Synopses & Reviews
With his acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure, Jeff Shaara expanded upon his father's Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War classic, The Killer Angels--ushering the reader through the poignant drama of this most bloody chapter in our history. Now, in Gone for Soldiers, Jeff Shaara carries us back fifteen years before that momentous conflict, when the Civil War's most familiar names are fighting for another cause, junior officers marching under the same flag in an unfamiliar land, experiencing combat for the first time in the Mexican-American War.
In March 1847, the U.S. Navy delivers eight thousand soldiers on the beaches of Vera Cruz. They are led by the army's commanding general, Winfield Scott, a heroic veteran of the War of 1812, short tempered, vain, and nostalgic for the glories of his youth. At his right hand is Robert E. Lee, a forty-year-old engineer, a dignified, serious man who has never seen combat.
Scott leads his troops against the imperious Mexican dictator, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. Obsessed with glory and his place in history, Santa Ana arrogantly underestimates the will and the heart of Scott and his army. As the Americans fight their way inland, both sides understand that the inevitable final conflict will come at the gates and fortified walls of the ancient capital, Mexico City.
Cut off from communication and their only supply line, the Americans learn about their enemy and themselves, as young men witness for the first time the horror of war. While Scott must weigh his own place in history, fighting what many consider a bully's war, Lee the engineer becomes Lee the hero, the one man in Scott's command whose extraordinary destiny as a soldier is clear.
In vivid, brilliant prose that illuminates the dark psychology of soldiers and their commanders trapped behind enemy lines, Jeff Shaara brings to life the haunted personalities and magnificent backdrop, the familiar characters, the stunning triumphs and soul-crushing defeats of this fascinating, long-forgotten war. Gone for Soldiers is an extraordinary achievement that will remain with you long after the final page is turned.
Review
"Having novelized the Civil War to monstrous commercial success in Gods and Generals (1996) and The Last Full Measure (1998), Shaara here alights upon the training ground for that war's future officers, the Mexican-American War....Because Shaara dwells so much on Lee's thoughts, battle narrative unfolds roughly. Even the narrative of Lee's most famous exploit in the war, his reconnaissance that proved the key to victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, seems conventional and lacks vivacity....Despite a palpable dip in quality from the author's previous historical fiction, most of Shaara's fans will ride with Lee on this campaign." Booklist
Review
"Brilliant does not even begin to describe the Shaara gift." Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Review
"[Shaara relies] on the history behind the men and their campaigns to tell the tale....Most poignant of all is the appearance of so many characters who will fight under opposing flags 13 years later. Stonewall Jackson shows up as a humorless young lieutenant with a spiritual reverence for his artillery, and Ulysses S. Grant awkwardly meets [Robert E.] Lee....The salvaging of such episodes from history is ultimately a patriotic task, deserving of gratitude."
The Washington Post Book World
Review
"Compelling....Thrilling....Shaara briskly drives the U.S. forces to Mexico City, building suspense at each battle, all towards the climactic storming of the gates of the capital....[He] has humanized the mythos of Lee as no one ever has and, in doing, makes an enduring contribution to literature." Civil War Book Review
Review
"Shaara, as usual, is at his best in action and confrontation and in evoking how it felt to be there." The Philadelphia Inquirer
Synopsis
In this stunning, unforgettable novel, Jeff Shaara carries us back thirteen years before the Civil War, when that momentous conflict's most familiar names are fighting for another cause, junior officers marching under the same flag in an unfamiliar land, experiencing combat for the first time in the Mexican-American War.
Synopsis
In Gone for Soldiers, Jeff Shaara carries us back 15 years before the momentous conflict he has so brilliantly chronicled, to a time when the Civil War's most familiar names are fighting foranother cause, junior officers marching under the same flag in an unfamiliar land, experiencing combat for the first time in the Mexican-American War.
In March 1847, 8,000 soldiers landed on the beachesof Vera Cruz, led by the army's commanding general, Winfield Scott-a heroic veteran of the War of 1812, short tempered, vain, and nostalgic for the glories of his youth. At his right hand is Robert E. Lee, a fortyyear-old engineer, a dignified, serious man who has never seen combat.
In vivid prose that illuminates the dark psychology of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, Jeff Shaara brings to life the familiarcharacters, the stunning triumphs and soul-crushing defeats of this fascinating, long-forgotten war.
Synopsis
Thirteen years before the Civil War, eight thousand marines land in Vera Cruz bound for a fateful war against the Mexican army, including Winfield Scott, a vain general who made history in the War of 1812, and Robert E. Lee, a forty-year-old engineer as yet untested in battle. 150,000 first printing.
About the Author
Jeff Shaara divides his time between New York, Florida, and Montana. In his bestsellers, Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure, he continued the Pulitzer Prize-Winning story begun by his father, Michael, in The Killer Angels. His newest novel is Rise to Rebellion.