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The Better Angels of Our Nature A Novel S C Gylanders 9781400065141 Books

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The Better Angels of Our Nature A Novel S C Gylanders 9781400065141 Books

Thoroughly enjoyable


Tags : The Better Angels of Our Nature: A Novel [S. C. Gylanders] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. On the eve of Shiloh, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, a mysterious visitor appears at General William Tecumseh Sherman’s camp. Without family or home,S. C. Gylanders,The Better Angels of Our Nature: A Novel,Random House,1400065143,VI-1400065143,Historical fiction.,United States;History;1861-1865, Civil War;Fiction.,United States;History;Civil War, 1861-1865;Fiction.,(William Tecumseh),,1820-1891,American Historical Fiction,Civil War, 1861-1865,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction Historical,Historical - General,Historical fiction,History,Sherman, William T.,United States

The Better Angels of Our Nature A Novel S C Gylanders 9781400065141 Books Reviews

This book is written in the style made famous in "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara (also known as "Gettysburg," the name given to the film based on the book). Well researched history comes alive by telling the story through the eyes, ears, and words of characters who are themselves as well researched as possible. "The Better Angels of Our Nature" tries to do the same thing, and in some ways this is a good book. The history is very well done. The characters, however, are noncredible. For example, Ms. Gylanders wants us to see how bloody the war is, and characters bleed and die, but somehow they are never convincingly in pain. One dying soldier seems unaware of his own pain and wants only to protect his brother's feelings. Another severely injured character, weak from loss of blood, parched, unfed, and captured by the enemy, nevertheless has absolutely no loss of energy and quibbles with the enemy over every word he says. The characters are also not credible in the way they interact. The text tells us about affection between some of the characters, but their actions show only one mistreating the other. A woman who has spurned the attentions of each and every suitor is totally bereft, completely devastated, when one of them stops writing to her. A nurse who has comforted every character in the book, the sick and the dying, the emotionally needy, Confederate and Federal alike, inexplicably won't even look at General Sherman's ailing son.

If you read this book for its history, you may well like it. But if you hope to have the history brought to life by the characters, you will probably be disappointed.
This is one of the finest Civil War novels I've ever read. The author masterfully weaves the mysterious Jesse Davis with very believable battle and camp scenes. Highly recommended!
Stunning! An exploration of the humanity of man during the violence of War. A wonderful narrative in the manner of Howard Bahr's gripping Civil War trilogy. Ms. Gylanders exhaustive 7 year study and research of General William T. Sherman's actions during the battles of Shiloh and Vicksburg are noteworthy. She vividly re-creates them in wonderful detail with all the drama, brutality, and camaraderie that men and women at war experience. Although a work of historical fiction, Ms. Gylanders imparts to the reader the feel and empathy of America's most terrible conflict. She is able to create all the sights, sounds, and smells of men at war wrapped in the emotions and feelings of fear, exhilaration, sorrow, and happiness at being alive! It is not enough to be apart of the horrific battles and survive, but to also be able to touch the very soul of man's being and live! All this Ms. Gylanders imparts in her classic debut novel of the Civil War.

The plot is both complex and simple; a weave of human emotion from despair to giddy happiness. Jesse, a stranger, appears in General Sherman's camp several days before the battle of Shiloh. The manic and complex Sherman takes Jesse under his venerable wing. For much of the first half of the book Jesse is assumed to be a boy, until her friend the irascible and compassionate surgeon Seth Cartwright discovers that Seth the boy is really a GIRL. The surgeon tries to keep the secret but Jesse's heroic actions and humane hospital skills brings her to the attention of everyone including General U.S. Grant. As Sherman's aide the secret is finally revealed after she is injured in battle. Sherman is beyond furious for the deception but can not part with the aide he has grown to depend on for humanity. The story continues as the person Jesse falls in love with eventually discovers that Jesse is a women. Complex yes, but Ms. Gylanders weaves the tale in such a delightful and believable way that the story takes on the air of truth. More, much more is involved and begs to be told but that is what the book is for.

Plot is extremely well done and very believable. Character development is some of the best I have ever read. General Sherman is one of two of the most complex men of the American Civil War; Nathan Bedford Forrest is the other. Ms. Gylanders examination of Sherman is full of pathos, understanding, and admiration. Her rich prose paints a man of humanity in turmoil at having to fight a total war of brutality. No gratuitous violence or sex although the Civil War battles were horrific in and of themselves.

Must read recommendation, especially if you like Howard Bahr.

Well Done Ms. Gylanders
i never write reviews but making an exception in this case. i have been a student of the war for many years. i read very little non-fiction but have read sharra's books. gylander writes well with descriptive images of the battle scenes and aftermath. she is a talented and well studied writer. having said that i must say that i have never felt so cheated by any book. gylander hooks you into the story line with this young girl and keeps you hooked with the war details, i could care less about love stories but one does rather get interested in it, and then her ending is the most anti-climatic and unfinished and cliff hanging as anything i've ever seen. i haven't seen that she has a follow up novel for this, so it's just the reader's tough luck i guess in her mind.. i would rarely comment like this but if you are already knowledgeable about the war at all i wouldn't waste my time with this book. you too would likely walk away feeling cheated.
S.C. Gylanders's "The Better Angels of Our Nature" is a fictional novel set between the battles of Shiloh & Vicksburg with the focus on a stranger who comes wandering into the encampment of General William Tecumseh Sherman & asks simply to be trained by him since that's what "he" wants. The story itself starts out pretty interesting & quick moving as our individual Jesse Davis is a quick learner who becomes attached to Sherman & the medical corps without fail in the days leading up to & through Shiloh. However, Gylanders's tale runs astray when it deviates a bit from the normal horrors & honors of war & the true identity of Corporal Davis. It does so by having a love story develop between her & eventual General Thomas Ransom which hurts the story quite a bit & even some of Sherman's insinuations that Davis is an angel who can do anything are almost a bit farfetched. Historically accurate though across the jump in time from Shiloh through the siege at Vicksburg & beyond into 1864 where again the story seems to lose its way, "The Better Angels of Our Nature" is still a very good piece of historical period fiction for the Civil War despite the missteps & will remind you of the humanity in us all.
Thoroughly enjoyable