by Ralph Peters
First published 2015
General Philip Sheridan rides into Virginia's Shenandoah Valley with orders to crush Confederate resistance in the summer of 1864. The small, battle-hardened Union commander faces off against Jubal Early, a stubborn Confederate general defending the South's vital breadbasket and invasion corridor. George Armstrong Custer leads daring cavalry charges while Georgian John Brown Gordon rallies his men with fierce determination. The valley erupts in savage fighting as both armies struggle for control of this strategic prize. Confederate raiders push so close to Washington they nearly capture the capital itself. Union and Rebel soldiers write their stories in blood across forgotten battlefields like Cedar Creek. Peters follows these remarkable military leaders through months of desperate combat that will determine whether the Confederacy can survive another winter. The fate of the war hangs on who controls this fertile valley that feeds Southern armies and opens the path north.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, action, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, war
Setting: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Washington
Period: 1864, American Civil War
512 pages · Kindle Edition · Forge Books
Content warnings: graphic-violence, war