The Long Roll

I was skeptical when I purchased this book. Women writing military fiction do not usually make me very happy. This lady hit it on the head! Her research and closeness to the subject was right on. She was born in Virginia in 1870 and her father was a Confederate Soldier. The British printing was odd at times but I followed the movements of my ancestors in the famous Stonewall Brigade (5th Virginia) and was amazed at her accurate attention to detail. I am used to ladies writing sappy stories and doing minimal research, producing a book like John Jakes or James Reasoner (two of my least favorite authors). Not in this case! Ms. Johnston tells an accurate and interesting story in proper time order. I have "Cease Firing" and will read it next.

After reading this book you will have a new appreciation for Stonewall Jackson and the "Valley" campaign. The author makes you feel you are there, and the battles and Valley environment come alive. I visited the "Valley" area shortly after reading this novel (I just had to!) and looked at it through very different eyes after experiencing this book. It is one of my very favorites, and a "must read" for civil war buffs as history is entwined within the story.

Written by CSA' General Joe Johnston's daughter, this first volume is an entertaining novel. Written at the turn of the century by one of the bestselling novelists of the day, this book is full of surprises for the modern, well-read reader. The first two chapters were difficult for this reader to adjust to the early 1900's style; but, became thoroughly enjoyable for the next 600 pages. Set primarily in Virginia, several characters are fully developed from 1860 through 1863. Several women attended to Confederate soldiers in hospitals around Richmond and they view the Battle of Seven Pines from the rooftops; this segment is very interesting due to the fact that the civilians view the battle through a variety of telescopes and interviews with stragglers from the battlefield. The Valley Campaign is viewed at times through the eyes of a CSA private who avoids fighting but nevertheless ends up between battlelines and charges a battery. Like other products of the times, their is a romantic interest that is conventional and suspensful. There is a military injustice which results from love denied and there are vignettes of bitter feuds in the relationships of Lee' lieutenants. Among the best battlefield scences, are the fates of three nameless CSA soldiers caught between the lines somewhere on the Emmitsburg Road. A long, well paced novel that not only gives a good story but also takes you back to the mindset of those who read for pleasure before TV and radio shortened attention spans