HF Civil War fiction books like or dislike or mehh?

Historical-Fiction
đŸ˜Č How did you get through school without being assigned to read some historical fiction? No Johnny Tremaine? No Number the Stars? No Red Badge of Courage? Your English teachers need a talking to!
I was a horrible student lol. I guess I wasn't counting school. I was referring to books I read voluntarily. They all are non-fiction. Although I do want to read Red Badge of Courage. And I also want to read Shelby Foote's Shiloh. I may need to broaden my horizons a bit.
 
I was a horrible student lol. I guess I wasn't counting school. I was referring to books I read voluntarily. They all are non-fiction. Although I do want to read Red Badge of Courage. And I also want to read Shelby Foote's Shiloh. I may need to broaden my horizons a bit.
Lol, sorry to pick on you, it was meant good naturedly. Since you love the USS Massachusetts, you should find a good WWII naval novel. 😉

I love Shelby Foote's fiction, and I really enjoyed a biography I read of him. Just looked at my bookshelf and I've got three of his novels, but not Shiloh. Gonna have to get that!
 
Lol, sorry to pick on you, it was meant good naturedly. Since you love the USS Massachusetts, you should find a good WWII naval novel. 😉

I love Shelby Foote's fiction, and I really enjoyed a biography I read of him. Just looked at my bookshelf and I've got three of his novels, but not Shiloh. Gonna have to get that!
No worries at all. It made me laugh. I absolutely love Foote. But yet have not read any of his fiction. I've read his entire 3 volumes of A Narrative and the 1st volume twice. I just made a cool purchase regarding Foote. When it arrives, I'll post some pictures on here.
 
I've read excerpts of his CW trilogy, the small books about Vicksburg and Gettysburg. I'd like to get the complete trilogy but it would be better for me at this point to get rid of some books instead of buying more.
 
I liked Gods and Generals the book is very good easy read. I read it along with the the theatrical cut of the film. Very close to the script and book. I haven't read Killer Angels yet. I really like real factual books. Like Emerging Civil War Series so on.
 
I do second that! Very impressive book.
Not to knock anyone who writes historical fiction but it usually isn’t a genre where one finds top notch literary geniuses. (Just look at some of the above comments, :whistling: ). EL Doctorow is an exception to this, his writing ability rivals that of the great novelists of American literary tradition.
 
Not to knock anyone who writes historical fiction but it usually isn’t a genre where one finds top notch literary geniuses. (Just look at some of the above comments, :whistling: ). EL Doctorow is an exception to this, his writing ability rivals that of the great novelists of American literary tradition.
This could lead to a debate about the purpose of fiction. To me, there are several different types of novels in the historic fiction genre.
I think many writers of historical fiction want to write biographies in a less dry form, they want us to see their subject as a human being just like we are, made easier by using modern language and artistic license in some details. Others want to give us readers a feeling of how it was to live in the past. It's the era that interests them and people's action illustrate how it was like to live back then - while Doctorow does the opposite. He used the Civil War as a setting for his psychological studies of people and their reaction to war. With some adjustments his story could also have taken place during the French Revolution or World War II, it is not the setting that interests him, but the emotions and attitudes of his protagonists.
My favorite author of historical fiction is Philippa Gregory who is a historian with a phD, but her books about Tudor England are page-turners and easy to read. She does a great job there, as well as Doctorow is a mastermind in his field. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, they are just tilling different soil.
 
ACW historical fiction that I've enjoyed: Ralph Peters works, Shaara's novels, Cornwell's Starbuck series, Gingrich and Forstchen's books, Andersonville by Kantor, Rossino's Antietam novel, Pierce's Without Warning, Raintree County by Lockridge, House Divided by Ben Williams, Ambrose Bierce's short stories. Some of these writers are literary geniuses.



 
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This could lead to a debate about the purpose of fiction. To me, there are several different types of novels in the historic fiction genre.
I think many writers of historical fiction want to write biographies in a less dry form, they want us to see their subject as a human being just like we are, made easier by using modern language and artistic license in some details. Others want to give us readers a feeling of how it was to live in the past. It's the era that interests them and people's action illustrate how it was like to live back then - while Doctorow does the opposite. He used the Civil War as a setting for his psychological studies of people and their reaction to war. With some adjustments his story could also have taken place during the French Revolution or World War II, it is not the setting that interests him, but the emotions and attitudes of his protagonists.
My favorite author of historical fiction is Philippa Gregory who is a historian with a phD, but her books about Tudor England are page-turners and easy to read. She does a great job there, as well as Doctorow is a mastermind in his field. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, they are just tilling different soil.

Perfect. Couldn’t agree more. However, there is good writing, there is exploitative writing (big time in historical fiction), there is dime store writing, and there is downright poor writing.

I think one of the great strengths of Doctorow’s work is that it clearly shows that whether it’s 1864 in Georgia or 1944 in France, there are common human threads and reactions to horror and violence. There are common human traits. We tend to think of these people being different from ourselves mentally and emotionally and morally but they were actually quite similar. For every gallant Johnny there was a shirker and for every heroic Billy there was a scoundrel. Not any different than now.
 
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ACW historical fiction that I've enjoyed: Ralph Peters works, Shaara's novels, Cornwell's Starbuck series, Gingrich and Forstchen's books, Andersonville by Kantor, Rossino's Antietam novel, Pierce's Without Warning, Raintree County by Lockridge, House Divided by Ben Williams, Ambrose Bierce's short stories. Some of these writers are literary geniuses.



I love Abrose Bierce’s short stories and his other work but him being a contemporary author and witness, can we really call his work historical fiction? His work is more contemporary criticism, contemporary fiction, rather than someone completely removed from the events writing about them or the setting. One wouldn’t call Mark Twain’s novels “historical fiction” because he was commenting on the times, places, and scenes he lived in. Just as Graves’ “Good Bye to All That” and Erich Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” really aren’t historical fiction but rather contemporary or near contemporary fictional assessments of the events, cultures, and scenes the writers lived. If I write a novel about a family living in 2020 dealing with the craziness therein, it isn’t historical fiction. In 100 years, if my novel were being read, it wouldn’t be historical fiction. Contemporary fiction from days gone by can be a very powerful tool of the historian but it should not be confused with a modern author writing a novel or story about something from the past.
 
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Also, I didn’t mean to knock the genre or say that great authors don’t do historical fiction... that’d be silly. It’s just that there is a lot that is not so good and when discussing great authors, not many historical fiction authors would make most people’s lists... (present company excluded)

However, as Faraway pointed out, this applies to any genre.
 
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I love Abrose Bierce’s short stories and his other work but him being a contemporary author and witness, can we really call his work historical fiction? His work is more contemporary criticism, contemporary fiction, rather than someone completely removed from the events writing about them or the setting. One wouldn’t call Mark Twain’s novels “historical fiction” because he was commenting on the times, places, and scenes he lived in. Just as Graves’ “Good Bye to All That” and Erich Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” really aren’t historical fiction but rather contemporary or near contemporary fictional assessments of the events, cultures, and scenes the writers lived. If I write a novel about a family living in 2020 dealing with the craziness therein, it isn’t historical fiction. In 100 years, if my novel were being read, it wouldn’t be historical fiction. Contemporary fiction from days gone by can be a very powerful tool of the historian but it should not be confused with a modern author writing a novel or story about something from the past.
Agreed! I love Bierce, too (as my signature line indicates), but I don't really consider him historical fiction. To me, a good historical fiction writer is someone who, by benefit of research, is able to really dig into an era. Bierce didn't have to do that because not only did he live in that era, but he also lived through the war. If I had to pick a genre for his CW stories, besides the obvious war fiction, it would actually be gothic fiction or even horror.
 
Every writer has there own style, be it fiction or non fiction. I have read some non fiction authors and I would have rather read a dime book comic.
When I read a fiction book, my interest is to be entertain and enjoy the book. Facts are not my concern with these type books. I hope to enjoy and have the same pleasure in a non fiction book but I hold it to be more accurate and reliable. The flow of a fictional book is critical to hold my attention. I need to be able to picture the words in my mind as I read fictional books, whereas non fictional I tend to focus more on the facts and understanding of the logical thought pattern.
When I pick up a fictional book, my mind set is in a different mode, pleasure, enjoyment, entertainment are at the top of the list. Non fiction, the main interest for me is facts, reliability, and learning, which then would translate over to pleasure, enjoyment and entertainment.
Sometimes I need that break of always reading through non fictional books, I find that I’d I stay in non fictional books too much I then begin to focus on the facts in fictional books.
An example, I fish in bass tournaments and when I do my mind set is every cast means money, every fish means weight, every moment I do not have a lure in the water is wasted time. I need to break away at times and just fish because I love fishing. This means I will stop and enjoy my surroundings, watch the wild life around me. I will sit down and grab me some food I have taken with me and enjoy floating on the water, not wasting the view all around me. Every cast is not important, a small fish is just as enjoyable as a big one now.
The change of my mind set is totally changed but in essence I’m still doing the same thing. I enjoy both ways, but two different outcomes.
 
Perfect. Couldn’t agree more. However, there is good writing, there is exploitative writing (big time in historical fiction), there is dime store writing, and there is downright poor writing.

I think one of the great strengths of Doctorow’s work is that it clearly shows that whether it’s 1864 in Georgia or 1944 in France, there are common human threads and reactions to horror and violence. There are common human traits. We tend to think of these people being different from ourselves mentally and emotionally and morally but they were actually quite similar. For every gallant Johnny there was a shirker and for every heroic Billy there was a scoundrel. Not any different than now.
I didnŽt really care for šThe March.š It had a few too many historical inaccuracies to truly pull me into the time and place. I did, however, like any of the parts his Confederate shirkers were in.
 
Joseph A Altsheler's Civil War series (written in the 19teens) is ok ,more fiction than fact at times but since it's available on YouTube through Libravox I listen to them while at work .

Glorietta Pass and The Guns of Val Verde by P.G. Nagle are good reads about a often overlooked area of the Civil War

Across five April's by Irene Hunt

Charlie Skedaddle by John & Patricia Beatty
it's more of a younger reader book ( I read it at about 12 )

James Reasoner's Civil War series I am a fan of just because i like family story lines
 
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