by Ralph Peters
First published 2020
The Confederate cause crumbles as Union and Confederate forces converge on the small Virginia town of Appomattox Court House in April 1865. Robert E. Lee faces an impossible choice as his Army of Northern Virginia shrinks with each passing day, surrounded by Grant's overwhelming forces. Soldiers on both sides grapple with the reality that four years of brutal warfare are drawing to a close. Confederate officers debate whether to surrender or scatter into the wilderness to continue fighting as guerrillas. Union commanders wrestle with how to handle victory without destroying the nation they fought to preserve. As the final battles rage around the courthouse, men who have endured years of carnage must decide what honor means when defeat becomes inevitable. Peters renders this pivotal moment through the eyes of those who lived it, capturing both the tragedy of a war's end and the fragile hope of a country preparing to heal.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, military-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-allies, war-and-peace
Setting: Appomattox Court House, Virginia
Period: April 1865
560 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Forge Books
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, war