Galveston

A good read for time traveling outdoors from the comfort of your armchair. The series covers a view of the Civil War in the West (New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and the Mississipi-Red River) that is refreshing. The descriptions of outdoor New Mexico, Galveston and Louisiana/Missippi in the Civil War period of the 1860's are fascinating and transporting. The series is an easy, comfortable read probably best started at the beginning with Glorietta Pass, but could be started with any book without much backtracking. P.G. Nagle provides a comfortably realistic set of characters, which to me, provide neither a uniquely feminine nor masculine view of War life-- quite a trick to pull off well in what is essentially a long story of the Civil War. The changing society of of the Civil War offers a contrast between the raw frontier in New Mexico and early pre-industrial city life in bigger cities like Galveston and Houston. The effects of railroads and steam-driven shipping on the West is caught in a frozen picture of change within the narrow timeframe of the Civil War. While I found this series to be interesting adult fiction, they would make a fine gift for an avid teenage reader as well.