Borrow it
Coverart for item
The Resource A Chain of Thunder

A Chain of Thunder

Creator
Summary
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERContinuing the series that began with A Blaze of Glory, Jeff Shaara returns to chronicle another decisive chapter in America’s long and bloody Civil War. In A Chain of Thunder, the action shifts to the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. There, in the vaunted “Gibraltar of the Confederacy,” a siege for the ages will cement the reputation of one Union general—and all but seal the fate of the rebel cause. In May 1863, after months of hard and bitter combat, Union troops under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant at long last successfully cross the Mississippi River. They force the remnants of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton’s army to retreat to Vicksburg, burning the bridges over the Big Black River in its path. But after sustaining heavy casualties in two failed assaults against the rebels, Union soldiers are losing confidence and morale is low. Grant reluctantly decides to lay siege to the city, trapping soldiers and civilians alike inside an iron ring of Federal entrenchments. Six weeks later, the starving and destitute Southerners finally surrender, yielding command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces on July 4—Independence Day—and marking a crucial turning point in the Civil War. Drawing on comprehensive research and his own intimate knowledge of the Vicksburg Campaign, Jeff Shaara once again weaves brilliant fiction out of the ragged cloth of historical fact. From the command tents where generals plot strategy to the ruined mansions where beleaguered citizens huddle for safety, this is a panoramic portrait of men and women whose lives are forever altered by the siege. On one side stand the emerging legend Grant, his irascible second William T. Sherman, and the youthful “grunt” Private Fritz Bauer; on the other, the Confederate commanders Pemberton and Joseph Johnston, as well as nineteen-year-old Lucy Spence, a civilian doing her best to survive in the besieged city. By giving voice to their experiences at Vicksburg, A Chain of Thunder vividly evokes a battle whose outcome still reverberates more than 150 years after the cannons fell silent.Praise for A Chain of Thunder “[Jeff] Shaara continues to draw powerful novels from the bloody history of the Civil War. . . . The dialogue intrigues. Shaara aptly reveals the main actors: Grant, stoic, driven, not given to micromanagement; Sherman, anxious, high-strung, engaged even when doubting Grant’s strategy. . . . Worth a Civil War buff’s attention.”—Kirkus Reviews “Searing . . . Shaara seamlessly interweaves multiple points of view, as the plot is driven by a stellar cast of real-life and fictional characters coping with the pivotal crisis. . . . [A] riveting fictional narrative.”—Booklist“Shaara’s historical accuracy is faultless, and he tells a good story. . . . The voices of these people come across to the reader as poignantly as they did 150 years ago.”—Historical Novels Review“The writing is picturesque and vibrant. . . . [an] engrossing tale.”—Bookreporter
Work
Instance
Label
A Chain of Thunder
Title
A Chain of Thunder
Creator
Subject
Summary
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERContinuing the series that began with A Blaze of Glory, Jeff Shaara returns to chronicle another decisive chapter in America’s long and bloody Civil War. In A Chain of Thunder, the action shifts to the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. There, in the vaunted “Gibraltar of the Confederacy,” a siege for the ages will cement the reputation of one Union general—and all but seal the fate of the rebel cause. In May 1863, after months of hard and bitter combat, Union troops under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant at long last successfully cross the Mississippi River. They force the remnants of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton’s army to retreat to Vicksburg, burning the bridges over the Big Black River in its path. But after sustaining heavy casualties in two failed assaults against the rebels, Union soldiers are losing confidence and morale is low. Grant reluctantly decides to lay siege to the city, trapping soldiers and civilians alike inside an iron ring of Federal entrenchments. Six weeks later, the starving and destitute Southerners finally surrender, yielding command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces on July 4—Independence Day—and marking a crucial turning point in the Civil War. Drawing on comprehensive research and his own intimate knowledge of the Vicksburg Campaign, Jeff Shaara once again weaves brilliant fiction out of the ragged cloth of historical fact. From the command tents where generals plot strategy to the ruined mansions where beleaguered citizens huddle for safety, this is a panoramic portrait of men and women whose lives are forever altered by the siege. On one side stand the emerging legend Grant, his irascible second William T. Sherman, and the youthful “grunt” Private Fritz Bauer; on the other, the Confederate commanders Pemberton and Joseph Johnston, as well as nineteen-year-old Lucy Spence, a civilian doing her best to survive in the besieged city. By giving voice to their experiences at Vicksburg, A Chain of Thunder vividly evokes a battle whose outcome still reverberates more than 150 years after the cannons fell silent.Praise for A Chain of Thunder “[Jeff] Shaara continues to draw powerful novels from the bloody history of the Civil War. . . . The dialogue intrigues. Shaara aptly reveals the main actors: Grant, stoic, driven, not given to micromanagement; Sherman, anxious, high-strung, engaged even when doubting Grant’s strategy. . . . Worth a Civil War buff’s attention.”—Kirkus Reviews “Searing . . . Shaara seamlessly interweaves multiple points of view, as the plot is driven by a stellar cast of real-life and fictional characters coping with the pivotal crisis. . . . [A] riveting fictional narrative.”—Booklist“Shaara’s historical accuracy is faultless, and he tells a good story. . . . The voices of these people come across to the reader as poignantly as they did 150 years ago.”—Historical Novels Review“The writing is picturesque and vibrant. . . . [an] engrossing tale.”—Bookreporter
Accompanying matter
technical information on music
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Shaara, Jeff
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Literature
  • Historical Fiction
  • Thriller
  • Fiction
Label
A Chain of Thunder
Instantiates
Publication
Capture and storage technique
digital storage
Configuration of playback channels
unknown
Control code
OVERDRIVE:133c76a2-58a1-4005-bfe4-0267b3685c8e
Dimensions
not applicable
Form of item
electronic
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
http://library.link/vocab/inputERC
True
Isbn
9780449008683
Kind of cutting
not applicable
Kind of disc cylinder or tape
not applicable
Kind of material
other
http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
True
Special playback characteristics
unknown
Specific material designation
  • other
  • remote
Speed
unknown
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable
Label
A Chain of Thunder
Publication
Capture and storage technique
digital storage
Configuration of playback channels
unknown
Control code
OVERDRIVE:133c76a2-58a1-4005-bfe4-0267b3685c8e
Dimensions
not applicable
Form of item
electronic
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
http://library.link/vocab/inputERC
True
Isbn
9780449008683
Kind of cutting
not applicable
Kind of disc cylinder or tape
not applicable
Kind of material
other
http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
True
Special playback characteristics
unknown
Specific material designation
  • other
  • remote
Speed
unknown
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable

Subject

Library Locations

    • Charleston County Public Library - MainBorrow it
      68 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, US
      32.7883294 -79.9309573

Library Links

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Charleston County Public Library. Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.