Books - Preston Nuttall Historical Novels
A brief description of each appears below.
Warriors of the Triple Chevron
Hardcover with dusk jacket
454 pages
Price $25.00 (includes shipping)
The Civil War was a defining moment for the American people, raising issues that were deeper and feelings that were more passionate than at any other time in our history.Farmers, students, slaves, merchants, carpenters, plantation owners - all found themselves tangled in a web of human tragedy, forced to fight for survival. Just as surely as the private who follows his sergeant into battle, all became 'warriors of the triple chevron'.
With much of the story based on actual events, this is a historical novel about several such 'warriors' – a boy from the North Carolina Outer Banks, an eccentric professor from the Virginia Military Institute, a girl from a prominent Virginia plantation – individuals with little in common until thrown together into a maelstrom of events which changed not only their lives but the course of American history.
Two excerpts follow:
"Thomas turned his back and walked away. He was losing control and wanted to be alone. He didn't want his officers to see the tears forming in his eyes.
Out beyond the circle of light he walked, out along the railroad embankment where his men had fought so hard and where so many had fallen.
How much more killing, he wondered. How long before the mission of killing that he felt God had given him would be done and he could be with Anna and their expected child?
How much longer before he could enjoy the creation of life instead of the heartbreak of so much death?"
*******
"Descendants of the founding fathers, sons of wealthy planters and dirt farmers, men from the coastal regions, the cities, the mountains, all were molded into one body with a common purpose as together they stared silently across the field.
Southern independence lay one mile away on that ridge, shimmering in the heat like a mirage. Was it real or was it a dream? The men…were eager to settle the issue, but time seemed to drag by minute by minute as they sweated and waited."
Paperback
260 pages
$22.50 (includes shipping)(Note: During writing, this book was titled Bond of Rebellion. I changed it to the above title during the editing process.)
On December 11, 1862, Fredericksburg is reduced to ruble as union artillery works to dislodge confederate sharpshooters. Union troops finally cross the river and the Confederates are forced back to fortifications just outside the town.
A rebel sharpshooter and a slave girl find themselves trapped in the same cellar as the fighting rages around them. Lizzie is waiting to escape to the union forces. Britt is trying to avoid capture until he can return to his comrades, but meantime he must hold Lizzie prisoner. They are natural enemies, literally as different as the color of their skin.
But the instinct to survive sometimes breeds strange bedfellows, and they form an uneasy alliance, only to have a tumultuous chain of events place them in grave danger.
The survival of each rests on the other making difficult decisions – decisions that bring them face to face with their inner selves.
Two excerpts follow:
"Britt…studied his target. The Federal wore a mustache and spectacles and had skin the color of bleached flour, like someone not used to the outdoors. Probably a schoolteacher or shopkeeper, thought Britt, some New England abolitionist who treated Indians and Irishmen like dirt but figured he could come down here and teach Southerners how to live.
He liked getting to know his victim a little. It put the whole thing on a more personal basis. That's why he had become a sharpshooter. He wanted a good look at who he was killing, and he wanted to watch them die."
*******
"They lingered at the window, for there were other feelings…feelings that each found strange and unexpected. Despite their undeniable differences, the thought of parting left an empty feeling in the pits of their stomachs.Their eyes locked on each other for a brief moment, but during that moment a kaleidoscope of emotions flooded their minds and spilled onto their faces. Each sensed what the other was feeling and the things they wanted to say, but each knew they must purge such feelings and leave such thoughts unsaid."
Paperback
290 pages
$22.50 (includes shipping)Based entirely on fact, this is the incredible true story of the Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle, a 155-foot ship built in a North Carolina cornfield under the direction of an eighteen-year-old boy. Though written as a historical novel, it is in reality a history book to which has been added dialogue and character insights. It does not betray the cold facts of history, but rather warms them up and gives them feelings. The product of extensive research, it includes much information obtained from direct descendents of the participants. A synopsis follows:
Yankee conquest of the North Carolina sounds in early 1862 leaves Union gunboats free to raid the river towns and plantations, disrupt commerce and threaten the railroads bringing supplies north to Lee's army. Short on infantry, the Confederacy determines to build ironclad ships to counter this threat, including one on the Roanoke River. James Cooke, a native North Carolinian, thirty-four year veteran of the old navy, and the only southern captain to distinguish himself in the fighting on the sounds, is chosen to oversee construction. He faces tortuous obstacles including a shortage of iron and facilities, enemy raids, and inept superior officers. The only experienced shipbuilder at his disposal is eighteen-year-old Gilbert Elliott.
Charles Flusser is an aggressive, thirty-year-old former acquaintance of Cooke in the prewar navy who commands the Union wooden squadron at the mouth of the Roanoke. Each seeks to destroy the other. Flusser sees it as an opportunity for fame and promotion; Cooke seeks to remove this spear thrust into his homeland's midsection. The two engage in a deadly mental duel - a chess match of move and countermove - that grows increasingly personal as they move toward an inevitable showdown.
This remarkable story stands as a monument to duty, determination and human achievement under the most adverse circumstances.
Email: pnuttall@hughes.net
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