NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From Jeff Shaara comes the riveting
final installment in the Civil War series that began with A Blaze of
Glory and continued in A Chain of Thunder and The Smoke at Dawn.
November 1864: As the Civil War rolls into its fourth bloody year, the
tide has turned decidedly in favor of the Union. A grateful Abraham
Lincoln responds to Ulysses S. Grant's successes by bringing the general
east, promoting Grant to command the entire Union war effort, while
William Tecumseh Sherman now directs the Federal forces that occupy all
of Tennessee.
In a massive surge southward, Sherman conquers the city of Atlanta,
sweeping aside the Confederate army under the inept leadership of
General John Bell Hood. Pushing through northern Georgia, Sherman's
legendary March to the Sea shoves away any Rebel presence, and by
Christmas 1864 the city of Savannah falls into the hands of "Uncle
Billy." Now there is but one direction for Sherman to go. In his way
stands the last great hope for the Southern cause, General Joseph E.
Johnston.
In the concluding novel of his epic Civil War tetralogy, Jeff Shaara
tells the dramatic story of the final eight months of battle from
multiple perspectives: the commanders in their tents making plans for
total victory, as well as the ordinary foot soldiers and cavalrymen who
carried out their orders until the last alarum sounded. Through
Sherman's eyes, we gain insight into the mind of the general who vowed
to "make Georgia howl" until it surrendered. In Johnston, we see a man
agonizing over the limits of his army's power, and accepting the burden
of leading the last desperate effort to ensure the survival of the
Confederacy.
The Civil War did not end quietly. It climaxed in a storm of fury that
lay waste to everything in its path. The Fateful Lightning brings to
life those final brutal, bloody months of fighting with you-are-there
immediacy, grounded in the meticulous research that readers have come to
expect from Jeff Shaara.
Praise for The Fateful Lightning
"Powerful and emotional . . . highly recommended."--Historical Novels
Review
"Outstanding . . . Shaara combines his extensive knowledge of military
history with his consummate skill as a storyteller."--Booklist
"Readers . . . looking for an absorbing novel will be well
rewarded."--The Clarion-Ledger
"A great accomplishment and a more than fitting conclusion to Shaara's
work on the Civil War."--Bookreporter
