of historical fiction that takes place during the civil war, and focusing on a confederate soldier.
The story is quite well written, and anyone who likes war stories I'm sure would enjoy the book. It just happens that it is not a story that really engages me.
The story is quite well written, and anyone who likes war stories I'm sure would enjoy the book. It just happens that it is not a story that really engages me.
January 19, 2018
Not a bad story having said that I don't mind a bit of accents worked into the story or unique language but I prefer to have a legend so I at least know what they are saying.
April 28, 2019
Who knew?
I have been a fan of Andre Norton for as long as I can remember but never knew of this particular book before! Great book.
I have been a fan of Andre Norton for as long as I can remember but never knew of this particular book before! Great book.
July 25, 2020
A good story. More about the personal side of the war with sections of battles interspersed. A good study of bonds formed between soldiers.
November 21, 2022
Nice historical novel listened to while hiking. The drama and comradeship made the miles fly by. Great history to boot.
April 29, 2024
My favorite book showing the Confederate side of the war. Lots of action, comradery, and yet subtle emotion filling the chinks.
February 13, 2025
D. fiction, historical fiction, YA; Civil War, series; from stash, discard
October 3, 2025
Not my usual kind of story but I quite liked it.
June 6, 2015
Mostly engaging, but overly long story fictional story that follows a young Kentuckian who rides with General Nathan Bedford Forrest as a cavalry scout for the South. I wonder what Andre Norton knew about Forrest when she first wrote this book in the early 60s? It seems amazing today to read a fictional tale that holds Forrest up as a paragon and hero when what first comes to mind is that he was the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and secondarily a brutal Confederate cavalry commander. In this story about the final years of the Civil War, Norton only has Forrest appear as the cavalry commander. Not sure if there is any justification for treating Forrest as sympathetically as Norton does, but I do know that I probably never would have read the book if I had known before I downloaded it that it would treat the man who founded the KKK as a hero.
December 20, 2010
A bit embarrassing to admit, but not coming from the USA, while I know bits and pieces about the American Civil war, the different names for each side kind of confused me. I think I got three quarters of the way through the story before realising what side the main character was fighting for. What never really came across what why he was fighting for the South, when he came from the North. To be honest, I'm still confused.
Apart from that though, it was quite a good adventure/heroism book.
Apart from that though, it was quite a good adventure/heroism book.
September 19, 2010
The prequel to Rebel Spurs. An interesting tail of riding with Forest in the last year of the Civil War
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January 28, 2016Reminiscent of Zane Grey’s westerns, Ride Proud, Rebel is equal to any of Grey’s writings.
August 2, 2021
Looking forward to reading the sequel.
June 24, 2015
Adventure, fighting, sacrifice, and not a woman in sight; oh glory!
March 17, 2014
5/10. Another scrap of war.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews