Glory Enough for All

I am reviewing the hardback copy. This is a very, very good read. Whatever you may have read about the battle of the crater, this account is probably the most concise work around. Duane Schultz has entertwined just enough fiction to make it interesting and a great amount of historical facts that give it creditability.

Duane Schultz is a historian. Why he chose to write a historical novel I don't know. He's done other stuff on the Civil War (on the Dahlgren raid on Richmond, for instance) but as far as I know this is his only, to date, historical novel, in any setting. The story mainly follows the Union side, and focuses for the most part on Henry Pleasants, the young Lt. Col. of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteers who led the construction of what was, at the time, the longest military mine (think a tunnel with explosive charges planted at the far end) that had ever been constructed, in history. Pleasants, a mining engineer in civilian life, was insistent that he could construct such a mine, and in spite of protests from experts, went ahead and did it. The ensuing explosion destroyed a portion of the Confederate lines outside the city of Petersburg, but the Union attack mounted thereafter was a poor effort and the result was a disaster for the Yankees. Blame can be spread pretty much everywhere in the Union army, from drunken or cowardly division commanders (two of whom waited out the battle in a bomb shelter, drinking) to Burnside, the Corps commander of doubtful competence, to Meade and Grant, who of course shifted the leadership of the attack at the last minute without consulting anyone, thereby screwing the whole thing up. The odd thing about this book is that it's already been done, as a novel, and a bit more poetically at that. The other book is Richard Slotkin's "The Crater" which was published maybe 20-25 years ago. Slotkin's book is longer, gives more attention to the Confederates (here they're merely background, for the most part), and spends a lot of time with the Black troops who were supposed to lead the attack. Schultz limits his discussion of everything other than Pleasants. I enjoyed this book, but frankly remember Slotkin's book as better, and would probably recommend it instead, if there were a choice. Glory Enough for All isn't bad, though.

This an absolutely absorbing story of the Battle fo the Crater near the end of the civil war. But this book is more than just a civil war novel. It is a study of how people with different agendas and motives affected the war, and ultimately the lives of many people. If you work in corporate America, you will see modern simliarities which will makeyou simulatneously laugh and cry: The general from West Point who wrote the book on military mining but never stepped foot in a mine; the poor decisions made because the motive was to personally win, at the expense of winning the war; the yankee ingenuity of the 'workers' to solve problems in spite of no support -- even intereference -- from above. It is a wonderful story that is easy to tell as a teaching aid later. Great book!

This book is very similar in style to the great series of Civil War docu-fictions written by Jeff and Michael Shaara ("Gods and Generals", "The Killer Angels", "The Last Full Measure"). In "Glory" we pretty much stay behind the Union lines, sensing the low morale of the entrenched troops and the desperate desire to end the war quickly before the Pres. election of 1864. The book centers around the Forty-Eighth PA volunteers, their brilliant leader (and engineer), Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants, and the mine they dug underneath Confederate lines in an attempt to end the seige. The story is told in a gripping discussion of wartime politics, personality clashes, outstanding engineering and good-old-fashioned back-breaking work. There are MANY different subplots to the whole endeaveor, providing the reader with outstanding insight into what may have transpired during this period of the war. With so many odds (man-made, technical and natural) stacked against them, the Forty-Eighth's achievement is remarkable. Overall, just a great read for a Civil War enthusiast (a bit too focused on a tiny part of the whole conflict if you're new to studying the war). The reader must keep in mind that while much of the novel is based on documented fact, it is still a fiction; many details (conversations, etc.) were not fully documented and the author "theorizes" how a conversation may have occured. In the end, perhaps only a history purist would not enjoy this detailed look into this extraordinary attempt to end the war in one "blow" (pun intended!).

A fine blend of historical facts, attitudes and personalities from a mostly Union characters. Good presentation of a Confederate sharpshooter, Union coal mining soldiers, brave front line commanders and stupid generals. Racism is a issue in this novel as it was in the Union and Confederate armies of the time. Close to a "I don't think I can put it down" experience. It left an impression of the courage of the soldiers on both sides and disgust with the generals who never thought the attack through. The setting is Petersburg, VA, 1864.