Grant Comes East | Grant Comes East | Newt Gingrich, William Forstchen

Easy Read, Insight into Personalities, Fun Historical Hypotheticals | Grant Comes East | Newt Gingrich, William Forstchen

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	• Grant Comes East Newt Gingrich, William Forstchen St. Martin's Griffin, 2005 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 68 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

WOW

Shaara's trilogy is great, but Gingrich and Forstchen bring an even more realistic setting this this time period in American history... and their take is completely fictitious! They write so well that when I was reading I wanted to keep on to see what was going to happen, but when I finished I was sad that it was over. I am looking forward to reading their other books!

Grant Comes East

I have read all three in the series. This book is the second in the series and is an excellent book. It is so well written that with a little imagination you can almost hear the artillery. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes a well written book or series and has even a little interest in the civil war. Although the battles turn out differently in the book than what happened so many years ago but the characters are truly believable and quite genuine. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good book.

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Easy Read, Insight into Personalities, Fun Historical Hypotheticals

This novel, based on the premise of a Confederate victory in place of Gettysburg, shows artful consideration of the role that logistics, meteorology and topography played in wars throughout history. All the leading characters are portrayed sympathetically, lending a (probably unrealistic) feeling that almost all the key leaders of the forces North and South wanted to end the war quickly, not just for the sake of victory, but also because of their humanitarian desire to avoid bloodshed. Lincoln, Lee, Grant, Longstreet, Judah Benjamin (not typically a noted figure in Civil War history) and others are given favorable treatment. Lee seems to be above the plane of humanity in his wisdom and judgement; Grant is held in mysterious silence, his thoughts seldom really exposed until towards the end of the book. Only sickles, who passes for a villian if anyone does, is given real capacity to look out for his own self interest first.

The story of the Confderate Army's victorious march into the occupation of Baltimore must have been relatively easy for Gingrich to contribute to, since his Georgia background probably includes some sense of the history of the Union occupation of cities in the South, while the tales of mayhem and vengance in an ungoverned city are the stories of today's warfare, as in Baghdad when a vacuum of power existed after Saddam's fall.

The book reads quickly, and even a shallow knowledge of Civil War history will be sufficient for a reader to enjoy this book, provided they have read its prequel, Gettysburg.

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Continuing A History That Might Have Been

Continuing the counter-factual history of the Civil War that they started with Gettysburg, Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen came up with another literary hit out of the park with the second volume of their trilogy, Grant Comes East.

When the last volume ended, the Army of the Potomac had been decimated at Union Mills, Maryland and it's Commanding General, George Meade, was dead. While remnants of the Union's primary Army in the East snuck behind the wide waters of the Susquehanna River, President Lincoln summoned Ulysses S. Grant, fresh from the conquest of the Confederate fort at Vicksburg, to come East, with his Army of the Tennessee, and save the Union.

Everything that made Gettysburg great continues in this novel.

On the Confederate side, the writers spend much time inside the head of it's commander, Robert E. Lee, who comes across as a man repulsed by the horrors of war, and even by much of what his newly formed nation stands for, but willing to use it's instruments to bring about an end to a war that becomes more horrible by the day.

On the Union side, there's much more time spent in Washington as seen from the perspective of President Lincoln. Partly, that's because Lee, fresh off his victory at Union Mills, turns his attention to an attempt to break through the fortifications around Washington, D.C. In a particularly memorable and moving chapter, the third wave of Confederate troops does break through into Fort Stevens only to be repulsed by the just-arrived troops of the 54th Massachusetts, the nation's first regiment of black soldiers.

And this is where things start to change from the first volume in the series. Then, it seemed like Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia could do virtually no wrong, while the Army of the Potomac, and the Union it defended, seemed doomed. The attack on Fort Stevens, though, was clearly a mistake, and even Lee admits his error in sending his troops in to a garrison defended by upwards of 40,000 fresh troops.

And that's when politics starts to enter the picture.

Just as Lee is withdrawing from the outskirts of Washington, a convoy carrying Jefferson Davis arrives. Clearly, Davis had expected to enter the capital as a conqueror and is bitterly disappointed by the result. Unmoved, he convinces Lee to set his sights on Baltimore with the hope of bringing Maryland into the Confederacy.

Baltimore is conquered, but not before a riot that nearly destroys the city and sickens Lee and his staff. It's also in Baltimore that a most interesting exchange takes place between Lee, Judah Benjamin the Confederate Secretary of State, and a Rabbi. The Rabbi argues forcefully that, notwithstanding it's recent victories, the South will lose the war unless it regains the moral high ground. His suggestion -- emancipate the slaves and allow colored troops to serve in the Confederate Army. Both Lee and Benjamin are sympathetic to the suggestion -- a reaction consistent with their attitudes in real life -- but they both know that President Davis and the slavocracy that supports him will never allow it.

And there are politics in Washington as well. After giving Grant complete command of all Union forces in the field, Lincoln is forced to accept the appointment of General Dan Sickles, fresh from his suppression of draft riots in New York City that were even worse than what occurred in our world, to command of the remnants of the Army of the Potomac. Sickles is a War Democrat, and the support of his cronies is crucial to preserve the fragile political stability of the Union.

Sickles appointment will prove to be a disaster, as Lee uses his skills to trick the politician-turned-warrior into advancing into a trap that results in the Army of the Potomac being finally, officially destroyed.

But, the war isn't over. As the novel ends, Grant and his newly named Army of the Susquehanna are crossing the river and heading south. The final battle of the Civil War is approaching, two years earlier than it occurred in our world.

Once again, there's almost nothing wrong with this book. There are a few small factual errors. At the beginning of the book, Lincoln's Vice-President, Maine's Hannibal Hamlin, is referred to as "Vice-President Blaine" -- a reference to another Maine politician, James G. Blaine, who would not make his mark on the national scene for another decade or two. It was an obvious editor's mistake, but it pales in comparison to what makes this book, and the story it tells, so great.

There was obviously a formidable amount of research that went into this book, even to the point of a pretty accurate description of the topography and geography of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and it shows. More importantly, though, these characters, even though they are real people that have been written about countless times, come to life in a new, and entirely plausible way.

I can't wait to get through Volume Three.

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Uncle Sam & The Congressman Who Got Away With Murder

This is the second installment in Newt Gingrich's Civil War Active History trilogy. Grant Comes East picks up in the dark days after the Union is routed at Gettysburg. Lee moves quickly to attack Baltimore and Washington before US Grant moves east and becomes Lincoln's Last Great Hope.

Congressman Dan Sickles takes over a beaten Army of The Potomac, and tries to set it right, but like all overzealous politicians is ultimately brought low by his own ambitions. The political intrigue, obviously The Speaker's forte, is the real story here. Sickles becomes the hero of the Democrats, including Boss Tweed, when he brutally ends the New York draft riots. Not even Grant can keep Sickles in line, and when the time comes, he puts the Army of the Potomac in grave danger again.

Lincoln becomes personally involved in defending DC. Black troops are fielded in Grant's army. Baltimore and Maryland fall to the Confederates. Perhaps the French will enter the fray. Gingrich brings his alternative view of history to life, this is a well told story. But then Grant does the truly unexpected and we need to get the third installment to see if the South could possibly win the war.

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THE BATTLE MAY HAVE BEEN WON,
BUT THE WAR IS FAR FROM OVER.

Grant Comes East continues the story of a Confederate victory, examining the great "what if" of American history: Could Lee have won the Battle of Gettysburg? A Confederate victory, however, would not necessarily mean that the Southern cause has gained its final triumph and a lasting peace. It is from this departure point that the story continues in Grant Comes East, as General Robert E. Lee's marches on Washington, D.C., and launches an assault against one of the largest fortifications in the world.

Beyond a military victory in the field, Lee must also overcome the defiant stand of President Abraham Lincoln, who vows that regardless of the defeat at Gettysburg, his solemn pledge to preserve the Union will be honored at all cost.

At the same time, Lincoln has appointed General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of all Union forces. Grant, fresh from his triumph at Vicksburg, races east, bringing with him his hardened veterans from Mississippi to confront Lee.

What ensues across the next six weeks is a titanic struggle as the surviving Union forces inside the fortifications of Washington fight to hang on, while Grant prepares his counterblow. Spanning the ground from Washington to the banks of the Susquehanna, these factors will come together in a climatic, pivotal struggle.

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