Access to Cloud Library will end after January 26, 2024, and titles from this collection will move to OverDrive/Libby. Click here for more information.

The Riviera Beach Library is currently closed.

A Chain of Thunder: A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg

Book Cover
Average Rating
Author:
NoveList Series:
Publisher:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Pub. Date:
2013
Language:
English
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Continuing 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.
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Jeff Shaara's The Smoke at Dawn.
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
Also in This Series
More Like This
More Details
ISBN:
9780345527400
9780449008683
Staff View

Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID45feca9d-f352-2f25-0834-4a695b65e90f
Grouping Titlechain of thunder
Grouping Authorjeff shaara
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2023-12-06 06:13:12AM
Last Indexed2023-12-06 06:15:29AM

Solr Fields

accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Shaara, Jeff
author_display
Shaara, Jeff
available_at_aacpl
Online OverDrive Collection
detailed_location_aacpl
Online OverDrive Collection
display_description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Continuing 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.
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Jeff Shaara's The Smoke at Dawn.
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
format_aacpl
eAudiobook
eBook
format_category_aacpl
Audio Books
eBook
id
45feca9d-f352-2f25-0834-4a695b65e90f
isbn
9780345527400
9780449008683
last_indexed
2023-12-06T11:15:29.213Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Fiction
literary_form_full
Fiction
local_callnumber_aacpl
Online OverDrive
owning_library_aacpl
Anne Arundel County Public Library Online
owning_location_aacpl
Online OverDrive Collection
primary_isbn
9780345527400
publishDate
2013
publisher
Books on Tape
Random House Publishing Group
recordtype
grouped_work
series
Civil War in the West
series_with_volume
Civil War in the West|
title_display
A Chain of Thunder A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg
title_full
A Chain of Thunder A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg
title_short
A Chain of Thunder
title_sub
A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg
topic_facet
Fiction
Historical Fiction
Literature
Thriller

Solr Details Tables

item_details

Bib IdItem IdShelf LocCall NumFormatFormat CategoryNum CopiesIs Order ItemIs eContenteContent SourceeContent URLDetailed StatusLast CheckinLocation
overdrive:82463d9c-b083-4ff4-94f9-699716849c0a-1Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeBookeBook6falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:82463d9c-b083-4ff4-94f9-699716849c0a1Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeBookeBook1falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:133c76a2-58a1-4005-bfe4-0267b3685c8e1Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books2falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online

record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
overdrive:82463d9c-b083-4ff4-94f9-699716849c0aeBookeBookEnglishRandom House Publishing Group2013
overdrive:133c76a2-58a1-4005-bfe4-0267b3685c8eeAudiobookAudio BooksEnglishBooks on Tape2013

scoping_details_aacpl

Bib IdItem IdGrouped StatusStatusLocally OwnedAvailableHoldableBookableIn Library Use OnlyLibrary OwnedHoldable PTypesBookable PTypesLocal Url
overdrive:82463d9c-b083-4ff4-94f9-699716849c0a-1Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruetruefalsefalsefalse
overdrive:82463d9c-b083-4ff4-94f9-699716849c0a1Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruetruefalsefalsetrue
overdrive:133c76a2-58a1-4005-bfe4-0267b3685c8e1Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruetruefalsefalsetrue