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Young Nate Starbuck, the son of a famous Boston abolitionist preacher, flees the North after helping a femme fatale steal money she claimed was hers. When Richmond landowner Washington Faulconer snatches him from the grip of a Yankee-hating mob, Nate is both grateful to and awed by his idealistic rescuer. He agrees to join the newly formed Faulconer's Legion--even though it means fighting against his native North. But Nate's dilemma is only one of many within the Legion. Faulconer's own son cannot bring himself to fight, while his daughter's cheating fiance plots for control of the family fortune. As they come together to march into battle, the men of Faulconer's Legion are prepared to start a war, but they aren't ready for how they--and the nation--will be forever changed by the oaths they have sworn for their beloved South.
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First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
Bernard Cornwell
536 books19.1k followersCornwell was born in London in 1944. His father was a Canadian airman, and his mother, who was English, a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted and brought up in Essex by the Wiggins family, who were members of the Peculiar People, a strict Protestant sect who banned frivolity of all kinds and even medicine. After he left them, he changed his name to his birth mother's maiden name, Cornwell.
Cornwell was sent away to Monkton Combe School, attended the University of London, and after graduating, worked as a teacher. He attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times but was rejected on the grounds of myopia.
He then joined BBC's Nationwide and was promoted to become head of current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland. He then joined Thames Television as editor of Thames News. He relocated to the United States in 1980 after marrying an American. Unable to get a green card, he started writing novels, as this did not require a work permit.
As a child, Cornwell loved the novels of C.S. Forester, chronicling the adventures of fictional British naval officer Horatio Hornblower during the Napoleonic Wars, and was surprised to find there were no such novels following Lord Wellington's campaign on land. Motivated by the need to support himself in the U.S. through writing, Cornwell decided to write such a series. He named his chief protagonist Richard Sharpe, a rifleman involved in most major battles of the Peninsular War.
Cornwell wanted to start the series with the Siege of Badajoz but decided instead to start with a couple of "warm-up" novels. These were Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Gold, both published in 1981. Sharpe's Eagle was picked up by a publisher, and Cornwell got a three-book deal. He went on to tell the story of Badajoz in his third Sharpe novel, Sharpe's Company, published in 1982.
Cornwell and wife Judy co-wrote a series of novels, published under the pseudonym "Susannah Kells". These were A Crowning Mercy, published in 1983, Fallen Angels in 1984, and Coat of Arms (aka The Aristocrats) in 1986. (Cornwell's strict Protestant upbringing informed the background of A Crowning Mercy, which took place during the English Civil War.) In 1987, he also published Redcoat, an American Revolutionary War novel set in Philadelphia during its 1777 occupation by the British.
After publishing eight books in his ongoing Sharpe series, Cornwell was approached by a production company interested in adapting them for television. The producers asked him to write a prequel to give them a starting point to the series. They also requested that the story feature a large role for Spanish characters to secure co-funding from Spain. The result was Sharpe’s Rifles, published in 1987, and a series of Sharpe television films staring Sean Bean.
A series of contemporary thrillers with sailing as a background and common themes followed: Wildtrack published in 1988, Sea Lord (aka Killer's Wake) in 1989, Crackdown in 1990, Stormchild in 1991, and Scoundrel, a political thriller, in 1992.
In June 2006, Cornwell was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's 80th Birthday Honours List.
Cornwell's latest work, Azincourt, was released in the UK in October 2008. The protagonist is an archer who participates in the Battle of Agincourt, another devastating defeat suffered by the French in the Hundred Years War. However, Cornwell has stated that it will not be about Thomas of Hookton from The Grail Quest or any of his relatives.
Cornwell was sent away to Monkton Combe School, attended the University of London, and after graduating, worked as a teacher. He attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times but was rejected on the grounds of myopia.
He then joined BBC's Nationwide and was promoted to become head of current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland. He then joined Thames Television as editor of Thames News. He relocated to the United States in 1980 after marrying an American. Unable to get a green card, he started writing novels, as this did not require a work permit.
As a child, Cornwell loved the novels of C.S. Forester, chronicling the adventures of fictional British naval officer Horatio Hornblower during the Napoleonic Wars, and was surprised to find there were no such novels following Lord Wellington's campaign on land. Motivated by the need to support himself in the U.S. through writing, Cornwell decided to write such a series. He named his chief protagonist Richard Sharpe, a rifleman involved in most major battles of the Peninsular War.
Cornwell wanted to start the series with the Siege of Badajoz but decided instead to start with a couple of "warm-up" novels. These were Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Gold, both published in 1981. Sharpe's Eagle was picked up by a publisher, and Cornwell got a three-book deal. He went on to tell the story of Badajoz in his third Sharpe novel, Sharpe's Company, published in 1982.
Cornwell and wife Judy co-wrote a series of novels, published under the pseudonym "Susannah Kells". These were A Crowning Mercy, published in 1983, Fallen Angels in 1984, and Coat of Arms (aka The Aristocrats) in 1986. (Cornwell's strict Protestant upbringing informed the background of A Crowning Mercy, which took place during the English Civil War.) In 1987, he also published Redcoat, an American Revolutionary War novel set in Philadelphia during its 1777 occupation by the British.
After publishing eight books in his ongoing Sharpe series, Cornwell was approached by a production company interested in adapting them for television. The producers asked him to write a prequel to give them a starting point to the series. They also requested that the story feature a large role for Spanish characters to secure co-funding from Spain. The result was Sharpe’s Rifles, published in 1987, and a series of Sharpe television films staring Sean Bean.
A series of contemporary thrillers with sailing as a background and common themes followed: Wildtrack published in 1988, Sea Lord (aka Killer's Wake) in 1989, Crackdown in 1990, Stormchild in 1991, and Scoundrel, a political thriller, in 1992.
In June 2006, Cornwell was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's 80th Birthday Honours List.
Cornwell's latest work, Azincourt, was released in the UK in October 2008. The protagonist is an archer who participates in the Battle of Agincourt, another devastating defeat suffered by the French in the Hundred Years War. However, Cornwell has stated that it will not be about Thomas of Hookton from The Grail Quest or any of his relatives.
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August 30, 2019
Book 1 in the Starbuck series.
This series of books is about the America Civil War and this book covers the Battle of Bull Run.
Yet again Bernard Cornwell proves to be the consummate Historical Fiction writer.
His fictional hero here is Nate Starbuck who hails from the Northern States but finds himself fighting in the Confederate Army. This state of affairs arises because Nat is trying to create his own identity other than the one that has been set out by his tyrannical, bible bashing father. Torn between his loyalty to his northern states and his desire to be free of his father Nate is in turmoil but his need to be free of his father wins out and so Nate throws caution to the wind and joins The Falkner Legion.
What follows is, at times, farcical but at its core the brutality of war is ever present. The brutality is alleviated to a degree by the farce that is the Falkner’s Legion. The Legion is not an army, as such, but just a collection of, for the most part, farmers and their sons and trying to turn this lot into soldiers has more than its share of comedy.
There is everything here that you would expect to find, villains, intrigue, amoral women and the thrill of battle.
So marching with Nate Starbuck as he tries to prove his manhood whilst fighting on, what should be for him, the wrong side makes for highly entertaining reading.
A recommended 4 star read.
This series of books is about the America Civil War and this book covers the Battle of Bull Run.
Yet again Bernard Cornwell proves to be the consummate Historical Fiction writer.
His fictional hero here is Nate Starbuck who hails from the Northern States but finds himself fighting in the Confederate Army. This state of affairs arises because Nat is trying to create his own identity other than the one that has been set out by his tyrannical, bible bashing father. Torn between his loyalty to his northern states and his desire to be free of his father Nate is in turmoil but his need to be free of his father wins out and so Nate throws caution to the wind and joins The Falkner Legion.
What follows is, at times, farcical but at its core the brutality of war is ever present. The brutality is alleviated to a degree by the farce that is the Falkner’s Legion. The Legion is not an army, as such, but just a collection of, for the most part, farmers and their sons and trying to turn this lot into soldiers has more than its share of comedy.
There is everything here that you would expect to find, villains, intrigue, amoral women and the thrill of battle.
So marching with Nate Starbuck as he tries to prove his manhood whilst fighting on, what should be for him, the wrong side makes for highly entertaining reading.
A recommended 4 star read.
![Profile Image for Ed [Redacted].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1429513592i%2F3968676.jpg&w=128&q=75)
July 12, 2012
This is the first Cornwell book I have read. I am told I should start with the Sharpe series but I fell into this one so there you have it. I was immediately drawn in by the story. Nate Starbuck (I thought about coffee constantly during this book) is a yankee who hates his crazy, abolitionist preacher father. He steals money and flees to Virginia with his floozy girlfriend who immediately takes the money and leaves Nate. As it happens, Nate lands in Richmond just after the fall of Ft Sumter (For those of you non US types, this is more or less the opening battle of the US Civil War) To say the least, this is not the greatest time to be a Bostonian in Virginia. Nate is saved from a date with some hot tar by respected landowner Washington Faulconer, the father of his college friend. Faulconer, it seems, is forming up a "legion" to defend his beloved Virginia from the coming Yankee apocalypse. Nate joins the legion and is commissioned a lieutenant.
At this point, we enter the middle third of the book which was a plodding, boring slog where you could see characters being slotted into the tracks they were going to take for the rest of the series. Only Cornwell's sterling reputation caused me to continue.
After surviving the middle third of the book, I was rewarded by the first battle of Mannassas. Cornwell really shone in his battle scenes. They were exciting, fairly realistically grim and made the book well worth reading.
Without the boring middle, this would be a 4.5 to 5 star book. as it is it gets a solid 3.5, recommended with reservations.
At this point, we enter the middle third of the book which was a plodding, boring slog where you could see characters being slotted into the tracks they were going to take for the rest of the series. Only Cornwell's sterling reputation caused me to continue.
After surviving the middle third of the book, I was rewarded by the first battle of Mannassas. Cornwell really shone in his battle scenes. They were exciting, fairly realistically grim and made the book well worth reading.
Without the boring middle, this would be a 4.5 to 5 star book. as it is it gets a solid 3.5, recommended with reservations.
October 5, 2021
Read this book in 2005, and its the 1st part of the "Nathaniel Starbuck" chronicles, which is set during the American Civil War.
The historical details concerning this period of American history are very well researched and used within this series of books, of which this is the first one, which is set in the year AD 1861.
The main protagonist of this series is, Nathaniel Starbuck, originally from Boston in the North, but now finding himself in the South and being harassed by a hating-Yankee mob, a Richmond landowner by the name of, Washington Faulconer, recues him, and Nate feels obliged to join the Faulconer's Legion as an act of gratitude.
By turning his back to his native North there's no going back now for Nate, only the certainty that he must fight against his former native North.
Besides leading his Legion for the South, Faulconer has domestic problems, with his son who refuses to fight and with his daughter's fiancé who plots for control of the family fortune, and in this domestic turmoil Nate must find a way to stay out of this kind of trouble and focus on the great battle that is due to come.
What will follow is the ultimate Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas, which way you may look at it) between the South and the North, and what the soldiers for the South will witness in this first Battle in the American Civil War is courage, cowardice, humanity, cruelty, gore and death, so much so that it will shape their minds into good or bad, and the oaths they have sworn will also bear a great deal of strain on the conscience of each person for the forthcoming future, on and off the battlefield.
Very much recommended, for this is a splendid start of the Nathaniel Starbuck series, and that's why I like to call this first episode: "A Very Entertaining American Civil War Begin"!
The historical details concerning this period of American history are very well researched and used within this series of books, of which this is the first one, which is set in the year AD 1861.
The main protagonist of this series is, Nathaniel Starbuck, originally from Boston in the North, but now finding himself in the South and being harassed by a hating-Yankee mob, a Richmond landowner by the name of, Washington Faulconer, recues him, and Nate feels obliged to join the Faulconer's Legion as an act of gratitude.
By turning his back to his native North there's no going back now for Nate, only the certainty that he must fight against his former native North.
Besides leading his Legion for the South, Faulconer has domestic problems, with his son who refuses to fight and with his daughter's fiancé who plots for control of the family fortune, and in this domestic turmoil Nate must find a way to stay out of this kind of trouble and focus on the great battle that is due to come.
What will follow is the ultimate Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas, which way you may look at it) between the South and the North, and what the soldiers for the South will witness in this first Battle in the American Civil War is courage, cowardice, humanity, cruelty, gore and death, so much so that it will shape their minds into good or bad, and the oaths they have sworn will also bear a great deal of strain on the conscience of each person for the forthcoming future, on and off the battlefield.
Very much recommended, for this is a splendid start of the Nathaniel Starbuck series, and that's why I like to call this first episode: "A Very Entertaining American Civil War Begin"!
September 1, 2016
Review in Portuguese from Desbravando Livros:
Só pra variar um pouquinho, mais uma resenha do autor Bernard Cornwell aqui no blog. Esse é o 21º (!) livro do autor que eu desbravo e simplesmente não consigo parar. Minha meta é ler todos os livros do mestre até morrer, então tenho um bom tempo e muitas histórias ótimas pela frente.
A bola da vez foi Rebelde, primeiro livro d'As Crônicas de Starbuck, lançado no finalzinho de 2014 aqui no Brasil pelo Grupo Editorial Record. Logo no primeiro capítulos somos apresentados a Nathaniel Starbuck, o protagonista dessa história sangrenta que dividiu os Estados Unidos em dois.
Em 1861, quando vários estados escravagistas do Sul declararam secessão e formaram os "Estados Confederados da América", ou "Confederação, fazendo oposição aos demais estados, que ficaram conhecidos como "União" ou "Norte", ninguém imaginaria que o conflito ficaria conhecido como um dos mais sangrentos da História. A Guerra de Secessão, como foi chamada, durou quatro anos, até 1865, e deixou mais de 600 mil mortos em seu rastro. É no meio desse fuzuê todo que Nathaniel Starbuck se encontra e teremos a história narrada pelo seu ponto de vista, em terceira pessoa.
O estopim de tudo foi a tomada do Forte Sumter em abril de 1861, na Carolina do Sul, pelas forças armadas da Confederação. O que parecia apenas uma crise no início do governo do então presidente republicano Abraham Lincoln acabava de se transformar em uma temida guerra civil.
Após ter largado os estudos para seguir uma jovem e ver essa mesma o abandonar, Nathaniel, um nortista nascido em Boston, filho do famoso reverendo Elial Starbuck, chega até a cidade de Richmond, na Virgínia (estado sulista), à procura de Adam, seu amigo de infância e filho do coronel Washington Faulconer. Ao chegar em Richmond, é rapidamente identificado como um nortista e encurralado pelos civis, só sendo poupado quando o próprio Washington aparece.
Nesse primeiro capítulo já podemos ter uma amostra do clima de tensão existente entre os estados americanos. Uma mistura perigosa de xenofobia e ódio crescentes, muito próxima de explodir.
"Como poderia haver uma guerra nessa terra boa? Esses eram os Estados Unidos da América, o apogeu da luta do homem por um governo perfeito e uma sociedade temente a Deus, e os únicos inimigos jamais vistos nessa terra feliz foram os ingleses e os índios, e esses dois inimigos, graças à providência divina e à força americana, haviam sido derrotados."
Voltando ao que interessa, descobrimos que o coronel Washington Faulconer está montando uma legião para lutar na guerra, e Starbuck acaba sendo inevitalmente recrutado para a mesma, onde começa a trabalhar para o dono da Faulconer Court House, condado da Virgínia.
É só a partir daí que a história começa a andar num ritmo mais rápido, com personagens novos sendo apresentados, como Anna Faulconer, filha do coronel, e Ethan Ridley, seu prometido. Sally e Thomas Trusllow, outros dois personagens, também terão papéis importantes na vida de Nathaniel. Preste atenção neles. Outros também poderia ser mencionados, mas farei isso mais adiante.
Ao contrário dos outros personagens principais de Bernard Cornwell, como Uhtred, Derfel e Richard Sharpe, Nathaniel Starbuck não é um daqueles protagonistas que começamos a gostar desde as primeiras páginas. Remoído pelo seu passado e atormentado por pesadelos, Starbuck tem receio em cometer pecados que possam afrontar o seu Deus, e isso é algo bem recorrente em todos os capítulos desse primeiro livro da série, onde ele deixa de tomar certas atitudes que lhe parecem corretas num primeiro momento por causa do seu temor religioso e uma possível punição divina.
Sem contar que ele, como nortista lutando pelo Sul, estará enfrentando pessoas do seu "país".
A trama toda vai se construindo de uma maneira regular e sem pressa, chegando ao seu ápice na Batalha de Manassas, próxima ao riacho Bull Run, onde os exércitos Confederados e da União se encontrarão para um primeiro embate sangrento. Torcemos por alguns personagens e aguardamos ansiosamente pela morte de outros, um misto de empatia e até mesmo admiração por aqueles que fizeram parte de um momento histórico, não só para a formação de um país, mas para o mundo.
É possível sentir o cheiro da pólvora que fica no ar após os tiros de canhão e disparos das pistolas, a agonia de soldados feridos tentando se agarrar ao último resquício de vida. Bernard Cornwell é um mestre em fazer isso e aqui também podemos perceber a sua habilidade em narrar batalhas, mesmo que eu, pessoalmente, prefira a boa e velha luta de guerreiros com espadas e escudos.
"Se você cresce no campo, vive ouvindo falar do circo. Todas as maravilhas do circo. Os shows de aberrações e os números com animais, incluindo o elefante, e todas as crianças ficam perguntando o que é o elefante, mas você não consegue explicar, até que um dia leva seus filhos e eles veem. A primeira batalha de um homem é assim. Igual a ver o elefante. Alguns homens mijam na calça, alguns correm feito o diabo, alguns fazem o inimigo fugir."
Confesso até que, num primeiro momento, nem me interessava muito pela Guerra de Secessão, visto que na escola é um assunto debatido muito rapidamente e sem o aprofundamento necessário, mas agora, com outra visão, quero entender mais sobre como essa guerra afetou toda a nação norte-americana. Afinal, temos a oportunidade de ler um período desses na escrita de B. Cornwell.
Rebelde foi uma leitura bem aguardável, mas guardarei a 5ª estrelinha para os próximos livros, que pretendo desbravar no próximo ano. Traidor ainda precisa ser comprado e os seguintes lançados aqui no Brasil, mas quem sabe eu não parto para a leitura deles em inglês mesmo? Só o tempo dirá!
Só pra variar um pouquinho, mais uma resenha do autor Bernard Cornwell aqui no blog. Esse é o 21º (!) livro do autor que eu desbravo e simplesmente não consigo parar. Minha meta é ler todos os livros do mestre até morrer, então tenho um bom tempo e muitas histórias ótimas pela frente.
A bola da vez foi Rebelde, primeiro livro d'As Crônicas de Starbuck, lançado no finalzinho de 2014 aqui no Brasil pelo Grupo Editorial Record. Logo no primeiro capítulos somos apresentados a Nathaniel Starbuck, o protagonista dessa história sangrenta que dividiu os Estados Unidos em dois.
Em 1861, quando vários estados escravagistas do Sul declararam secessão e formaram os "Estados Confederados da América", ou "Confederação, fazendo oposição aos demais estados, que ficaram conhecidos como "União" ou "Norte", ninguém imaginaria que o conflito ficaria conhecido como um dos mais sangrentos da História. A Guerra de Secessão, como foi chamada, durou quatro anos, até 1865, e deixou mais de 600 mil mortos em seu rastro. É no meio desse fuzuê todo que Nathaniel Starbuck se encontra e teremos a história narrada pelo seu ponto de vista, em terceira pessoa.
O estopim de tudo foi a tomada do Forte Sumter em abril de 1861, na Carolina do Sul, pelas forças armadas da Confederação. O que parecia apenas uma crise no início do governo do então presidente republicano Abraham Lincoln acabava de se transformar em uma temida guerra civil.
Após ter largado os estudos para seguir uma jovem e ver essa mesma o abandonar, Nathaniel, um nortista nascido em Boston, filho do famoso reverendo Elial Starbuck, chega até a cidade de Richmond, na Virgínia (estado sulista), à procura de Adam, seu amigo de infância e filho do coronel Washington Faulconer. Ao chegar em Richmond, é rapidamente identificado como um nortista e encurralado pelos civis, só sendo poupado quando o próprio Washington aparece.
Nesse primeiro capítulo já podemos ter uma amostra do clima de tensão existente entre os estados americanos. Uma mistura perigosa de xenofobia e ódio crescentes, muito próxima de explodir.
"Como poderia haver uma guerra nessa terra boa? Esses eram os Estados Unidos da América, o apogeu da luta do homem por um governo perfeito e uma sociedade temente a Deus, e os únicos inimigos jamais vistos nessa terra feliz foram os ingleses e os índios, e esses dois inimigos, graças à providência divina e à força americana, haviam sido derrotados."
Voltando ao que interessa, descobrimos que o coronel Washington Faulconer está montando uma legião para lutar na guerra, e Starbuck acaba sendo inevitalmente recrutado para a mesma, onde começa a trabalhar para o dono da Faulconer Court House, condado da Virgínia.
É só a partir daí que a história começa a andar num ritmo mais rápido, com personagens novos sendo apresentados, como Anna Faulconer, filha do coronel, e Ethan Ridley, seu prometido. Sally e Thomas Trusllow, outros dois personagens, também terão papéis importantes na vida de Nathaniel. Preste atenção neles. Outros também poderia ser mencionados, mas farei isso mais adiante.
Ao contrário dos outros personagens principais de Bernard Cornwell, como Uhtred, Derfel e Richard Sharpe, Nathaniel Starbuck não é um daqueles protagonistas que começamos a gostar desde as primeiras páginas. Remoído pelo seu passado e atormentado por pesadelos, Starbuck tem receio em cometer pecados que possam afrontar o seu Deus, e isso é algo bem recorrente em todos os capítulos desse primeiro livro da série, onde ele deixa de tomar certas atitudes que lhe parecem corretas num primeiro momento por causa do seu temor religioso e uma possível punição divina.
Sem contar que ele, como nortista lutando pelo Sul, estará enfrentando pessoas do seu "país".
A trama toda vai se construindo de uma maneira regular e sem pressa, chegando ao seu ápice na Batalha de Manassas, próxima ao riacho Bull Run, onde os exércitos Confederados e da União se encontrarão para um primeiro embate sangrento. Torcemos por alguns personagens e aguardamos ansiosamente pela morte de outros, um misto de empatia e até mesmo admiração por aqueles que fizeram parte de um momento histórico, não só para a formação de um país, mas para o mundo.
É possível sentir o cheiro da pólvora que fica no ar após os tiros de canhão e disparos das pistolas, a agonia de soldados feridos tentando se agarrar ao último resquício de vida. Bernard Cornwell é um mestre em fazer isso e aqui também podemos perceber a sua habilidade em narrar batalhas, mesmo que eu, pessoalmente, prefira a boa e velha luta de guerreiros com espadas e escudos.
"Se você cresce no campo, vive ouvindo falar do circo. Todas as maravilhas do circo. Os shows de aberrações e os números com animais, incluindo o elefante, e todas as crianças ficam perguntando o que é o elefante, mas você não consegue explicar, até que um dia leva seus filhos e eles veem. A primeira batalha de um homem é assim. Igual a ver o elefante. Alguns homens mijam na calça, alguns correm feito o diabo, alguns fazem o inimigo fugir."
Confesso até que, num primeiro momento, nem me interessava muito pela Guerra de Secessão, visto que na escola é um assunto debatido muito rapidamente e sem o aprofundamento necessário, mas agora, com outra visão, quero entender mais sobre como essa guerra afetou toda a nação norte-americana. Afinal, temos a oportunidade de ler um período desses na escrita de B. Cornwell.
Rebelde foi uma leitura bem aguardável, mas guardarei a 5ª estrelinha para os próximos livros, que pretendo desbravar no próximo ano. Traidor ainda precisa ser comprado e os seguintes lançados aqui no Brasil, mas quem sabe eu não parto para a leitura deles em inglês mesmo? Só o tempo dirá!
March 6, 2010
Rebel is the first in the Nathaniel Starbuck series. Cornwell is best known for the Richard Sharpe series, but he has also written novels about Stonehenge and the Arthurian legend (all on my must-read list). The Starbuck series follows Nate Starbuck, son of Elial Joseph Starbuck, a radical abolitionist preacher, to the South, where he enlists in the Faulconer Legion, more from antagonism toward his father than from any allegiance to states’ rights or slavery.
Nate, while at Yale Seminary, had become enamored of a lithe (lithe, always lithe) young actress, who cons him into helping her rob the owner of the theater where she is performing. They flee together to Virginia just as Fort Sumter falls. She is met at the station by her lover and dumps Nate who, recognized as a Yankee, is about to be tarred and feathered by a mob, when he is summarily rescued by Washington Faulconer, an incredibly wealthy Virginia scion. Faulconer’s money was all made in the stock market and railroads, so his manumission of household slaves hardly represented much commitment to any particular position on the slavery issue. He takes Nate on first as his secretary, then as a lieutenant in his new legion. Elial is incensed at his son’s betrayal of abolitionist values.
Elial is the classic zealot who insists one can recognize a Southerner on sight because of their ape-like features stemming from poor breeding, hence their addiction to slavery. Elial glories in the destruction and blood of the battlefield and hands out biblical tracts to dying men, ignoring their pleas for water. Thaddeus Bird, Faulconer’s brother-in-law, is one of the funniest characters, and he nails Faulconer’s braggadocio and arrogance. He recognizes Nate's valuable qualities. "He can think, Adam, and that's a distressingly rare talent among young men. Most of you believe that it is sufficient to merely agree with the prevailing sentiment, which is of course what dogs and churchgoers do. Starbuck has a mind. . . . and he's endowed with a talent for cruelty."
Another favorite quote of mine attributed to his famous general grandfather is: "War is much like making love to a woman, an activity full of delights, but none of them predictable, and the best of them capable of inflicting grievous injury on a man.” Vignettes of famous people abound. The image of Nathaniel Banks, the Union general at Second Manassas, filled with self-importance, who wanted nothing better than to run for president, preening himself in front of his sycophants until he realizes things are not going so well against Stonewall is a minor classic. Belvidere Delaney, the Southern attorney who presciently realizes the North will win the war and who volunteers to spy for the north is another wonderfully drawn character. Another great character is the foul-mouthed swear-you-under-the-table Nathan Evans, a Confederate colonel. For example: "Faulconer doesn't have men, boy, he has white-livered fairies, Milksops, Mudsills, Black-assed, shadbellied, shit-faced, pussy-hearted trash. . . [and:] Boston, a shit hole. A piss hole. A city of puking crap, Christ, but I hate Boston. A city of Black-assed Republican trash. A city of interfering, hymn-singing, lickbelly women who are no damned good for anything." Let's see Tony Soprano top that!
Cornwell must have done considerable research. One scene has all the qualities of verisimilitude and too delightful not to quote. A surgeon has just amputated a Northern soldier’s leg and the patient won’t come up from under the chloroform haze despite the ammonia spirits the assistant is waving under his nose. “ ‘Give me the chloroform,’ the doctor ordered, then took a scalpel to the patient’s torn trousers and cut back the tattered, bloody cloth to reveal the man’s genitals. ‘Behold a miracle,’ the doctor announced and poured a trickle of chloroform onto the unconscious man’s testicles. The man seemed to go into instant spasm and tried to sit up. ‘Frozen balls,’ the doctor said happily, ‘known in the profession as the Lazarus effect.’ ” The book culminates with the Battle of Manassas, during which Starbuck discovers his true vocation, that of a soldier. The battle scenes, while horribly realistic, are less interesting than the characters surrounding Nate. Nate, having met the “elephant” realizes that even though terrified, it appeals to him. He learned that “war was a gigantic game of chance, a huge gamble, a denial of all predestination and prudence.” The adventures continue in the second volume, entitled Copperhead.
Nate, while at Yale Seminary, had become enamored of a lithe (lithe, always lithe) young actress, who cons him into helping her rob the owner of the theater where she is performing. They flee together to Virginia just as Fort Sumter falls. She is met at the station by her lover and dumps Nate who, recognized as a Yankee, is about to be tarred and feathered by a mob, when he is summarily rescued by Washington Faulconer, an incredibly wealthy Virginia scion. Faulconer’s money was all made in the stock market and railroads, so his manumission of household slaves hardly represented much commitment to any particular position on the slavery issue. He takes Nate on first as his secretary, then as a lieutenant in his new legion. Elial is incensed at his son’s betrayal of abolitionist values.
Elial is the classic zealot who insists one can recognize a Southerner on sight because of their ape-like features stemming from poor breeding, hence their addiction to slavery. Elial glories in the destruction and blood of the battlefield and hands out biblical tracts to dying men, ignoring their pleas for water. Thaddeus Bird, Faulconer’s brother-in-law, is one of the funniest characters, and he nails Faulconer’s braggadocio and arrogance. He recognizes Nate's valuable qualities. "He can think, Adam, and that's a distressingly rare talent among young men. Most of you believe that it is sufficient to merely agree with the prevailing sentiment, which is of course what dogs and churchgoers do. Starbuck has a mind. . . . and he's endowed with a talent for cruelty."
Another favorite quote of mine attributed to his famous general grandfather is: "War is much like making love to a woman, an activity full of delights, but none of them predictable, and the best of them capable of inflicting grievous injury on a man.” Vignettes of famous people abound. The image of Nathaniel Banks, the Union general at Second Manassas, filled with self-importance, who wanted nothing better than to run for president, preening himself in front of his sycophants until he realizes things are not going so well against Stonewall is a minor classic. Belvidere Delaney, the Southern attorney who presciently realizes the North will win the war and who volunteers to spy for the north is another wonderfully drawn character. Another great character is the foul-mouthed swear-you-under-the-table Nathan Evans, a Confederate colonel. For example: "Faulconer doesn't have men, boy, he has white-livered fairies, Milksops, Mudsills, Black-assed, shadbellied, shit-faced, pussy-hearted trash. . . [and:] Boston, a shit hole. A piss hole. A city of puking crap, Christ, but I hate Boston. A city of Black-assed Republican trash. A city of interfering, hymn-singing, lickbelly women who are no damned good for anything." Let's see Tony Soprano top that!
Cornwell must have done considerable research. One scene has all the qualities of verisimilitude and too delightful not to quote. A surgeon has just amputated a Northern soldier’s leg and the patient won’t come up from under the chloroform haze despite the ammonia spirits the assistant is waving under his nose. “ ‘Give me the chloroform,’ the doctor ordered, then took a scalpel to the patient’s torn trousers and cut back the tattered, bloody cloth to reveal the man’s genitals. ‘Behold a miracle,’ the doctor announced and poured a trickle of chloroform onto the unconscious man’s testicles. The man seemed to go into instant spasm and tried to sit up. ‘Frozen balls,’ the doctor said happily, ‘known in the profession as the Lazarus effect.’ ” The book culminates with the Battle of Manassas, during which Starbuck discovers his true vocation, that of a soldier. The battle scenes, while horribly realistic, are less interesting than the characters surrounding Nate. Nate, having met the “elephant” realizes that even though terrified, it appeals to him. He learned that “war was a gigantic game of chance, a huge gamble, a denial of all predestination and prudence.” The adventures continue in the second volume, entitled Copperhead.
September 1, 2020
I am quite a fan of Bernard Cornwell , one of the great historical novelists of today,. his books are both easy to read and difficult to put down, I have not yet read the Sharpe series, but have read the Saxon Chronicles, The first book in the Warlord Series, the Grailquest series, , Stonehenge, and the historical detective novel, Gallows Thief.
This book, the first in The Starbuck Chronicles did not disappoint. It is both grittingly realistic and exciting. It explains how Nathaniel Starbuck, the son of a fiery anti-slavery preacher, (who treated his own children no better than the slaves he championed)came to fight for the Confederacy It traces Starbuck's development from a less than confident seminary graduate to a crack soldier. It brings the American Civil War and the America of the time to life, focusing on characters from across the social spectrum.
Starbuck serves the father of his best friend, Washington Faulconer, a wealthy Virginian landowner who raises the Faulconer legion, various other friends and foes populate the novel including the antagonist Ethan Ridley, who Starbuck vows to murder following his cruel betrayal of the beautiful girl from a humble background Sally Truslow.
The narrative in interesting and it is a treat for every history buff and a vivid tale of men at war, with detailed and gory battle scenes
This book, the first in The Starbuck Chronicles did not disappoint. It is both grittingly realistic and exciting. It explains how Nathaniel Starbuck, the son of a fiery anti-slavery preacher, (who treated his own children no better than the slaves he championed)came to fight for the Confederacy It traces Starbuck's development from a less than confident seminary graduate to a crack soldier. It brings the American Civil War and the America of the time to life, focusing on characters from across the social spectrum.
Starbuck serves the father of his best friend, Washington Faulconer, a wealthy Virginian landowner who raises the Faulconer legion, various other friends and foes populate the novel including the antagonist Ethan Ridley, who Starbuck vows to murder following his cruel betrayal of the beautiful girl from a humble background Sally Truslow.
The narrative in interesting and it is a treat for every history buff and a vivid tale of men at war, with detailed and gory battle scenes
April 11, 2014
No idea what was up with this one. On paper the math is right; Cornwell + My Burgeoning Interest in the ACW = Me Enjoying This Book. Somewhere along the line though, I got really, really bored. The writing is good. The details are great, as usual. The characters...no one expects super-memorable and haunting characters from this man but they were very watery. The protagonist was lame...his "tortured past" was that he had pre-marital sex or something, I don't know. It was not good. Plus this book was like five hundred pages! That was perfectly awesome for his Arthur books, but Arthur books these are not. Just pages and pages of lame business schemes and complex romantic relationships involving faceless, boring and unlikable people. Even Cornwell's reliably awesome action scenes were not up to par in this one...there was one bit of excitement amidst the toil and it was literally when the protagonist rides with a Confederate gang that lightly burns a bridge trestle. That's right, not demolishes...lightly burns. The fire is soon put out and so was my interest in this book. I'm sure Cornwell wrote the living hell out of Bull Run. But I have no interest in a book that consists of 450 bloated pages of nothing and 50 pages of gripping battle scene.
May 23, 2021
When I learned that Bernard Cornwell - my go-to for adventurous tales of historical fiction - had written a book series set in during the American Civil War, it immediately went to the top of my to-be read list. This first installment was very solid both historically and narratively, and I really look forward to future installments. I particularly enjoyed the shades of gray in this one which should be at the forefront of any stories of the Civil War, and also the small moments that turned momentous for several of the characters. And of course, this being Cornwell, the battle of Bull Run was masterfully portrayed.
March 5, 2023
Rebelde inicia la tetralogía sobre la guerra de secesión americana, vivida a través del hijo de un furibundo predicador abolicionista de Boston que le atrapó el inicio de la guerra en el sur y decide combatir en el sur por gratitud y amistad con una familia de ricos terratenientes de Virginia.
Seguramente lo fácil hubiera sido una historia desde el punto de vista de los que acabarían siendo los vencedores, pero con este punto de vista el autor muestra que la secesión y posterior guerra iba mucho más allá de la abolición de la esclavitud, que había desencuentros enormes en la manera de ver la vida y la manera de gobernarse entre la gente del norte y el sur.
Nate Starbuck, nuestro protagonista, funciona maravillosamente bien, siempre generará dudas, ¿será un espía ?, ¿porque el hijo de un furibundo abolicionista del norte decide luchar por el sur ? y siempre pesará esta duda en medio de la vorajine y la euforia de la secesión mientras se preparan para futura guerra.
Y el vehículo para mostrarnos la secesión, la preparación para la guerra, las dudas que causa un nordista en el sur, el autor crea una formación militar independiente financiada por el padre de su amigo y donde podemos ver la mala preparación y lo limitados que estaban muchos de los que fueron a luchar, así como ir desgranando la idea general de que la guerra sería un enfrentamiento de verano y que en invierno todo se habría solucionado.
La historia fluye perfectamente, con historias de ficción que suceden tanto al protagonista principal como a los secundarios importantes que van permitiendo en medio de la trama vaya apareciendo la realidad histórica, apoyadas por la breve aparición de personajes históricos, llegando a la primera de las batallas de la guerra, donde la participación de la “Legión Falcouner” está excelentemente acertada para poder narrar lo que realmente pasó sin tener que trastocar nada de lo que sucedió en la batalla y aprovechando un tipo de formaciones que existieron, las legiones, lo que ahora vendríamos a llamar ejércitos privados, financiadas por algún rico terrateniente del sur.
Como ya sucede en otras de sus obras, Bernard Cornwell vuelve a demostrar aquí su maestría, tanto aprovechando una historia repleta de personajes ficticios para ir desgranando ltodo el proceso que llevó a la primera de las batallas importantes de la guerra, como en el relato de la misma, donde no las dulcifica y va cambiando el foco de la escena para pasar de un bando a otro, utilizando personajes históricos que combatieron con otros de ficticios para conseguir un mayor alcance dramático mostrándonos toda la dureza durante la batalla y los dantescos paisajes que quedan al finalizar ésta, con los muertos, heridos agonizantes y bandas de rapiña en busca de exiguos botines.
Historia que gustará a los amantes de la novela histórica que tiene todos los ingredientes, una buena historia con dosis de política, traiciones, odios, amores juveniles precipitados y sobretodo una excelente documentación, que en ningún momento se hace densa ni pesada, fluye como un rio y acabas empapado de todo lo que sucedió casi como si lo hubieras vivido en primera persona.
Para hacer una lectura más completa he consultado “1ª del Bull Run 1861 de Osprey Millitary editado en castellano por Ediciones del Prado ( Batallas de la historia n.º 23)” y la web https://www.battlefields.org/ .
Seguramente lo fácil hubiera sido una historia desde el punto de vista de los que acabarían siendo los vencedores, pero con este punto de vista el autor muestra que la secesión y posterior guerra iba mucho más allá de la abolición de la esclavitud, que había desencuentros enormes en la manera de ver la vida y la manera de gobernarse entre la gente del norte y el sur.
Nate Starbuck, nuestro protagonista, funciona maravillosamente bien, siempre generará dudas, ¿será un espía ?, ¿porque el hijo de un furibundo abolicionista del norte decide luchar por el sur ? y siempre pesará esta duda en medio de la vorajine y la euforia de la secesión mientras se preparan para futura guerra.
Y el vehículo para mostrarnos la secesión, la preparación para la guerra, las dudas que causa un nordista en el sur, el autor crea una formación militar independiente financiada por el padre de su amigo y donde podemos ver la mala preparación y lo limitados que estaban muchos de los que fueron a luchar, así como ir desgranando la idea general de que la guerra sería un enfrentamiento de verano y que en invierno todo se habría solucionado.
La historia fluye perfectamente, con historias de ficción que suceden tanto al protagonista principal como a los secundarios importantes que van permitiendo en medio de la trama vaya apareciendo la realidad histórica, apoyadas por la breve aparición de personajes históricos, llegando a la primera de las batallas de la guerra, donde la participación de la “Legión Falcouner” está excelentemente acertada para poder narrar lo que realmente pasó sin tener que trastocar nada de lo que sucedió en la batalla y aprovechando un tipo de formaciones que existieron, las legiones, lo que ahora vendríamos a llamar ejércitos privados, financiadas por algún rico terrateniente del sur.
Como ya sucede en otras de sus obras, Bernard Cornwell vuelve a demostrar aquí su maestría, tanto aprovechando una historia repleta de personajes ficticios para ir desgranando ltodo el proceso que llevó a la primera de las batallas importantes de la guerra, como en el relato de la misma, donde no las dulcifica y va cambiando el foco de la escena para pasar de un bando a otro, utilizando personajes históricos que combatieron con otros de ficticios para conseguir un mayor alcance dramático mostrándonos toda la dureza durante la batalla y los dantescos paisajes que quedan al finalizar ésta, con los muertos, heridos agonizantes y bandas de rapiña en busca de exiguos botines.
Historia que gustará a los amantes de la novela histórica que tiene todos los ingredientes, una buena historia con dosis de política, traiciones, odios, amores juveniles precipitados y sobretodo una excelente documentación, que en ningún momento se hace densa ni pesada, fluye como un rio y acabas empapado de todo lo que sucedió casi como si lo hubieras vivido en primera persona.
Para hacer una lectura más completa he consultado “1ª del Bull Run 1861 de Osprey Millitary editado en castellano por Ediciones del Prado ( Batallas de la historia n.º 23)” y la web https://www.battlefields.org/ .
May 5, 2009
I was entertained by the story, however it didn't really start to pick up until Bull Run, during the last 1/3 of the book. Felt like the character development was pretty good in everyone except Starbuck, the main protagonist. I felt like he was pretty one dimensional, again until near the end. He constantly seems to be distracted by remotely attractive women, to the point of complete oblivion, which seemed a little far fetched--are there no remotely attractive women in 19th century Boston? Also, I found the entire premise of him joining the Confederate rebellion simply to spite his uber-religious father and family also a little far fetched, especially considering that he doesn't really believe in one of the main reasons for states' rights, the right to own slaves. I almost agree with the people who feel that it isn't his fight and he should just go home. Still, I was drawn in enough to want to continue the series.
August 13, 2017
7,5 sobre 10
Como novela histórica creo que tiene todos los ingredientes para gustar. Un periodo interesante de la historia como trasfondo, personajes buenos, sobre todo el protagonista, acción y una trama bastante interesante.
Además está escrita por Bernard Cornwell, que para algunos será una merma, pero para mí es un añadido, ya que es uno de los escritores que más me entretiene.
El pero de esta novela y que le ha hecho perder una estrella, pues que para mi gusto le sobran páginas, sobre todo en su zona central, que llegado el caso se torna algo pesada y un centenar de páginas menos le podría haber aportado más fluidez a ese tramo.
Os dejo en enlace a mi blog por si queréis darle un vistazo a la reseña más completa que dejé allí.
https://fantasiascifiymuchomas.blogsp...
Como novela histórica creo que tiene todos los ingredientes para gustar. Un periodo interesante de la historia como trasfondo, personajes buenos, sobre todo el protagonista, acción y una trama bastante interesante.
Además está escrita por Bernard Cornwell, que para algunos será una merma, pero para mí es un añadido, ya que es uno de los escritores que más me entretiene.
El pero de esta novela y que le ha hecho perder una estrella, pues que para mi gusto le sobran páginas, sobre todo en su zona central, que llegado el caso se torna algo pesada y un centenar de páginas menos le podría haber aportado más fluidez a ese tramo.
Os dejo en enlace a mi blog por si queréis darle un vistazo a la reseña más completa que dejé allí.
https://fantasiascifiymuchomas.blogsp...
July 19, 2020
I have a certain boredom with the military adventurer novel. The kind designed so you can pick up any book in the series and find a self-contained adventure without worrying overmuch about what came before. Where character arcs only extend a single book except in the most superficial of senses and the hero finds himself in the middle of every important battle of the period, no matter how implausible his role. I am a big fan of the Sharpe series, but moreso through the TV show than the books. Put simply, I consider an hour and a half visual spectacle the best proper medium for such stories. Just look to the X-Files movies to see what you get when you try to expand a story past its proper length.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that, because of his preferred genre, I often forget just how good a writer Cornwell is. This book captures the feel of the outbreak of the Civil War perfectly. It establishes clear and enjoyable characters instantly and handles their conflicting interests very successfully. In fact, one of the most impressive aspects of the book is that it’s often very hard to tell at first glance who will and will not be on Starbuck’s side. Or rather, whose side will be prone to following a compatible path with Starbuck. It’s a tangled web of allegiances, and it’s not often clear to us what people’s goals are.
A novel dealing with a topic that’s still so sensitive naturally needs to tread carefully. Usually books treating the South as the focus chooses a Southern protagonist since fighting to protect their homeland is at least a sympathetic goal that avoids a lot of the nastier aspects of the cause. But Starbuck is from Boston and the son of a violent (and famous) abolitionist preacher. So what could justify his decision to fight against his own people?
Basically, Starbuck’s decision to fight for the South is a private rebellion. He’s not rejecting the North’s principles or supporting slavery, he’s just rejecting his domineering father and a life of unfulfilled potential and resentment. It’s a delicate line, and normally I might be critical of its sophistry, but the contradictions themselves are confronted directly in the book and it’s evident this was not just a way of whitewashing the ambiguities of the Cause. It’s his private journey. It is in fact a rejection of grand causes altogether. It makes emotional sense. And if he’s wrong to do it, he’s often wrong about everything in his life. Starbuck is a screwup and a failure, and this is his one chance to make something of himself.
This is very in keeping with the themes of the book, which have a powerful mixup between behavior and outcomes. Bad actions do not necessarily lead to bad results, and good actions often lead to bad ones. The most personally decent man in the book is responsible for more deaths than all the bad ones combined! The whole war is just a mess of confusing allegiances and compromises. The horror of war is dealt with, but so is the bloody eagerness and innocence of it. Only fallen men, it seems, can truly know what to expect.
So I really enjoyed this book and am looking forwards to the others. It’s an impressive start to a series on a war that doesn’t always get the fictional focus it deserves. Highly recommended.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that, because of his preferred genre, I often forget just how good a writer Cornwell is. This book captures the feel of the outbreak of the Civil War perfectly. It establishes clear and enjoyable characters instantly and handles their conflicting interests very successfully. In fact, one of the most impressive aspects of the book is that it’s often very hard to tell at first glance who will and will not be on Starbuck’s side. Or rather, whose side will be prone to following a compatible path with Starbuck. It’s a tangled web of allegiances, and it’s not often clear to us what people’s goals are.
A novel dealing with a topic that’s still so sensitive naturally needs to tread carefully. Usually books treating the South as the focus chooses a Southern protagonist since fighting to protect their homeland is at least a sympathetic goal that avoids a lot of the nastier aspects of the cause. But Starbuck is from Boston and the son of a violent (and famous) abolitionist preacher. So what could justify his decision to fight against his own people?
Basically, Starbuck’s decision to fight for the South is a private rebellion. He’s not rejecting the North’s principles or supporting slavery, he’s just rejecting his domineering father and a life of unfulfilled potential and resentment. It’s a delicate line, and normally I might be critical of its sophistry, but the contradictions themselves are confronted directly in the book and it’s evident this was not just a way of whitewashing the ambiguities of the Cause. It’s his private journey. It is in fact a rejection of grand causes altogether. It makes emotional sense. And if he’s wrong to do it, he’s often wrong about everything in his life. Starbuck is a screwup and a failure, and this is his one chance to make something of himself.
This is very in keeping with the themes of the book, which have a powerful mixup between behavior and outcomes. Bad actions do not necessarily lead to bad results, and good actions often lead to bad ones. The most personally decent man in the book is responsible for more deaths than all the bad ones combined! The whole war is just a mess of confusing allegiances and compromises. The horror of war is dealt with, but so is the bloody eagerness and innocence of it. Only fallen men, it seems, can truly know what to expect.
So I really enjoyed this book and am looking forwards to the others. It’s an impressive start to a series on a war that doesn’t always get the fictional focus it deserves. Highly recommended.
January 29, 2020
First of a series of four that I understand Cornwell means to get back to (albeit it has been over 20 years now), I have occasionally seen wistful comments about its unfinished nature.
Which, having now read Rebel, surprises me.
I like Cornwell’s writing. I like Cornwell’s plots and descriptions of action. It is a lot of that residual appeal that gets it to 3 stars for me. But Rebel isn’t a great book, even by pulp fiction standards. The characterisation feels sloppy. The bad guys like Ethan Radley tell you they are bad, presumably while twirling their moustaches. Nathaniel Starbuck and Thaddeus Bird tell us they will be good at war because… …they tell us. There are elements of Washington Faulconer that are interesting, but I feel it is almost by accident than design. Attractive women are given an ethereal appeal unrelated to actual development of personalities.
Rebel also a bit sterile, which is somewhat ironic for all the blood, guts and eviscerations. The matter of slavery is sort of hand-waved away, with no discernible insight into its impact on Southern Society. The ways he gets around having to do so are, frankly, very lame. While bad things happen to certain characters, they don’t dwell on it in a meaningful way as that might delay the reader from trekking through the plot. I get that they must get on with their lives, but it’s all very vaguely described, Sally particularly standing out as existing solely as a plot device.
I don’t feel we are short on books that romanticise the “Lost Cause.” I want to read more of Cornwell’s books, so I’m happy for him to stay away from this series.
Which, having now read Rebel, surprises me.
I like Cornwell’s writing. I like Cornwell’s plots and descriptions of action. It is a lot of that residual appeal that gets it to 3 stars for me. But Rebel isn’t a great book, even by pulp fiction standards. The characterisation feels sloppy. The bad guys like Ethan Radley tell you they are bad, presumably while twirling their moustaches. Nathaniel Starbuck and Thaddeus Bird tell us they will be good at war because… …they tell us. There are elements of Washington Faulconer that are interesting, but I feel it is almost by accident than design. Attractive women are given an ethereal appeal unrelated to actual development of personalities.
Rebel also a bit sterile, which is somewhat ironic for all the blood, guts and eviscerations. The matter of slavery is sort of hand-waved away, with no discernible insight into its impact on Southern Society. The ways he gets around having to do so are, frankly, very lame. While bad things happen to certain characters, they don’t dwell on it in a meaningful way as that might delay the reader from trekking through the plot. I get that they must get on with their lives, but it’s all very vaguely described, Sally particularly standing out as existing solely as a plot device.
I don’t feel we are short on books that romanticise the “Lost Cause.” I want to read more of Cornwell’s books, so I’m happy for him to stay away from this series.
August 3, 2007
I've gotten more interested in Civil War books, both fiction and non-fiction. This fictional book tells of Nathaniel Starbuck, a son of a northern, radical (emphasis on radical) abolitionist preacher, who flees Yale Divinity School, comes south, and ends up in the Confederate forces being led by a friend's wealthy father.
I thought the day-to-day issues of preparing for war and the variety of folks involved in war prep (some realistically honorable, some opportunistic, etc.) , absurdities, etc.) made for imaginative reading, but didn't think the action scenes were very powerful.
I also find the idea of Nate, a northerner, signing up with the Confederates an odd likelihood. He dislikes his parents and most of his family but the reason why he would have signed on to the South's cause was never persuasive to me.
I thought the day-to-day issues of preparing for war and the variety of folks involved in war prep (some realistically honorable, some opportunistic, etc.) , absurdities, etc.) made for imaginative reading, but didn't think the action scenes were very powerful.
I also find the idea of Nate, a northerner, signing up with the Confederates an odd likelihood. He dislikes his parents and most of his family but the reason why he would have signed on to the South's cause was never persuasive to me.
September 29, 2018
NOTA: 4,2
Cornwell nunca me decepciona. Este é o primeiro da trilogia starbuck que trata da guerra civil americana. Não consigo pensar em um romancista histórico que eu goste de ler mais do que este. Embora Rebelde não seja o melhor representante da carreira do autor, ainda assim é uma leitura bastante satisfatória e acima da média. Me incomodo um pouco com o excesso de advérbios, mas a construção histórica e os personagens são tão bem feitos que acabo perdoando esse deslize.
Aliás, aqui está um dos pontos fortes do autor: criação de personagens. Não dá pra gostar ou desgostar 100% de ninguém. Todo mundo nos livros do Cornwell são sempre cheios de tons de cinza e, muito frequentemente, o leitor muda sua opinião sobre os personagens de acordo com suas atitudes.
Dois exemplos disso neste livro é Truslow e Falconer. Por isso Cornwell se mantém como meu autor favorito.
Cornwell nunca me decepciona. Este é o primeiro da trilogia starbuck que trata da guerra civil americana. Não consigo pensar em um romancista histórico que eu goste de ler mais do que este. Embora Rebelde não seja o melhor representante da carreira do autor, ainda assim é uma leitura bastante satisfatória e acima da média. Me incomodo um pouco com o excesso de advérbios, mas a construção histórica e os personagens são tão bem feitos que acabo perdoando esse deslize.
Aliás, aqui está um dos pontos fortes do autor: criação de personagens. Não dá pra gostar ou desgostar 100% de ninguém. Todo mundo nos livros do Cornwell são sempre cheios de tons de cinza e, muito frequentemente, o leitor muda sua opinião sobre os personagens de acordo com suas atitudes.
Dois exemplos disso neste livro é Truslow e Falconer. Por isso Cornwell se mantém como meu autor favorito.
April 28, 2024
The only thing that saves this novel is his battle scene at the end. The annoying characters throughout had me actually rolling my eyes at points. For me, Cornwell is a usually a guaranteed good story but there are some that flop. This was a rare flop for me. I have the next book in the series and I hope that one is better. I won't give it much leeway. 2 Stars
May 26, 2009
Cornwell’s REBEL starts off with an excellent, humiliating and very painful enaction of the whole classic tar-and-feather punishment meted out by Americans in the 19th century, and it’s enlightening to find out just what this process entails. It’s this kind of minute detail that distinguishes Cornwell’s wide-ranging research from other contemporary efforts. For example, later in the story we learn what a ‘ganderpull’ means, and Cornwell pulls no punches in his in-your-face description of it. Sure, we probably would have been better off without knowing, but it’s all here and adds an extra layer onto the narrative.
The main thrust of this novel is a character-driven story about Starbuck, the son of a Northern preacher who, through a series of misadventures, ends up fighting for the Southern cause. As this is the first book in a series, Cornwell uses an extraordinary amount of padding and background information to shape his world, as well as introducing the dozen-or-so characters that provide the main focus of the story.
As such, this is a slow-moving book that is surprisingly lacking in verve, although Cornwell’s prose is as tough and witty as ever. It does make for an interesting story, but it also means that this is a book hard to get into, which takes forever to get moving – right until the last pages in fact.
The only action, so to speak, is in the last quarter, telling as it does the battle of Bull Run, the first of the war. Here, Cornwell is up to his elbows in astonishingly gruesome bloodshed and realistic, down-to-earth relating of man’s heroism and cowardice, and the feel of taking part in a military operation. It’s fantastic stuff, but it’s a shame that it takes nearly all of the book to get this far.
As for the hero, Starbuck is from the outset the direct opposite of Sharpe, a rather whiny, by-the-book character who finally grows into a real hero – but again, that happens right at the end of the story, so you have to put up with his less-than-impressive characteristics right until then. At least he only had to do it once...
The main thrust of this novel is a character-driven story about Starbuck, the son of a Northern preacher who, through a series of misadventures, ends up fighting for the Southern cause. As this is the first book in a series, Cornwell uses an extraordinary amount of padding and background information to shape his world, as well as introducing the dozen-or-so characters that provide the main focus of the story.
As such, this is a slow-moving book that is surprisingly lacking in verve, although Cornwell’s prose is as tough and witty as ever. It does make for an interesting story, but it also means that this is a book hard to get into, which takes forever to get moving – right until the last pages in fact.
The only action, so to speak, is in the last quarter, telling as it does the battle of Bull Run, the first of the war. Here, Cornwell is up to his elbows in astonishingly gruesome bloodshed and realistic, down-to-earth relating of man’s heroism and cowardice, and the feel of taking part in a military operation. It’s fantastic stuff, but it’s a shame that it takes nearly all of the book to get this far.
As for the hero, Starbuck is from the outset the direct opposite of Sharpe, a rather whiny, by-the-book character who finally grows into a real hero – but again, that happens right at the end of the story, so you have to put up with his less-than-impressive characteristics right until then. At least he only had to do it once...
November 5, 2008
I might never have picked up this book to read if it hadn't been written by Bernard Cornwell.
I am not a big fan of Civil War novels, "Cold Mountain" notwithstanding.
This volume is the first in the four book "Starbuck" series featuring Nathaniel Starbuck, a conflicted ex-theology student and son of a fiery abolitionist preacher. He is seduced by an actress who dumps him in Richmond, Virginia at the start of the Civil War. He is rescued from tar and feathering by his best friend's father Washington Faulconer. He joins Faulconer's Legion, a fictional unit and is caught up in the First Battle of Bull Run fighting against the North.
The story starts slowly but picks up about 100 pages in and moves quickly after that.
The thought process that Starbuck goes through to justify his choices makes his decision to fight for the Confederacy believable. I read another book years ago, the title of which escapes me, in which a Northern student at VMI ends up choosing to fight with his classmates rather than with the North. I am sure there are many other examples on both sides so Starbuck's choice is not that surprising.
As always with Cornwell's books, there are a number of sub-plots which tend to make the story more interesting, in my opinion. There is also, as usual, a love interest for Starbuck, an uneducated, strikingly beautiful mountain girl.
Lastly, the battle scenes are drawn with the usual realistic care that Cornwell brought to the Richard Sharpe Series. I believe that nobody writing historical fiction describes battles better than Cornwell, although Patrick O'Brian comes close in the Aubrey/Maturin series.
I will withhold judgment on comparing the Sharpe Series with the Starbuck Series until I've read at least one more of the Starbuck books.
I am not a big fan of Civil War novels, "Cold Mountain" notwithstanding.
This volume is the first in the four book "Starbuck" series featuring Nathaniel Starbuck, a conflicted ex-theology student and son of a fiery abolitionist preacher. He is seduced by an actress who dumps him in Richmond, Virginia at the start of the Civil War. He is rescued from tar and feathering by his best friend's father Washington Faulconer. He joins Faulconer's Legion, a fictional unit and is caught up in the First Battle of Bull Run fighting against the North.
The story starts slowly but picks up about 100 pages in and moves quickly after that.
The thought process that Starbuck goes through to justify his choices makes his decision to fight for the Confederacy believable. I read another book years ago, the title of which escapes me, in which a Northern student at VMI ends up choosing to fight with his classmates rather than with the North. I am sure there are many other examples on both sides so Starbuck's choice is not that surprising.
As always with Cornwell's books, there are a number of sub-plots which tend to make the story more interesting, in my opinion. There is also, as usual, a love interest for Starbuck, an uneducated, strikingly beautiful mountain girl.
Lastly, the battle scenes are drawn with the usual realistic care that Cornwell brought to the Richard Sharpe Series. I believe that nobody writing historical fiction describes battles better than Cornwell, although Patrick O'Brian comes close in the Aubrey/Maturin series.
I will withhold judgment on comparing the Sharpe Series with the Starbuck Series until I've read at least one more of the Starbuck books.
January 14, 2016
As usual, Benard Cornwell writes a well crafted historic-based fictional story. He takes us into the mind of Nate Starbuck (and other characters) at the onset of the Civil War. The opening scene has Nate in Virginia being abused by Southerners who think Nate is a Northern spy (although any non-southerner is enough to harass). Nate abandons his Yale's religious studies to follow a beautiful woman who ends up dumping him as they travel through Virginia on the way to New Orleans. As Washington Faulkner points out later, Nate is not the first young man to be entranced by a beautiful woman. Washington Faulkner is the father of one of Nate's friends (Adam) from Yale and saves Nate from being tarred and feathered. There is one scene here where Faulkner asks Nate: "Starbuck, do you want some coffee?" (I had to smile at that, intentional or not).
Nate's father is a hell-fire minister in the North who has notoriety condemning slavery. Throughout the story Nate's rebellion against his father's strict rules drives his decision-making on his involvement in the Civil War (and other personal matters).
The Civil War wasn't supposed to be a prolonged conflict. A decisive battle would put an end to it in short order. This was a sentiment shared by the North and South. Much of the "battle talk" was over romanticized so most young men were eager to go to war to preserve the South's way of life (and impress the young ladies on their bravery). Consequently, the initial battle at Bull Rull (Manassas) was disorganized and poorly managed in terms of military efficiency. The troops soon learn the true reality of the butchery and insanity of battle.
I enjoyed the book and the detailed accounts were vivid. In fact, the details toward the end seemed to detract from the story somewhat if you are not avid history buff (and I'm not). Interesting and entertaining nonetheless.
Nate's father is a hell-fire minister in the North who has notoriety condemning slavery. Throughout the story Nate's rebellion against his father's strict rules drives his decision-making on his involvement in the Civil War (and other personal matters).
The Civil War wasn't supposed to be a prolonged conflict. A decisive battle would put an end to it in short order. This was a sentiment shared by the North and South. Much of the "battle talk" was over romanticized so most young men were eager to go to war to preserve the South's way of life (and impress the young ladies on their bravery). Consequently, the initial battle at Bull Rull (Manassas) was disorganized and poorly managed in terms of military efficiency. The troops soon learn the true reality of the butchery and insanity of battle.
I enjoyed the book and the detailed accounts were vivid. In fact, the details toward the end seemed to detract from the story somewhat if you are not avid history buff (and I'm not). Interesting and entertaining nonetheless.
February 25, 2020
Bernard Cornwell is one of those writers who make the rest of us gnash our teeth in envy: he is amazingly prolific while maintaining a high level of quality. The books are convincingly well researched, the characters have some depth, and the prose is adept. He's written a couple of sailing thrillers set in contemporary times, but his main line is historical military adventure. As a history buff, I'm a sucker for that. I like his Sharpe series about the Napoleonic wars a lot; this is the first in his series about the American Civil War.
Nathaniel Starbuck is the wayward son of a puritanical Boston minister and ardent abolitionist. As the book opens in the spring of 1861, with war looming, Nate has washed up in Richmond, where he has been dumped by the actress in a traveling theater company who lured him away from his theological studies at Harvard. Broke and demoralized, he is taken in by the father of one of his college friends, a wealthy Virginia landowner who is raising a regiment to fight the Yankees. With nothing else going on in his life and his moral compass at least temporarily knocked askew, Nate hooks on with the rebels. A couple of subplots revealing the complexities and contradictions of Southern society (scoundrels, spies and a sixteen-year-old back country seductress) take us up to the first battle of Bull Run, where of course Nate will find himself in the thick of things, with conflicting loyalties. The battle action is stirringly narrated, as always.
Good stuff for history buffs; Cornwell is a master.
Nathaniel Starbuck is the wayward son of a puritanical Boston minister and ardent abolitionist. As the book opens in the spring of 1861, with war looming, Nate has washed up in Richmond, where he has been dumped by the actress in a traveling theater company who lured him away from his theological studies at Harvard. Broke and demoralized, he is taken in by the father of one of his college friends, a wealthy Virginia landowner who is raising a regiment to fight the Yankees. With nothing else going on in his life and his moral compass at least temporarily knocked askew, Nate hooks on with the rebels. A couple of subplots revealing the complexities and contradictions of Southern society (scoundrels, spies and a sixteen-year-old back country seductress) take us up to the first battle of Bull Run, where of course Nate will find himself in the thick of things, with conflicting loyalties. The battle action is stirringly narrated, as always.
Good stuff for history buffs; Cornwell is a master.
June 8, 2017
I gave up with 4 hours left in the audiobook.
This book was so deep down the "south is blameless" hole I couldn't get out of it. Setting aside this idea that Faulkner just 'freed his slaves' in a time when laws were tightening to make it harder and harder and harder to do just that ... the main character is an idiot, all the female characters are idiots, and even the non-idiot characters are boring as hell. It's just a straight up bad story, and that's before Cornwell sweeps aside anything that could make the main character, a Northern abolitionist preacher's son, mildly uncomfortable.
Such a shame, I'm a huge Cornwell fan but this was just ... bad.
This book was so deep down the "south is blameless" hole I couldn't get out of it. Setting aside this idea that Faulkner just 'freed his slaves' in a time when laws were tightening to make it harder and harder and harder to do just that ... the main character is an idiot, all the female characters are idiots, and even the non-idiot characters are boring as hell. It's just a straight up bad story, and that's before Cornwell sweeps aside anything that could make the main character, a Northern abolitionist preacher's son, mildly uncomfortable.
Such a shame, I'm a huge Cornwell fan but this was just ... bad.
June 29, 2015
I liked this alright, but not nearly as much as the Sharpe series. There wasn't enough of the historical context, and the story was mostly about a handful of fictional characters and their interactions. And I simply didn't like the main character, Nathaniel Starbuck, all that much. It seemed as though Cornwell was trying to create a character with more psychological depth, but he's just not as good at that as he is at the swashbuckling Sharpe stories. Too often, Cornwell needed to provide explicit psychological explanations of Starbuck's behaviour — which was somewhat annoying.
August 19, 2023
Μέτριο!ο Κορνγουελ εδώ αναλώνεται σε παράλληλες ιστορίες σε βάρος της πλοκής
November 8, 2018
Se eu fosse uma principiante na escrita Bernard Cornwellniana provavelmente teria dado a nota máxima. Mas sendo uma fã incondicional do autor, acho que posso dizer que "a essa altura do campeonato" já conheço exatamente as características da narrativa dele que me viciaram tanto nos livros e aquelas que já não me encantam muito:
Pontos positivos:
- O que você espera lendo Bernard Cornwell E sendo fã de ficção histórica? CENAS INCRÍVEIS DE BATALHA e essa série não foge à regra. As descrições são tão incríveis que você se vê em meio ao campo de batalha, entre rifles e canhões.
- Intrigas, conspirações, situações inusitadas.
- Diferentes pontos de vista: Não li Sharpe, mas depois de ter lido os livros 'solo', As Crônicas de Arthur, A Busca do Graal e de acompanhar As Crônicas Saxônicas até seu 11º livro, posso dizer que gosto muito quando BC resolve escrever em 3ª pessoa com o 'bônus' de POV's de outros personagens além do protagonista.
- Essa série mostra a Guerra da Secessão por um ponto de vista comumente pouco abordado: da população pobre do sul que lutava, não pelo direito dos fazendeiros ricos de manterem seus escravos, mas contra um invasor que parecia querer roubar suas casas, matar suas famílias...
- o background dos personagens: De onde vieram? o que fazem? BC sabe muito bem como construir o 'pano de fundo' de seus personagens, cercando o protagonista com histórias de vida interessantes e comoventes.
Pontos Negativos:
- Se você é fã de BC e espera encontrar aqui um protagonista diferente dos seus outros irmãos-estereótipos, sinto muito em lhe informar que: não vai acontecer. Nataniel Starbuck é exatamente igual aos outros: arrogante, orgulhoso, com uma auto-confiança (por vezes) irritante, mulherengo e que parece sempre conseguir se safar de situações perigosas/constrangedoras/desagradáveis exatamente por ser assim. E claro, um excelente-inigualável soldado.
- O esterótipo não se restringe ao protagonista: todo aquele leque de personalidades já conhecidas dos fãs de BC em suas outras séries, também estão aqui devidamente representados
- Diálogos e interações limitadas entre personagens; dificilmente há diálogos mais elaborados que ajudem você a ter uma visão melhor sobre o que os personagens pensam ou como realmente são. Quem cumpre essa função é o narrador onisciente/onipresente, mas na maioria das situações somos influenciados pela percepção do protagonista ou de quem for o POV. As interações entre os personagens - pelo menos aqueles que realmente importam para o protagonista - também são curtas e rápidas.
Apesar disso é um ótima série sobre a Guerra Civil Americana, principalmente para quem gosta de ficção histórica
Pontos positivos:
- O que você espera lendo Bernard Cornwell E sendo fã de ficção histórica? CENAS INCRÍVEIS DE BATALHA e essa série não foge à regra. As descrições são tão incríveis que você se vê em meio ao campo de batalha, entre rifles e canhões.
- Intrigas, conspirações, situações inusitadas.
- Diferentes pontos de vista: Não li Sharpe, mas depois de ter lido os livros 'solo', As Crônicas de Arthur, A Busca do Graal e de acompanhar As Crônicas Saxônicas até seu 11º livro, posso dizer que gosto muito quando BC resolve escrever em 3ª pessoa com o 'bônus' de POV's de outros personagens além do protagonista.
- Essa série mostra a Guerra da Secessão por um ponto de vista comumente pouco abordado: da população pobre do sul que lutava, não pelo direito dos fazendeiros ricos de manterem seus escravos, mas contra um invasor que parecia querer roubar suas casas, matar suas famílias...
- o background dos personagens: De onde vieram? o que fazem? BC sabe muito bem como construir o 'pano de fundo' de seus personagens, cercando o protagonista com histórias de vida interessantes e comoventes.
Pontos Negativos:
- Se você é fã de BC e espera encontrar aqui um protagonista diferente dos seus outros irmãos-estereótipos, sinto muito em lhe informar que: não vai acontecer. Nataniel Starbuck é exatamente igual aos outros: arrogante, orgulhoso, com uma auto-confiança (por vezes) irritante, mulherengo e que parece sempre conseguir se safar de situações perigosas/constrangedoras/desagradáveis exatamente por ser assim. E claro, um excelente-inigualável soldado.
- O esterótipo não se restringe ao protagonista: todo aquele leque de personalidades já conhecidas dos fãs de BC em suas outras séries, também estão aqui devidamente representados
- Diálogos e interações limitadas entre personagens; dificilmente há diálogos mais elaborados que ajudem você a ter uma visão melhor sobre o que os personagens pensam ou como realmente são. Quem cumpre essa função é o narrador onisciente/onipresente, mas na maioria das situações somos influenciados pela percepção do protagonista ou de quem for o POV. As interações entre os personagens - pelo menos aqueles que realmente importam para o protagonista - também são curtas e rápidas.
Apesar disso é um ótima série sobre a Guerra Civil Americana, principalmente para quem gosta de ficção histórica
December 21, 2025
He tornat a caure a les mans del meu estimat Cornwell (en realitat l'he buscat jo, el trobava a faltar).
Ambientat en la guerra civil americana, explica els inicis del conflicte a través dels ulls del fill d'un predicador nordista que, per fugir del seu pare, lluitarà al bàndol rebel o sudista.
Comença amb ritme però a diferència de les altres novel·les de Cornwell, el va perdent poc a poc. Sembla que vol fer una espècie de pont (massa llarg) des de la presentació dels protagonistes fins a arribar a la batalla de Manassas, al final de tot. D'aquí venen les 4 estrelles.
Això sí, la batalla està brillantment explicada. No escatima en detalls tàctics, tècnics i personals, ni tampoc pel que fa a les desgràcies de la guerra (si ha d'haver-hi sang, hi ha sang). Una altra narració bèl·lica esplèndida, en definitiva.
La saga té 4 llibres i en les properes setmanes em trobareu llegint Cornwell a tot arreu.
Bernard, la teva llum il·lumina el meu camí.
Ambientat en la guerra civil americana, explica els inicis del conflicte a través dels ulls del fill d'un predicador nordista que, per fugir del seu pare, lluitarà al bàndol rebel o sudista.
Comença amb ritme però a diferència de les altres novel·les de Cornwell, el va perdent poc a poc. Sembla que vol fer una espècie de pont (massa llarg) des de la presentació dels protagonistes fins a arribar a la batalla de Manassas, al final de tot. D'aquí venen les 4 estrelles.
Això sí, la batalla està brillantment explicada. No escatima en detalls tàctics, tècnics i personals, ni tampoc pel que fa a les desgràcies de la guerra (si ha d'haver-hi sang, hi ha sang). Una altra narració bèl·lica esplèndida, en definitiva.
La saga té 4 llibres i en les properes setmanes em trobareu llegint Cornwell a tot arreu.
Bernard, la teva llum il·lumina el meu camí.
June 30, 2017
This is the first in the series of Nathan Starbuck novels set during the American Civil War. Nate, a Boston man has run away from Yale University seminary, rebelling against his father the Reverand Elial Starbuck a hell fire and damnation, Calvinist minister, to chase a young actress. His fortunes find him in Richmond at the time of secession. Nate is initially befriended by a wealthy landowner who turns out something like the evil sergeant of the Sharpe novels and indeed there are a number of similarities
The battle at Manassas is described in chilling reminder of the horrors of war as the two armies collide in breath taking action, leaving Nate promoted but still with Washington Faulconer as an enemy.
The battle at Manassas is described in chilling reminder of the horrors of war as the two armies collide in breath taking action, leaving Nate promoted but still with Washington Faulconer as an enemy.
May 1, 2023
Extremely forgettable.
I was very excited to see Cornwell do a civil war series. I loved the Saxon Stories so I wanted to keep reading his other books. Needless to say I won't be reading the rest of this series.
Nothing kept me coming back to the book other than my commitment to pick it up in the first place. I felt no attachment to any of the characters, felt no rooting interest, and didn't even know what was happening half of the time.
Cornwell wrote this series many years before he started writing about Uhtred but I could still pick out his style here and there. He has very impressive prose but my compliments for this book end there.
I was very excited to see Cornwell do a civil war series. I loved the Saxon Stories so I wanted to keep reading his other books. Needless to say I won't be reading the rest of this series.
Nothing kept me coming back to the book other than my commitment to pick it up in the first place. I felt no attachment to any of the characters, felt no rooting interest, and didn't even know what was happening half of the time.
Cornwell wrote this series many years before he started writing about Uhtred but I could still pick out his style here and there. He has very impressive prose but my compliments for this book end there.
April 27, 2021
Nathaniel Starbuck is the son of a Boston firebrand, preacher. He leaves seminary
school and finds himself in Virginia and on the Southern side of the American
conflict. Can he survive his first battle?
Brilliant depiction of the battle at Bull Run. The made up characters act as real
people, and the story flows well. Good insights to what both sides were thinking
and acting. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!
school and finds himself in Virginia and on the Southern side of the American
conflict. Can he survive his first battle?
Brilliant depiction of the battle at Bull Run. The made up characters act as real
people, and the story flows well. Good insights to what both sides were thinking
and acting. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!
December 13, 2017
A spirit of a rebel fighting to understand his own purpose in a battlefield is the essence of this book.The American Civil war is much more than slavery for the men who fought on both sides.While peace might be complex war is made much more simpler by the from fighting spirit displayed by the commoners.
September 10, 2022
After loving the books of Uther, Starbuck is a different kind of "hero". Born as a Northenern but fighting as a rebel for the South.
As with all of Cornwells books the history part is quite accurate and he only adds some fictional characters to make a good reading story.
Found it a good start to the The Rebel series. Let's see how young Starbuck goes on to be one of the earlier US Rebels.
As with all of Cornwells books the history part is quite accurate and he only adds some fictional characters to make a good reading story.
Found it a good start to the The Rebel series. Let's see how young Starbuck goes on to be one of the earlier US Rebels.
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