The War Criminal's Son brings to life hidden aspects of the Civil War
through the sweeping saga of the firstborn son in the infamous
Confederate Winder family, who shattered family ties to stand with the
Union.
Gen. John H. Winder was the commandant of most prison camps in the
Confederacy, including Andersonville. When Winder gave his son William
Andrew Winder the order to come south and fight, desert, or commit
suicide, William went to the White House and swore his allegiance to
President Lincoln and the Union. Despite his pleas to remain at the
front, it was not enough. Winder was ordered to command Alcatraz, a
fortress that became a Civil War prison, where he treated his prisoners
humanely despite repeated accusations of disloyalty and treason because
the Winder name had become shorthand for brutality during an already
brutal war.
John Winder died before he could be brought to justice as a war
criminal. Haunted by his father's villainy, William went into a
self-imposed exile for twenty years and eventually ended up at the
Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, to fulfill his longstanding desire
to better the lot of Native Americans.
In The War Criminal's Son Jane Singer evokes the universal themes of
loyalty, shame, and redemption in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Purchase the audio edition.
