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Two Brothers: One North, One South

by David H. Jones (Goodreads Author)

2.96 · rating details · 24 ratings · 11 reviews

Exceptionally researched and keenly accurate to actual events, this harrowing novel expands upon the story of poet Walt Whitman, whose documented compassion for the wounded and dying soldiers of the Civil War brings him to Armory Square Hospital in Washington, DC,Through their story, the narrative is swept from the hospital to Medfield Academy in Baltimore, where the Prent...more

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Published April 1st 2009 by Staghorn Press (first published February 1st 2008)

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Mar 02, 2009

Cheryl C. rated it

· review of another edition

A unique and interesting look into a difficult time in America's history awaits readers in "Two Brothers - One North, One South" by David H. Jones.

During the American Civil War, poet Walt Whitman volunteered as a nurse in army hospitals. His concern for the poor boys torn apart by the War leads him to Armory Square Hospital in Washington D.C., where he finds young William Prentiss, a Rebel solider whose right leg has been amputated. He is not expected to survive and Whitman...moreA unique and interesting look into a difficult time in America's history awaits readers in "Two Brothers - One North, One South" by David H. Jones.

During the American Civil War, poet Walt Whitman volunteered as a nurse in army hospitals. His concern for the poor boys torn apart by the War leads him to Armory Square Hospital in Washington D.C., where he finds young William Prentiss, a Rebel solider whose right leg has been amputated. He is not expected to survive and Whitman spends many hours at his bedside listening to William's stories. In another ward of the hospital, lay William's older brother, Clifton, a Union Brevet Colonel who had been shot through the lung not far from the position of his injured Rebel brother.

After William's death, Whitman and two other Prentiss brothers--John Jr. and Melville--join Clifton at his bedside where Whitman shares William's journey fighting for the Confederacy and Clifton speaks of his experiences as a Union soldier in the War Between the States.

There is a great deal to enjoy in Two Brothers. The author uses his extensive knowledge of the Civil War to create a realistic portrait of Maryland's importance--as it was so close to the Capital the Union could not let it become part of the Confederacy but there were many families with Southern ties and sympathies who supported secession. And this is where William and Clifton Prentiss find themselves within the pages of this book: William does not feel the Federal government should interfere with the Southern way of life, but Clifton believes the Union must be preserved at all cost.

Jones brings the reader from the present (1865) back and forth through different periods of the War to create a whole picture of how the loyalties were divided, how the battles were won and lost, and at what cost. The reader follows along as William and Clifton and their family and friends experience triumph and tragedy through one of the most tumultuous times in American history.

Other memorable persons include: Hetty and Jenny Cary, whose clandestine work in support of the Confederacy is both dangerous and admired; John Prentiss, William and Clifton's father who sides with the Union during the conflict and whose untimely death leaves behind much sadness; and Elijah Carter, one of the Prentisses' freed Negro servants who signs up with the 7th United States Colored Troops and becomes a leader of his regiment.

The main challenge I had with "Two Brothers" comes in the narration. There are stories that neither Whitman nor Clifton would probably know first-hand, such as the death of Clifton's father, John--which was relayed in great detail. Since none of the Prentiss brothers was home at that time, how did anyone present at Clifton's bedside have that much detail to relay how the entire story unfolded? And since the conversations among Whitman and the Prentiss brothers are often interrupted by narratives that sometimes run multiple pages in length, the reader can often get confused over who is sharing which portion of the story. These interruptions also don't allow the reader to get to know William and Clifton as well as I would have liked. The reader gets knowledge of the War, its impact on Maryland, the battles that were fought, and the important people whose names now fill text books, but at the end of the story, I don't believe the reader will really know William and Clifton Prentiss very well.

Lastly, there is the matter of the characters often speaking of the events that unfolded in the four years of the War as if they were third party to the events instead of active participants, often relaying information that anyone who participated in the War or read newspapers of the time would already be aware of.

Overall, I found "Two Brothers" to be an enjoyable read. History buffs and military fiction fans will appreciate Jones's keen eye for detail, while historical fiction fans will be grateful for the authentic picture the author paints. Students of the Civil War will find much to like about "Two Brothers - One North, One South". Jones has certainly done his research well.
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Apr 29, 2008

Dianna rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-2008

I wish there was more to this story: the personal history gets lost in the long general scheme of events. I actually found the history of the Prentiss family very interesting - particularly Sarah and Laura, and would have loved to have seen more interaction between all of them (letters are mentioned in passing but are never quoted, not even in the appendix.) I suspect like many of the gentlemen in the book, the author also harbors an affection for Miss Hetty Cary - while I'm certainly going to s...moreI wish there was more to this story: the personal history gets lost in the long general scheme of events. I actually found the history of the Prentiss family very interesting - particularly Sarah and Laura, and would have loved to have seen more interaction between all of them (letters are mentioned in passing but are never quoted, not even in the appendix.) I suspect like many of the gentlemen in the book, the author also harbors an affection for Miss Hetty Cary - while I'm certainly going to see if there's more about her, she was all but peripheral to the main plot here and her detailed story had no explanation within the framework. Maybe a separate book on the ladies would have done as well. And, I must admit, I would have liked to know what happened to all of the other people and characters mentioned here after the war.

Certainly the framed sections felt more forced than not - oh, let's go back and cover what the girls were doing right then before this story gets ahead of itself- and the characterizations there were extremely shallow. Clifford in particular - while I liked him, it's hard to see how a man could go from refusing to see his brother because he fired on the US flag to being understanding and admiring his Southern convictions. Milton came across as the mockery of a uptight minister - even if he was one or not, it wasn't very convincing. I had no feel for John whatsoever - while Whitman is simply the all knowing narrator - and goodness knows how. (edit: I admit wondering about the Amazon reviews for this book which are all so positive and state that Whitman is the main character. Did we read the same book?)

I'm not one to criticize a book for its writing usually, but I admit that for Civil War fiction, this had pretty stiff competition - and this didn't make the cut. The dialog was stilted and artificial, while it was difficult to follow who was the narrator at present - or occasionally even what side we were viewing at the time! That said, while I was expecting fiction rather than non-fiction, the more historical sections showed a lot of research - and thankfully avoiding a good number of the usual stories told about various events and people (well, I can think of one). I'd like to know more about the sources used - or a map and a list of battles. This would have made for a great non-fiction book, but alas, it proved not to be a good work of fiction.(less)

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May 24, 2010

Barbara Smith rated it

· review of another edition

"Two Brothers: One North, One South" by David H. Jones is chock full of history. I love books based on historical truth and this book fits the bill. This is a novel about the Civil War and how it tore apart our country, the states and families. Walt Whitman, who befriends one of the brothers, is center to the telling of the story, which is based on a Maryland family dealing with mixed loyalties.

Two of the four brothers are injured in battle and end up in the same hospi...more

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Feb 22, 2010

Stacey rated it

· review of another edition

Two Brothers: One North, One South
By David H. Jones
Publisher:Staghorn Press
Published: 2008
ISBN:9780979689857
Pages:303

This book takes the reader on a journey through the Civil War period allowing them to visualize—the pain, anger and pride—of the characters. It is a great depiction of such a difficult time in our history. I haven’t come across a book of historical fiction that has caught my eye before Two Brothers: One North, One South.

Mr. Jo...more

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May 22, 2009

Lila Gustavus rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, own-it

Two Brothers is a story of two men, William and Clifton Prentiss, brothers alienated by the Civil War and their personal beliefs. It starts with a famous literary figure, Walt Whitman attending to William Prentiss in Armory State Hospital in Washington D.C. William lost his leg at a battle four days before the Confederate Army capitulation and subsequent end of the war. The surgery turned out to be unsuccessful and William dies after a couple of weeks of struggle. During those weeks, Whitman is ...moreTwo Brothers is a story of two men, William and Clifton Prentiss, brothers alienated by the Civil War and their personal beliefs. It starts with a famous literary figure, Walt Whitman attending to William Prentiss in Armory State Hospital in Washington D.C. William lost his leg at a battle four days before the Confederate Army capitulation and subsequent end of the war. The surgery turned out to be unsuccessful and William dies after a couple of weeks of struggle. During those weeks, Whitman is the only person who faithfully visits the younger Prentiss brother and listens with sadness and rapture to William’s history. William Prentiss was a Rebel soldier from Maryland. At the outbreak of war, he shunned the authority of his state and the Union and joined the secessionists in Virginia. His older brother, Clifton stayed loyal to President Lincoln and to the Union. This estrangement is a documented fact, not fiction as well as the brothers’ first and final reunion on the battlefield where they were both mortally wounded. Two Brothers is a form of compiled recollections of the wartime events as told by William to Whitman and by Clifton to Whitman and to his two remaining brothers, Melville and John who stayed at Clifton’s hospital bedside until the whole story was told.
I have many mixed feelings about this book. I give a lot credit to the author, Mr. Jones for writing an incredibly well documented detailed story. Not being a writer myself, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to write such a book that combines true events with fiction. However, even though Two Brothers wasn’t a bad novel, it wasn’t unfortunately a great historical epic either (I use the epic comparison because this book certainly had that potential). I must say that too many parts of the novel read like non-fiction rather than historical fiction, and because I was not prepared for that, I became a little put off by it. The author’s knowledge of the Civil War and events that took place in Maryland on the outset of it is evident. I learned a lot of interesting and useful facts of which I hadn’t known before, including the fact that Maryland was so greatly conflicted about its loyalties. Also, its unique position as one of the Border States where fathers were fighting against sons and brothers set against brothers, gave me a deeper understanding of how tragic the Civil War truly was. Subsequently, the way all this was conveyed on the pages of Two Brothers made me wonder whether Mr. Jones would have been better off just writing a non-fiction book.
There were also parts of the book that I did enjoy. I was surprised and glad to read about the Cary sisters, the role in aiding the Confederates agenda, and the gender shift that occurred in the South during the war. It was very captivating to read about the central role of women taking strong stands and fighting the war in the backyards of their households. I think that the story of Hetty Cary and other Confederate women would make a fine novel of its own. As a matter of fact, Hetty was portrayed in such a positive way that I just had to find out what she really looked like and whether she indeed was of breathtaking beauty to which no man was resistant.
All and all, if you are a fan of ballistic fiction with plenty of detailed descriptions of military events, you will most likely appreciate this novel a lot more than I did. Otherwise, it’s still an interesting book to read, it did encourage me to read more of the Civil War novels but because of dry descriptions of battles and maneuvers I kept losing focus and interest more often than I’d have liked.(less)

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Sep 19, 2009

Kelly rated it

· review of another edition

This is the first Civil War book I have read and I was confused for most of it. I was never quite sure who was who in each battle description (n vs s)and each page cited a new general, captain, sarg....
I realized about half way thorough that almost all battles described were from the South's perspective and this gave me some insight to "the other side"
The good part of the book were the scenes in the Hospital where three brothers were speaking with Walt Whitman about the ...more

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Oct 03, 2009

Terri rated it

· review of another edition

I felt the dialogue was very stiff, unnatural. If you are interested in detailed information about various battles of the Civil War you will not be disappointed. And the story about the Prentiss family and the two brothers wounded on the same battlefield, but on different sides of the war, was interesting. I was expecting more information about this family and less about the specifics of numeorus battles. The book does make me want to find out more about Walt Whitman's life.

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Apr 08, 2009

Herb rated it

· review of another edition

A fiction book with Walt Whitman as the a central figure in the telling of the story.
Well written and very well documented. I felt that the author spend too much time on some of the characters that did not really influence the events of the time. Went light on the slaughter and killing of the battles.

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Mar 13, 2011

Dave Mcgowan rated it

· review of another edition

An extremely well researched story and enlightening along with entertaining for the reader. There are a few stumbling blocks caused by the author including factual information (which I enjoyed) but wasn't necessary to keep the story rolling and sometime interfered with continuety.

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Feb 07, 2012

Tyler Nugent rated it

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A very in Depth book about the American Civil War. Great if you like history, but can be a bit long. Definitely a good read.

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http://myadventuresinhistory.blogspot.co... (Review by a fellow Blogger)

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About David H. Jones

David H. Jones, born and raised in West Virginia, has been a lifelong student of the Civil War. His research took him into the swamps of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, to rediscover the lost location where a pivotal event in the book took place. A graduate of Kentucky Military Institute and Babson College, former Navy officer, and entrepreneur, he currently lives and writes in Los Angeles, California...more

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