Mazey, Lisa 2025 1-4955-1327-0 358 pages Historical fiction authors use hindsight when adding to the record of tumultuous times in history. Most clearly described as writing that “dramatizes a specific historical period a few decades at least before the time of writing and focuses on a central character… who is affected directly in some way by real historical dramas,” historical fiction takes readers to a past time and place which is known but unfamiliar. This text investigates historical fiction about disguised female soldiers in the American Civil War whose role in American history is gaining renewed recognition. Three works are discussed: the books Behind Rebel Lines (1988) by Seymour Reit and I Shall Be Near to You (2014) by Erin Lindsay McCabe, and the film My Brother’s War (2005) by Whitney Hamilton. Scrutinizing these narratives is significant because they expand on women’s lives left unexplored or overlooked in canonical Civil War literature and contest the prevailing understandings of nineteenth-century military and gender boundaries.
Davis, Robert Scott 2024 1-4955-1302-5 132 pages This is an interesting study of little know adventures which took place during the American Civil War. Each is unique and well researched. The book also has excellent foot noting. Davis has done a fine job on covering the War years in a most balanced way, by presenting adventures of both the Grey and Blue.