New Hampshire Books

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it told a complex story, but one that you had to keep reading to find out the outcome, to me this shows a very good author who knows how to keep the reader enthralled. Would recommend this book.

This book definately threw me for a loop, but it was very worthwhile. I wasn't used to 3rd person perspective, and it was hard to adapt too. The first chapter was a bit slow, but once I started to get into it, I couldn't put the book down. I absolutely love romances, and this had it. It's just a wonderful novel, taking place at a wonderful place that you can fully image in your mind. You will never forget this book after you're done reading!

I found myself caring about the characters. The basic story is about a author who goes to cabin to write her romance book while her marriage is falling apart. If you enjoy Elin Hilderbrand style of writing you will enjoy this book. It would be a great beach read.

I'm a guy who up until now has always read nonfiction. However, I've recently discovered that if I'm going to read "make-believe" once in a while, how much I might enjoy reading novels by female authors. I'm finding out how much I can learn from them. . . especially the nuances of the authors' thought process, especially when falling in love. I would therefore like to recommend Cameo Lake, by Susan Wilson, mostly for men, who will learn just how a woman allows the budding romance to unfold. Most valuable, as I've said, are all the shades of gray that most men probably don't pick up on; for example, her understanding of shy people, pg 24. . . being excited initially with just being friends with Ben, pg 32. . . more of the same excitement on pg 68. . . her disappointment on pg 106 that he was too polite under special circumstances. . . admitting enjoying his nearness on pg 114. . . a white lie on pg 118. . . finding him increasingly attractive, pg 120. . . further, a different sort of man, pg 125. . . lots of nuanced revelations on pg 144, as her feelings for him begin to increase (lucky guy). . . resisting emotional urges, pg 191. . . agonizing over her feelings to the point of being sick, pg 196. . . "smitten with memory", pg 222. . . her own shyness revealed on pg 237. . . hey, it all adds up to a sweet and loving account of how a woman falls in love with a man. This is not a fluff book, although it is an easy read. And finally, a glance at the author's portrait on the back of the book shows all these nuances on her face, with soft eyes that penetrate deep.

Writer Cleo Grayson McCarthy is having trouble finding her muse on her latest work. Her friend Grace offers her cottage on Cameo Lake in New Hampshire to recharge her creative batteries. Now she is away from her husband and children and other distractions of everyday life. The lake is beautiful, and soon she is making progress on her book. Her neighbor across the lake catches her interest as well. His name is Ben Turner, and soon he and Cleo become friendly. Cleo's family comes to the lake for the weekend. She notices her husband Sean has pulled away from her, especially when he goes back home and leaves her with the kids. He has been getting more and more involved in work--or so he says. Eight years before, she experienced the pain of his infidelity, and she fears it is happening again. She sends her children to day camp, and in this time her friendship with Ben deepens. Secretive, wounded Ben slowly begins to open up.... The protagonists' professions are used beautifully in the narrative with ingenious references to prose and music composition. The lively first-person narrative eloquently tells the story of a woman slowly realizing that her life needs to change, and finding the courage to face grief, guilt, and pain in the change.

For those who have interest in studying tough, stong, capable men who achieve our highest office but yet fail to achieve anticipated heights of power and glory, this brief, taut biography gives insights into a northeastern political power who harbors quiet sentiments for the South's "peculiar institution" and who fails due to the dichotomy of constituent demands.

An interesting human drama played against a transitioning political background.

For years Franklin Pierce has been ill-served by the nation's historians, nearly all of whom repeat the same things about him--that he was an alcoholic, a coward in the Mexican-American war, pro-slavery and one of the reasons why this country had a Civil War.

Unfortunetely such judgements are basedly largely on biased accounts written decades ago, such as Allen Nevin's "Ordeal of the Union," an enormously slanted work on the events leading up to the Civil War; thus repeating for succeeding generations the same tired old myths without bothering to take a new look at where those myths originated.

In recent years the most important attack on Pierce came in the form of an essay written by William W. Freehling, who admits he borrowed from Nevin, in a guide called "The Presidents: A Reference History." In it, Freehling delivers what could only be described as a personal attack on the 14th president, calling him, among other things, "an inconsequential charmer," a "pleasant nonentity," and "a non-actor clinging to more powerful statemen's actions as if they were his own."

Freehling's very brief scholarship on Pierce's years after the White House are the most disturbing and incorrect. He claims, without providing any documentary evidence, that Pierce sank "deeply into an alcoholic haze," and died in 1869 "almost unnoticed, once again almost unknown."

In fact, Pierce's death was a day of national mourning called for by President Ulysses S. Grant (even the U.S. Supreme Court suspended activities), with his controversial life and career vigorously debated and amply covered by the nation's most important newspapers: The New York Times, the New York Herald, the New York Tribune and the Washigton Star, among others.

I am the author of a book called "The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce: the Story of a President and the Civil War," which mostly focuses on Pierce's activities as an ex-president during the Civil War years, when he fought against President Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus and urged the government to enter into negotiations with the Confederacy.

Far from sinking into an alcoholic haze, Pierce remained remarkably active and vigorous in retirement, engaged in contemporary debate, and compiling a record of political participation that is perhaps only equalled by Harry Truman in the decade or so after he left the White House in 1953.

For a much larger look at Pierce and his complex rise to the top during his New Hampshire years, Peter Wallner's book is a welcome addition. Unlike Freehling and others, Wallner has actually gone through the Pierce papers (the vast majority of which are available in the archives of the New Hampshire Historical Collection and through the Library of Congress' presidential papers microfilm series).

The end result is a work of solid scholarship that in no way serves to apologize for anything that Pierce does, but effectively dismantles the "non-entity" noose that others have tried to hang him with. Wallner copiously explores every aspect of Pierce's career leading up to his landslide election in 1852, and the result is a profile of a politician who was remarkably good at what he did.

Incidentally, Wallner finally puts to rest the idea that Pierce was plucked from hinterland obscurity when delegates to the Democratic convention in 1852 named him as their presidential nominee. In fact, Pierce angled for months behind the scenes to get the nod, and adriotly figured that if the other, more well-known candidates cancelled themselves out, he would have a real shot at being nominated in a later ballot.

Pierce's cunning and guile in just that contest alone, as amply demonstrated by Wallner, showed that he was actually an astute and capable political strategist.

What Wallner will tell us about Pierce as president, and whatever other myths he may effectively demolish, can only be imagined. His style is quiet and respectful, slowly building a case that casts historians like Freehling, who have appraoched the Pierce presidency a bit too breezily, in an unfavorble light.

Surely the second volume of Wallner's biography of Pierce will effectively (if the first volume has not already done so) establish him as the preeminent Pierce scholar of our time, doing for the 14th president what Arthur Schlesinger did for FDR.

Garry Boulard, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

This is the story about a handsome, gifted son of a colorful Revolutionary War veteran and governor, who seemingly with little effort became Speaker of the N.H. House at age 27, then a congressman, senator, general in the Mexican War, was among the most celebrated lawyers in his home state, turned down a presidential appointment to be U.S. attorney general, only to later become President himself. All this by age 48. With such a life, of course, came much suffering. Wouldn't you know it. With the talent and success, there was a flow of self doubt, inner torment, struggles with faith and the bottle, a difficult marriage, and huge personal grief. With the eloquence, brilliant mind and good looks was also stubbornness and political vindictiveness. It's a familiar story that always fascinates. Bright boy from a powerful, connected family makes it big, really big, but it all ends sadly. This story about Franklin Pierce is wonderfully and freshly told by author Peter A. Wallner, whose college mentor was the biographer of another president of the same era, Philip Shriver Klein (President James Buchanan: A Biography, Penn State Press, 1962; reprinted: American Political Biography Press, 1995). Drawing on documents unavailable to previous biographers, Wallner's Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire's Favorite Son is actually the first of a two volume project, covering the years from birth, to the election of 1852, to just before entering the White House. The second volume, dealing with the presidential years, is reportedly due for publication in early 2007. If it's like the first, the set will be an important new look at an easily passed over, but critical period. Let's face it. As presidents go, Franklin Pierce has not had a huge following since his one-term administration ended in 1857 (he was not renominated by his own party). Our 14th president along with the seven others between Jackson and Lincoln, rest in a kind of historical blur amid the years leading to the Civil War. Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan...not much there to inspire generations of school children, or historians for that matter (possibly excepting Polk). That's why it's so interesting, even surprising to see such a high quality, readable work about one of these to emerge. More proof that anyone capable of getting elected to the White House must certainly have a great story, if only it can be told well enough to appeal to an audience outside of academia. In this, Peter Wallner has truly delivered, and in doing so has given all who love American history, especially those interested in the Antebellum Period, a great gift indeed.

I just finished reading this book and found it interesting and well-written. It convinced me that Pierce was an exceptional politician, honest, hardworking, sincere and well liked. He was a leader in New Hampshire for many years. What struck me as odd was the fact that it ended shortly about his inauguration. There was no mention of his presidency and why he was considered a failure. Perhaps the author intends to write a second book. However, this is not evident in the first one. Also, Pierce is often tagged with the reputation as a drunk. Wallner does not delve into this problem. He points out that Pierce gave up drinking and was in favor of convincing other people to do the same.

Since Pierce was such an obscure president, there are very few books on his life. Wallner points out that he was able to consult many manuscripts that were not previous available.
That would indicate that this short life is authoritative, as far as it goes. If you want another good biography, the only one by a historian is by Nichols, but it was written decades ago. The one by Gara is not recommended. It is mainly about the period and rarely mentions Pierce by name.

It has been nigh on to 100 years since there was a complete biography of Franklin Pierce published and in that time there have been many changes in the way historians look at things. Revisionism and Counter-Revisionism and all sorts of isms have swept through the historical community but until now no one has thought to take another look at Franklin Pierce. Back in my college days I sat through classes during which the professors only mentioned Pierce in a negative light and in one class I had as a textbook a book that was very hard on Pierce and the notion that he was a horrible president and person just never seemed to be challenged. Finally in this book those notions are beginning to be challenged and in a forceful and thought provoking way.

The basis for most of the Pierce bashing comes from the idea that he was not only pro Southern but also pro-slavery and neither could be farther from the truth. Of course this book doesn't deal with his presidency or the Civil War but just with his life up until his first night in the White House but the author proves quite satisfactorily that Pierce only supported the South in matters where he believed that the Constitution was on their side and that he deplored slavery but felt that it was protected by the Constitution and to Pierce nothing was more sacred than the Constitution. The Constitution in Pierce's mind was the only thing that stood between the common man and absolute domination of the country by the rich and powerful and he wasn't willing to sacrifice that for any cause no matter how noble.

The author also does an excellent job of explaining Pierce's dislike for abolitionists above and beyond the fact that he felt that they were a threat to the Union. Pierce spent most of his life fighting for the common man and especially for religious liberty including a court case where he put his popularity on the line to defend the Shaker sect from persecution. Many of the people who sought to persecute the Shakers were abolitionists and also many abolitionists were violently anti-Catholic and Pierce began to see most abolitionists as religious bigots, which in fact many of them were. In Pierce's mind racial bigotry and religious bigotry were equally noxious and he came to detest all abolitionists because of their association with this intolerant attitude. To Pierce those who chose to lie down with dogs most certainly got up with fleas.

Mr. Wallner has done an excellent job with this book and although he has to some extent fallen into the biographer's trap of becoming too enamored by his subject he has at least backed up all of his ascertains with good research. This is a well-written and very enjoyable book that gives the reader a good look at Franklin Pierce's pre-presidential life both private and public. A lot of President Pierce's policies may look bad in hindsight but thanks to Mr. Wallner one can easily see where his core beliefs came from. Any student of the presidency will want to pick up this book as will any Civil War buff but just keep in mind that while history has not been kind to Pierce Mr. Wallner may have been a bit too kind to him. I very much look forward to volume two.

I do not know why anyone would buy this book. The author's views are just ultra right-wing. He makes Ron Paul look like a moderate. I hear this author on NH radio and he is SICK! Save your money.

I have been listening to this guys radio show for a couple of months now and have also checked out his web page [...] and really find this man to be thinker who is completely outside the box. In reading this book Mr. Goldsmith discusses current political events in an entertaining way while pointing out just how far away our government has moved away from the very document in which our country was founded. I think the people who dispise this book or who try to label it as extreme right wing are people who don't fully understand the principles from whichg this country is founded on. For the record this book blasts both Democrats and Republicans for the unconstitutional bills which they create and taking away of OUR LIBERTIES. The main message I got from this is that it's still WE THE PEOPLE who can take back our country if enough of us wake up and choose to so. I challenge anyone to read this and feel the spirit of his words---the words of our forefathers echoing through him for us.

I am very pleased with this book. The mix of essays keep the political banter confined to small chunks. Perfect for someone like me who prefers entertainment. Which is also offered at the end of the book.
A must read for those who want a glimpse into some liberty issues in the state of New Hampshire.

As a response to some of the comments, this book and the author are not "right-wing".
It is about freedom, true freedom. Politics is more than just left or right. Freedom is not confined into political parties or government. Live free or die, most Americans are choosing a slow socialist death.

Today I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Silly me, I thought we were free." I laughed and then it made me a little sad because I realized once again that we are not free. Gardner G. is certainly doing his part to promote and protect true freedom by putting together a smorgasbord of entertaining and enlightening stories that will help you understand and appreciate our current state of affairs. Buy this book, read it, and loan it to a friend when your done.

While on a road trip, during a visit to a friend's apartment in Colorado, she had a new copy of this book lying around, and I decided to pick it up and read it since she was at work and I had nothing else to do. Gardner Goldsmith is an excellent writer, and I love all of his and his father's essays. I didn't get to the fiction section of the book (I was only able to read the first 250-300 pages), but I'm sure it was just as excellent as the rest of Live Free or Die.

I may or may not be joining Gardner up in New Hampshire. I'm still on the fence with the whole Free State Project thing, but Gardner's book has done nothing but push me a little further onto the side of the FSP. Thanks, Gardner.

This series seems to be more in the style of Hornblower than the Aubrey set. Its is well phrased but the characters are rather shallowly defined. Plenty of exciting and well detailed naval action but occaisonal apparent inconsistencies or perhaps just confusing descriptions.

Having read a favorable review in the Washington Post, felt compelled to try the latest of the swashbucklers. I found it to be an interesting story, but hardly at the level of the Aubrey-Maturin series, or even Hornblower. More like the early Bollito novels by "Alexander Kent." Characters are about one molecule thick, and Our Hero is just way too heroic and an astonishingly perfect navigator in extremes of wind and weather. The action and story lines are plausible, and there is fine detail on the nuances of 18th century sailing ships. But, it's just TOO precious when Frost comes into possession of a chronometer, which were in extremely rare supply anywhere in the world during that period. All in all, I thought it was OK, but the next few stories need to sharpen and deepen the characters to keep my attention. I'd rather read the O'Brian series again!

I would have loved this book regardless of where it was set, but the fact that it takes place in and around the area where I grew up made it even more special for me. Rich and believable characters, settings, and battles make for an exciting and compelling read.

The only detraction from an otherwise excellent book: it could have used a bit more (or maybe less?) editing. While Fender's writing is rich and excellent, it suffers from occasional punctuation errors in some places and from garbled phrasing that could have easily been cleared up in others.

That's just nitpicking, however. I recommend this book very highly and am looking forward to the rest of the series.

In his first book of what hopefully will be a long series, James Fender has shown promise of being a timely and worthy successor to Patrick O'Brian. "The Private Revolution of Geoffrey Frost" builds gradually into a fascinating and entertaining account of the stirring rescue of American prisoners held under brutal conditions at an obscure port in Nova Scotia. Like O'Brian, his story is based on real events, but from an American perspective and during the Revolutionary War period. I can't wait until the next volume of the series appears.

Lovers of naval fiction in the days of sail are ordinarily treated to the escapades and adventures of the Royal Navy. There are exceptions but that is the general rule. Britania, after all, did rule the wave. This book does things a bit differently.

In the first place, the protagonist is an American from New Hampshire. The Brits are the "bad guys" in this book. In the second place, the time period is that of the American Revolution instead of the Napoleonic Wars. This too has been done before but it is much less common. Thirdly, the protagonist is not a naval officer but a merchant sea captain from the China trade. The facts of the revolution lead him somewhat reluctantly into a privateering career. It all combines to offer a fresher type of sea saga.

The book opens as Capt. Frost is coming home after an adventure in the Caribean. From there is slips into an extremely long flashback detailing the final days of the return journey, where a merchat ship successfully captures a British man of war, at a high cost. From there, it is time for him to consider his next adventure which leads him and his crew to attempt what normally tooks armies with siege trains: the capture of Louisbourg.

One of Fender's strengths is his familiar use not only of naval terms but of period vocabulary and syntax as well. This lends an air of antiquity to the whole thing which might be tiring for some but interesting for others.

This book is not as exciting as some other naval series but it
is well written and a good first attempt. At least one sequel has already been written and I look forward to reading it.

Well, there isn't much to say about this book other than it was a cozy, meandering read that doesn't take a lot of energy or concentration to read. Nothing happens in this book, either. However, I learned something about the Shaker way that I hadn't known before. It was entertaining in that respect, but nothing more. Would probably only appeal to those interested in Shakers.

I was looking through the library for a book on the Shaker way, specifically, what it might be like to be a Shaker, what goes on in their minds, and why they live(d) the way they did. This book is a truly engaging read from cover to cover -- the warm, conversational tone of the narrative kept me reading, and the insights into the Shaker world are priceless. Rather than taking a dry, anthropological view of the vanishing sect, or waxing new age, the author simply tells her own story beautifully, evoking the feeling of what it would be like to visit that time and place. I know very little about Shaker ways, which is why I picked up this book, and I'm very glad I did. From the humorous visits with the neighboring miniature makers to the serene white-washed (and even pink!) walls of the buildings to the gentle smiles of the Sisters, this memoir was charming and a great read. I couldn't put it down.

June Sprigg is a perceptive, compassionate, and poetic observer of Shaker life as she shared it in the early 1970's. Her representation is sympathetic but doesn't "whitewash" the human frailties of the people she encountered. Her descriptions of the beauty of the natural surroundings in which she lived and worked are superb, delicate, and rich. The work is further enhanced by her sweetly simple pencil sketches of the village and the Shakers she grew to love. Perfect reading for summer--or any other time.

This book is NOT just for those with an interest in the Shakers. I picked it from the library shelf at random while looking for something else, and I am so glad I did. Those who enjoy learning from their elders, those who are trying to make sense of religion, and those who love a good memoir may want to give this book a try. I loved the author's positive outlook. She treats her subject with great sensitivity, warmth, and attention to detail.

I grew up close to the only surviving Shaker village in the world and my interest in this interesting people is alive and well. I enjoyed this book for the glimpse of people who remain alive within the pages of books written by those who lived and worked among them. I would agree, this book is meant for those with an interest in the people and their everyday lives. It is a great way to prelude a visit to the Canterbury Village where everything is made real.

I can understand those who shrink from the unpleasant aspects of this novel's characters and their lives.

So what.

I think two things made this novel one of the most delightful I've read:

1. Every character is allowed at least one paragraph of first person narrative. That was splendid.

2. Brazen selfishness liberally poured over a dose of banal stupidity contrasts rather nicely with the pointless selflessness. The end result is a perpetual downward spiral of destruction of self, others and the inanimate. Mmm good humor at the expense of clueless characters.

Speak of a dysfunctional family. Wow! Meet Jim and Pauline Hutchins and their children, nephews and assorted other relatives. They find trouble where was none before. And when you think nothing else could possibly go wrong, another can of worms open up. The Book of Job is a children's tale by comparison. All this gets to the point where, unfortunately, it becomes very funny. It sounds like a story out of some Kentucky holler and not like prim, staid and silent New England.

I very much admire the author for his incredible gift of imagination. He wrote a wonderful book.

Merle Drown has written a sad, poignant yet engaging novel about a family's hard life and downward spiral in rural New Hampshire. The story of the day to day misery of the Hutchins family, as life's troubles bear down on them, should make you want to put the book down and say "forget it, enough already". But this book is written with such insight, humor and hope that you'll keep turning pages to the end. The novel is told from the different viewpoints of the five Hutchins family members. Each adds his or her feelings of past and current events, moving the story foward to its climactic ending. The real strength of this book is the amazing character development and eloquent writing. Mr. Drown has a wonderful ear for dialogue. A book about despair and the beaten down lives of a rural family and yet, uplifting in its own way.

The blue ribbon for family dysfunction has been awarded:
it is the family of Jim Hutchins from New Hampshire.

The blue ribbon for citizen dysfunction has been awarded: it is to any person living in the small town in New Hampshire associated either by relative or friends, neighbors, store owners or law enforcement officials
to the family of Jim Hutchins.

What compells anyone to read this novel is absurd expectation. The characters are barely hanging onto reality. Some of them beckon sympathy and an appeal that they will pull their stupid heads out of their....well...let us just say they beckon some empathy for their predicaments.

Yet, it is their stupidity that turns the pages of this novel. One can hardly believe their ignorance can continue to progress, and the innocent prayer that some savior will rush out to change the course of impending doom is frankly the only reason I kept up with the book!!

If you want to read more than a train wreck, read this.

To call the circumstances described in this book as "charming," as several reviewers have done, is patronizing. These characters all have major problems of their own making, they blame everyone and everything but themselves, and they all seem to think that sex or guns will solve whatever problem arises. A woman who buys "catting around" clothes for her adult, married son, then dances nude for her brother-in-law to get back some of the money (needed so that the trailer will not be repossessed for back taxes) is not charming, she's foolish. Another "adult" woman has three children in three years, endures physical abuse, and then turns to prostitution and drugs to support her alcohol habit, is sick and needs help, not a dose of charm. A man who hears snakes in his head and then buys a gun to use against his "sworn enemies" is terrifying, not charming or an example of "black humor," another term used here. This book is like a printed transcript of the Jerry Springer Show.

It seems to me that this book does not /quite/ reach the level of a great regimental history (what about the "reborn" fifth regimental history?). It seems to be much closer to a biography of Cross primarily, and a regimental history second. I have a copy of Child's 1893 regimental history, and it has far more detailed information about the regiment, and a pretty good overview about Cross as well.

My Brave Boys is readable, and seems quite solidly based, but reading the other reviews left me a bit befuddled - I didn't come away thinking it was as great a book as others seem to find. Your mileage may vary...

"May a grateful country do the Fifth New Hampshire Regiment of Volunteers justice-written history never can." - Major Otis Waite, New Hampshire in the Great Rebellion, 1886. Mike Pride & Mark Travis have done the Fifth New Hampshire proud. The authors take you from the small New Hampshire towns these men came from to the battlefields of Virginia, Maryland & Pennsylvania. They discuss in depth the relationships, good or bad, that the Fifth's commander,Col. Edward Cross,had with his subordinate officers and with his command. These two authors through their extensive research of the officers' and enlisted men's diaries,letters home and Col. Cross's own wartime journal tell of a very compelling human tragedy. You will get to know some of these men and Col. Cross. The Fifth New Hampshire Regiment of Volunteers suffered more deaths from combat than any other regiment in the Union Army. They were in the 2nd Corps (Hancock's Corp) of the Army of the Potomac. When the Fifth left Concord, NH in October of 1861 they were over 1000 men strong, after Gettysburg in July, 1863 they numbered less than 100 men. This book is the story of Cross and his men. Mike Pride and Mark Travis have told this story well. They have done New Hampshire proud.

With "My Brave Boys," authors Mike Pride and Mark Travis have set a new standard for throwing compelling illumination on a slice of the American Civil War. There've been sweeping works on the subject, military analyses, biographies and all the rest But the real untold story has been the war's impact on small communities, states and the men from them. Until now. Pride and Travis have turned their considerable journalistic skills -- both work at the Concord(NH) Monitor -- toward history, putting what amounts to a local news story in broader context. The result is highly readable, meticulously reported book. "My Brave Boys" should appeal to historical researchers, students of the Civil War and those with a more casual interest who just like a good yarn well-told. The media impact on the war and the men fighting it as told through New Hampshire newspaper editorials and accounts is an intriguing sidelight. We who grew up with Vietnam coming into our living rooms each night may appreciate more the ways in which war is brought home. For Americans, the Civil War was the first conflict to be so graphically displayed in word and picture to the general audience -- via newspapers and magazines such as Harper's Weekly. The authors have not ducked tough issues, such as the rampant racism and ethnic bias of the times. No sugar-coating of history here. The story of the 5th New Hampshire is haunting and so very human. It is a story of tragedy and triumph. And strikes a chord that continues to echo in our collective memory yet today.

"From the beginning, the story of the Fifth was not merely a war story, but mainly a human story," write Mike Pride and Mark Travis in their superb new book about the exploits of New Hampshire's legendary "Fighting Fifth" Regiment in the Civil War. In fact, it is the humsn dimension of their narrative that so distingishes it among Civil War accounts. Their extensive research into town and state archives, period news accounts, memoirs, and little-known letters takes them well beyond a catalogue of dates and skirmishes. Piecing together their sources to construct the unfolding events of the Fifth's experience, the authors give us rich insights into the personalities and thoughts of Colonel Cross and his men, showing us what war actually felt like to its participants from battle to battle, and from day to day. Not that war-making is this book's only subject. Some of its most affecting passages are from the letters written by soldiers to the wives and families they have left behind. In one striking chapter, the authors relate the surprising pronouncements the men of the Fifth made against the very blacks they were fighting to emancipate. While there is plenty to satisfy the student of the Civil War in the Fifth's story, told here for the first time, you don't have to be a Civil War buff to enjoy this volume. I'm not one myself; yet the fully developed characters and dramatic descriptions of events on the battlefield had me turning pages entranced. It's a wonderful book.

I've read what seems like a ton of books on the Civil War. It seems that there must be nothing left to learn, but of course that's not true, there's more. Two newspapermen from Concord, New Hampshire, are the latest entrants in the Civil War history competition, and their book, My Brave Boys: To War with Colonel Cross & the Fighting Fifth, is one of the best Civil War regimental histories ever written. It's amazingly well researched, wonderfully authentic, and well-enough written I was sorry it ended.

The Colonel Cross of the title was Edward E. Cross, a newspaperman from New Hampshire who had worked on newspapers in Ohio and Arizona before the war started. He was an American party member (the "Know-Nothings") and something of a bigot, but very strong-minded on the subject of the preservation of the Union. When the Civil War began, he immediately returned to New Hampshire, and through political connections was given command of the state's Fifth regiment. He immediately recruited as many experienced soldiers as he could, turned them into drillmasters, and began to transform his crowd of farmers and townsmen into soldiers.

The training paid off. In its first fight, the regiment acted as if it were composed of veterans, and the authors make it clear that it didn't lose this composure until long after Cross' death at Gettysburg, when it was weakened by draftees (from other states even!) who didn't want to fight, and weren't properly trained. The heart of the book follows the regiment through its baptism of fire in the Seven Days, the Second Bull Run campaign, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where as I said, Cross was killed. The narrative keeps you apprised of the course of the battle well enough that you understand the context of the regiment's actions and the opinions of the participants, without bogging down, and the battles themselves are recreated here as well as it's ever been done. The authors have, through contacts they have in the state, found several people who have collections of letters from participants to relatives back home. These give the narrative an immediacy and authenticity that might otherwise have been lacking.

Lastly, the maps are gorgeous. This is the sort of thing that's difficult to do in a book like this, and often you're presented with a blurry recreation of something from the era, overburdened with detail and almost illegible. The authors made a happy choice in allowing Charlotte Thibault, who's apparently the newsroom illustrator at the paper they both work at, to draw the maps. She's done a marvelous job: they convey the situation in the battles, and the Fifth's position and actions in the fighting, while being clear and easy to understand.

Pride and Travis have produced one of the best books on the Civil War in a good while. It'll be interesting to see if they have anything else up their sleeves.

"Sin Eater" was a delightful yet semi-depressing story. The protagonist (Cole) is a young boy who lost his mother to cancer and lost his father to depression.
You just want to shake the father and tell him to get a grip! Grieving comes in all forms though and Cole ends up being the stronger of the two. The father and Cole move to New Hampshire to live with Cole's grandparents. The relationship between the two grandparents is heartwarming and comical. It makes you wonder...would the grandfather have acted the same as the father if he lost his wife?
The story revolves around death and family. Cole moves to New Hampshire after his mother's death, he bonds with his grandparents who seem to meet his needs and he makes new friends (good friends). In the midst of all this, Cole stumbles onto the history of the Sin Eater. As he learns more about the sin eater, he learns more about his ancestry.
Anyway, the end will leave you wondering and questioning, what would make a man want to give up on life? Obviously he loved his wife tremendously. His actions could be considered very romantic instead of depressing. Is love really that deep?
The grandparents are wonderful. I love the relationship they share with each other. The cantankerous ole fool! lol. They're funny and bring a sense of groundedness to the story.
Gary Schmidt has a way of writing that makes you feel like you're there. You can almost smell the meadows and the hayfields and the manure! He's very descriptive! He has a very pretty way of writing. The words he choses and the way he describes things...it's just very pretty!

After reading these past reviews as compared to the booklist review, I cannot see how a critic can compare to the real people this book was written for--the regular reader. though it took me but a day to read this book, I found it invigorating, insightful and meaningful. I must admit, I am quite biased, Schmidt is one of my professors and mentors. Yet, regardless of this fact, this story is one that should be told. If not for the story itself, then for the moral and the message behind it--that one shouldn't let the hardships of life bring them down, that life goes on..we should charish life.

Overall I was very pleased with this book. Being familiar with the myth of the "Sin Eater", I was very excited about the topic of what I thought the book would present. After reading about one third of the way through however, I found it slightly odd and frankly disappointing that there had been only a brief sentence or two about a sin eater which appeared within the first chapter of the book. Not to be swayed, however, the book up to that point was filled with emotion and heartache. A young boy and his father return to the family farm after his mother's funeral to start a new life with his grandparents. There is an emptiness that rings through that pages that anyone can take to heart. Cole, the now motherless boy, narrates the text filled with daydreamed memories and a mournful spirit.
Cole is not the only the reader routes for throughout the book. The grandparents are overflowing with a familiarity to my own family that is difficult to overlook. The language that Schmidt uses in anything from dialogue to description is precise and easy to relate to. The images that he paints with words almost pop in the head without purposeful thought.
I did find the plot to move quite slowly for the first 100 pages or so. Although the background and daily observations were necessary to tie the whole story together, I did find myself aching for action. Although the title of the book leads one to believe Schmidt will tell a glorified tale of a real and local sin eater, that is not the case. That may leave some disappointment, but the book adds the myth just enough to flavor the true plot. The novel also brings in minor plots about making friends, being compassionate and trying to make the best out of heartache and sorrow.
Throughout the novel Cole discovers a story about a sin eater who in fact lived on the very same farm he was living on generations ago. The tale of the sin eater leads Cole through a search on his own ancestors. He discovers a generation full of guilt and grudges. He is able to personalize his own feelings of guilt and pain in the memory and stories of his ancestors. Just when the reader has felt enough pain on the behalf of Cole, Schmidt adds a suicide of Cole's father that brings the reader to tears. Schmidt sets the stage and story in such a way that the reader feels the same anger and confusion as Cole. The reader is left in shock and asking why, although they should have seen it coming.
Although the story is woven in pain, it gives the reader a boy reveling in his own family history to find a way to release his own guilt and anger. In the end, Cole uses the story of the sin eater who loosed the guilt of an ancestor and his adopted son to rid Cole of his own guilt and anger toward the loss of his parents.

I read this book and found it, frankly, depresing. If you would like to know, it is about a 15 year old boy who's mother passed away the year before. Now his father and himself have seemed to drift apart. So much that his father seems like a stranger. At the beginning of the book he reminises of the so-called Old Days when his mother was still alive, and when they went on car trips, and how they would play road games, which I hate to say made me feel ultimitly depressed. Then on about the second chapter, he reaches his grandparents house where he sulks and reminisses some more, while cleaning his grandmother's small family graveyard. At about 2/4 through the book, he notices a small picture of a man in a basic flannel shirt and blue jeans. After asking a family friend, he realizes it's a tin-type of the legendary Sin Eater. After this dreary period, he finally makes some local friends who take him to the Sin Eater's former house where he finds a treasure. Then Christmas time comes, and his father spends all his time upstairs in the attic, looking at old pictures, while he refuses to put up a tree, because of the memories of past Christmas's when his wife was still alive. I won't tell you the rest, in case you would like to read it yourself, but it ends in a somewhat happy ending. I would not recommed this book, but I suppose some people might like it, if your the type of person who enjoys some-what depressing lituature.

This book is a true gem. It is beautifully written and constructed. The reviewer from Booklist seems to have misunderstood the book when she said that the Sin Eater element was not well integrated -- all of the elements of this book are perfectly integrated. It is, in fact, the Sin Eater "character"(as well as Cole's grandparents, friends and community) that allow Cole to cope with and understand his loss. This is a truly beautiful book with many layers of meaning. It is about the value of family history and experience, the past, community, faith... It's a book that will make you think. It's a book you will want to reread. Don't take it lightly and don't miss it!

DuBois is something of a buried treasure. Even if you've not read others in the series, you have a sense of who the characters are. You feel Lewis' pain of losing his friend and how that friend has impacted Lewis' life. But there's good suspense as well and a well-done twist at the end. I have always enjoyed this series, and this is certainly one of his best.

As this fifth Lewis Cole mystery opens, Lewis is attending a funeral service for his friend, Jon Ericson. Lewis recently met Jon Ericson as Jon was walking on the beach below Lewis' seaside home. Jon was looking for Viking coins and other artifacts that would prove his controversial theory that the Vikings arrived in New Hampshire and vicinity long before European explorers and settlers. The two men over a short period of time became good friends.

So it was only natural that Jon, when he found proof of his theory, called Lewis with the news. Unfortunately, Lewis wasn't home and missed the call recorded by his home answering machine. When Lewis returned and heard the message he attempted to call Jon back and only got a busy signal. With a sense of excitement he headed over to Jon's house only to find an active crime scene. It was clearly a homicide and Jon was dead. Despite being warned off the case by his old friend and Police Detective, Diane Woods, he begins to work the case. In so doing, he learns more about himself than he ever expected as well as how far people will go to keep intact a certain way of history.

While introspective at numerous times through out the 258-page novel, this time out Lewis Cole is more active and more of a cold vigilante than we have seen in the past four novels. Diane, as mentioned above, is back again with a further complication in her life as well as the contradictory and complex character Felix Tinios. But front and center and clearly more so than the past books is Lewis Cole and his sense of justice.

Lewis always had a strong sense of justice. But as each novel moves forward from the nightmare of his past, he has been more and more wiling to use whatever means are necessary to accomplish his task. In so doing, the character is evolving, some would argue de-evolving, in that he no longer sees the world in black and white terms. His world has gone gray and now anything goes.

Lewis reacts as just about anyone capable to investigate would to the death of his new friend. What sets him apart, besides his considerable background covered in the preceding novels ("Killer Waves," "Shattered Shell," "Black Tide," and "Dead Sand") is his unique collection of friends and his ability to apply his Defense Department analyzing skills to the problems of friends and family. It is also interesting to watch the dichotomy of his need to avenge Jon's death and locate the killer which is done out of friendship compared to his refusal to honor his friendship with Diane who strongly needs him to stay out of the case for numerous personal reasons. Friendship is a card played over and over again by Lewis throughout this entire novel and he isn't the only one doing it.

There is a reason why this author is consistently nominated and bestowed the Shamus Award and others. His writing, with this series and outside it, is consistently strong with detailed and motivated characters pushed to their limits in complex tales that mirror everyman. His writing is excellent, his characters are real, and his tales resonate within long after the book is closed.


Book Facts


Buried Dreams: A Lewis Cole Mystery
By Brendan Dubois
www.BrendanDubois.com
Thomas Dunne Books
2004
ISBN # 0-312-32731-5
Hardback


Kevin R. Tipple ©2004

DuBois is something of a buried treasure. Even if you've not read others in the series, you have a sense of who the characters are. You feel Lewis' pain of losing his friend and how that friend has impacted Lewis' life. But there's good suspense as well and a well-done twist at the end. I have always enjoyed this series, and this is certainly one of his best.

This fifth Lewis Cole book is set in a small New Hampshire town where Cole, a writer for a magazine, lives. When the story opens, he is attending the funeral of his friend, Jon Erickson, an amateur archaeologist who was murdered the day he finally found evidence of a Viking settlement in the area. Lewis makes it his quest to discover Jon's killer and to uncover the missing Viking artifacts.
Fans of cozies should find this book to their liking, as there is little in the way of bloodshed. There is, however, an abundance of suspects, and myriad clues lead one along to a satisfying conclusion.

With this latest installment in the Lewis Cole series, the author again provides a complex, hard to predict "who done it?" with charcters rich enough that you feel you could introduce them to your family and friends. I was delighted throughout.

Since I believe one of the strongest things about the series is the wonderful development of the characters, I'm pleased that the author is allowing the characters to grow and evolve (and the characters have done alot of that with this book) just as they would in the course of their day-to-day lives. The complicated histories and personalities of Lewis and his friends would never allow them to remain the same if they were real. I imagine it is a tempting thing for an author to leave popular characters virtually the same. In this case that would make these characters stale, shallow, even stereotypical and worse ... predictable and I'm very glad the author hasn't gone that route even if it might means that we have to begin to change our expectations for the characters' behavior. In my mind this "real" nature of the characters in this series are a large part of what makes it such compelling reading.

That's not meant to imply that the characters are the only strong point. The strength of this plot is certainly an asset. When reading any mystery, although I don't want to know the answers in the first few pages I also don't want to find it tedious. This book certainly didn't disappoint. Adding pertinent clues at the appropriate times (and even making me look back to see if I really remembered that part right ...), I found it hard to put down ... even when I was done.

All in all, all I can say is I really hope there a sixth on it's way!

Thanks