Shenandoah

The Civil War Battle Series #8

by James Reasoner, Lloyd James (Narrator)

This is the eighth book in a series of historical novels spanning the Civil War and describing its effects on one Southern family. Three Brannon brothers return home in the lull in the fighting, but the Christmas calm is quickly shattered when the brother thought lost in the fighting unleashes his own personal war.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Civil War, Fiction, American Civil War, Historical

MP3 CD

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Susan]

2nd Reading:
This time I read the actual book; it was so much better--I knew the characters really well and deeply felt their anguish as the war came burning into their farm country. The characters of Titus and Will have been extremely well-developed as the series has progressed.

1st Review:
I couldn’t stop listening to this story of a Virginia family during the Civil War. It has romance, a mystery, historical figures. It was so good I decided to listen next to Book 1 of the series.

[Sheryl]

I enjoyed the story of the Brannon family, with the exception of Titus' story line which was hard. However, the historical context of the series had a strong undertone of lost cause mythology.

I stumbled across this series when I learned my second great-grandfather was wounded fighting for the Union at Chickamauga. I enjoy learning history through stories (ala James Mitchener) so I checked out Reasoner's book about that battle, not realizing it was book seven in a 10-book series. Having been hooked by the story of the greater Brannon family, of course I had to read the entire series.

The story element of the series is top notch. The battle details are hard but necessary. And we also get to know Confederate leadership better. However, the causes of the war Reasoner suggests are pure Lost Cause mythology, as are portrayals of General U.S. Grant and all Yankees. The few Northern sympathizers are portrayed as evil, naive or misguided.

But the greatest Lost Cause error is the treatment of prisoners. Yes, Camp Douglas was bad and prisoner treatment was shameful. By all measures, Andersonville was worse. The death rates of both camps prove that. Overall POW death rates for Union POW's was 15.5% vs. 12% for Confederates. No doubt the gap would be wider if: 1) Union soldiers were in as poor condition as Confederates when taken; and 2) surrendering African-American Union soldiers murdered by Confederates were counted among the dead POW's.

While ignoring such evils, Reasoner is willing at least to portray some Southerners as flawed (though there's no hint that Nathan Bedford Forrest was once a slave trader and would go on to lead the Klu Klux Klan).

That said, I wish I could read more about the post-war greater Brannon family.

[Allison Kirchner]

I hurriedly grabbed this book at a library clearance sale, thinking it was related to "Shenandoah" the movie and not realizing this was #8 in a series. I read it anyway, hoping that I didn't miss too much by jumping into the series so late. I believe the author did a pretty good job of catching me up by mentioning all of the family members in the first part of the book. However, that was my least favorite part of the book -- hard to get through due to unlikable characters and dubious story lines. Once the action switched to the battlefields throughout Virginia, I sped through the rest of the book. Almost all of the action took place within 75 miles of my home, and I have visited many of the battlefields mentioned. I will look forward to future field trips to the smaller battlefields that I haven't yet visited. I particularly appreciated the information about the skirmishes in the Shenandoah Valley since that part of the war has been underrepresented in other Civil War books that I have read.

[Mary]

This was a more depressing book than the previous but that is fitting. Most Southerners are beginning to realize that the cause may be lost but they are going to go down fighting. We end the book wondering if Titus has it in him to redeem himself.

[T.S. Folke]

Reasoners finest effort , a decent yarn in a mediocre series. Titus the drunk soberly chases tail up and down the valley, joins Moseby’s raiders , attempts to get laid, executes some Yankees, etc etc

[MARY]

Another great book in this series but sad at the end. My favorite character in this ten volume set died at Cold Harbor. He had been shot at Gettysburg never got better from that chest wound and got shot in the chest again. It was a bummer but he fought bravely to the end. Two more to go!

[Mary Ellen Woods]

I enjoy the battle detail but a bit light on characters and predictable.

[Debbie]

Another winner in the series! One reviewer noted that the beginnnig was soapy and then enjoyed the military tactics which just shows that we all can find something in this series because my opinion is the opposite. I really enjoyed the "murder mystery" but got a little bored with all the tactical discussions. I've been waiting to hear about Mosby's Rangers and for Titus to join them was icing on the cake. I've already started book 9 "Savannah" before I stopped to write this!

[Robin]

This one got a little soapy, then went in an interesting direction at the end.

[Josh]

A lot of action in this book, especially with the family dynamic. Another great book in the series. At this point, the South is realizing they are rapidly descending to total defeat.

[Hank Pharis]

This might be the best of the 8 books in this series that I have read thus far.
Lots of twists and turns and drama.