A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh

Jeff Shaara’s A Blaze of Glory begins a four volume series of fiction novels based on the Civil War’s western theater. After writing both a prequel and a sequel to his father’s famous novel, Killer Angels, about the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War’s eastern theater, he moves westward. He begins this novel after the war has already begun in 1862 as Grant moves on Fts. Henry and Donaldson in northwestern Tennessee and then moves southward to Shiloh, which is the focus of this book. I prefer a good historical fiction novel that moves the story along through the dialog of its characters. However, the first part of this book reads more like a textbook, explaining to the reader the historical background to the events. He does so quite well, but it seems a bit out of touch with his other works. He also skims over the capture of those Confederate forts. I would have liked to have seen more character dialog from Grant and his gunboat captains as well as the fort commanders and perhaps less small talk later on and less historical description. He does raise the question about that great and bloody battle at Shiloh. Did the Union win the battle because of any decisive actions taken by them at the beginning of day 2 or did the Confederates lose that battle because of a lack of follow-up and indecision at the end of day one? Or did they lose it because of the death of General Albert Sidney Johnston? Which death was more costly to the Confederacy; Albert Sidney Johnston’s at Shiloh in the Western Theater or Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s at Chancellorsville in the Eastern Theater? Jeff Shaara makes you wonder. And then the book ends with a foreboding that yet even more of this horror is yet to come, but he does it in a most unique and imaginative way which I won’t spoil.