John B. Severance, whose latest biography was Einstein, Visionary Scientist, now turns his research skills and fine eye for detail to fiction. The last two years of the Civil War are the setting for this fast-paced story of a 15-year-old Maryland farm boy who joins the Union Army, despite being torn between loyalty to his father, a Union officer, and loyalty to his grandfather, a Confederate. When foraging Confederate soldiers burn down the barn on Jem’s land, he and his best friend go off on what they think will be a glorious adventure. But they are hardly prepared for the true face of battle as they fight the enemy—boys like themselves—in the woods and swamps, become part of the regiment proudly known as General Barlow’s Boys, march through blood-soaked cornfields, and witness death. Details of the soldiers’ daily life and vivid depictions of actual battles and historical figures are interwoven with bits of dark humor and even a touch of romance in this well-wrought novel that clearly shows there is no glory in war. Read Less