by Ralph Peters
First published 2012
Robert E. Lee's Confederate army marches north while George Meade's Union forces move to intercept them. Neither commander intends to fight at the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg, but their armies stumble into each other at this crucial crossroads. A Confederate sergeant from the Blue Ridge mountains, an Irish immigrant who survived the Great Famine, and a German political refugee find themselves caught in three days of brutal combat that will determine the nation's fate. James Longstreet clashes with Lee over military strategy while Dan Sickles makes decisions that nearly wreck his own forces. Generals like John Reynolds, Winfield Hancock, William Barksdale, and James Johnston Pettigrew lead their men into battle across Pennsylvania fields. The fighting is savage and realistic, showing soldiers as flesh and blood men rather than marble heroes. This sweeping novel captures the chaos, errors, and courage that defined the greatest battle fought on American soil.
Genres: american-civil-war, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, military-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, war
Setting: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Period: American Civil War
429 pages · Hardcover · Forge Books
Content warnings: graphic-violence, war