About David H. Jones
David H. Jones has given a number of presentations nationwide on the experiences of the Prentiss brothers, the 6th Regiment of Maryland Infantry and the final stage of the Petersburg Campaign in the American Civil War. During three years of research for “Two Brothers: One North, One South”, he ventured into the swamps of Dinwiddie County, Virginia to rediscover the lost location where a pivotal event in the book took place.
He is a member of The Society of Civil War Historians, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Sons of the Revolution in the State of California and the Civil Warriors Civil War Round Table.
Born and raised in West Virginia, Mr. Jones has been a lifelong student of American history and the Civil War. A graduate of Kentucky Military Institute and Babson College, former Navy officer, and business executive, he currently lives and writes in Los Angeles, California.
Book Video
TWO BROTHERS: ONE NORTH, ONE SOUTH - Hardcover
(ISBN 978-0-9796898-5-7)
TWO BROTHERS: ONE NORTH, ONE SOUTH - Audio Book
(ISBN 978-0-9796898-8-8)
DISTRIBUTED BY INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS GROUP ( IPG )
1-800- 888-4741
AWARDS
2008 Benjamin Franklin Award for Book Cover Design
The Military Writers Society of America 2008 Silver Medal for Historical Fiction
2009 IPPY Bronze Medal for Historical/Military Fiction
Walt Whitman, whose compassion for the wounded and dying soldiers of the American Civil War is well documented, navigates the journey of Two Brothers: One north, One South. The first chapter finds him at the bedside of William Prentiss, a mortally wounded Rebel soldier. As fate has it, William’s brother, Clifton, a Union officer, is being treated in another ward of the same hospital and Whitman becomes the sole link between the brothers. The reader is taken seamlessly from Baltimore before the war, to many battlefields where North and South collide, and to wartime Richmond, where Hetty, Jenny, and Constance Cary are the reigning belles.
Please visit About the Book for more details and Media for reviews, press releases, author appearances, and downloadable photos.
UPCOMING AND RECENT AUTHOR APPEARANCES
October 15, 2011 - Presentation and book signing, 10:30 AM, Antelope Valley Genealogical Society Kin-Dig 2011 Seminar, Palmdale Masonic Lodge, 2231 East Avenue Q, Palmdale, California
October 8, 2011 - Book Signing, 10 AM to 4 PM, The Museum and Visitor Center Bookstore at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
September 10, 2011 - Presentation and book signing, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Gen. W. S. Rosecrans Camp No. 2, 3 PM, San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Road, Pasadena, California
July 6, 2011 - Presentation titled "Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain" - The Civil Warriors Round Table, 7PM, Weilers West Hills Deli, 22323 Sherman Way, West Hills, California
May 11, 2011 - Presentation and book signing, 7 PM, One More Page Books, 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, Suite 101, Arlington, Virginia
April 2, 2011 - Presentation and book signing, 1 PM, Pamplin Historical Park, 6125 Boydton Plank Road, Petersburg, Virginia
March 18, 2011 - Presentation and book signing, 7:00 PM, The Wellesley Booksmith, 82 Central Avenue, Wellesley, Massachusetts March 17, 2011 - Presentation titled “Two Brothers: One North, One South" - The American Civil War – Weston Miliitary History Group, The Weston Library – 7:30 PM – Weston, Massachusetts. January 12, 2011 - Presentation titled “Victorian Era Americans of the Civil War: The Prentiss Brothers and the Cary Sisters of Baltimore” – Inland Empire Civil War Roundtable – 6:30 PM, The Lincoln Shrine, Redlands, California November 18, 2010 - Presentation titled "Victorian Era Americans of the Civil War: The Prentiss Brothers and the Cary Sisters of Baltimore" - The Orange County Civil War Round Table, 6 PM, Carrows Restaurant, 16931 Magnolia Avenue, Huntington Beach, California September 23, 2010 - Presentation titled "Victorian Era Americans of the Civil War: The Prentiss Brothers and the Cary Sisters of Baltimore" - SFV Historical Society, 7 PM, Andres Pico Adobe, 10940 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills, CA 91346 August 7, 2010 - Presentation titled "Victorian Era Americans of the Civil War: The Prentiss Brothers and the Cary Sisters of Baltimore" - Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Cornelia Hancock Tent 91 - 12:00 PM July 22, 2010 - Presentation titled "Victorian Era Americans of the Civil War: The Prentiss Brothers and the Cary Sisters of Baltimore" - The Civil War Round Table of the San Gabriel Valley, 7:30 PM, Hastings Branch Library, 3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, California July 6, 2010 - Book Signing, 10 AM to 4 PM, The New Museum and Visitor Center Bookstore at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania June 12, 2010 - Book Signing, 1 PM to 4 PM, Bay Street Trading Company, 808 Bay Street, Beaufort, South Carolina 29902
BOOK CLUBS Click here to download a PDF file with Reading Group Guide Questions AUDIO BOOK REVIEW EXCERPTS The June 2009 edition of LibraryJournal.Com : "Jones's solid research and fictional flourishes illuminate the tumult and the tragedy of the war, while actress Kirsten Beyer's passionate inflection befits these 19th-century characters and brings the war to an even more intimate level for listeners. Former U.S. Navy officer Jones structures his dynamic Civil War Novel around the experiences of two real-life brothers, adding a smartly conceived dramatic narrative hook by imagining how poet Walt Whitman's well-documented wartime experiences might have figured into their lives."
The March 2009 edition of AudioFile Magazine : Read by Kirsten Beyer "with sensitivity" . . . "a heartfelt reading" . . . yet she delivers action scenes with "a sense of urgency and tension." BOOK REVIEW EXCERPTS:
“Many stories and tales work their way into the book and are fun to read. The volume is well-written . . . I would recommend this book.” Blake A. Magner, Book Review Editor, Civil War News - June 2009 "Rarely have I read a book as powerful as Two Brothers. David Jones has done a masterful job with this book. I am a history buff, although the Civil War is not my forte, I cannot fault this story. It has stayed tried and true to the facts as they are known. I cannot imagine how many thousands of hours David Jones has invested in this project." - Simon Barrett - Blogger News Network - March 2009 "With a diligent handling of the primary sources and a creative approach, David Jones has crafted a fine story of Maryland brothers who are Civil War soldiers, one in blue the other in gray." - Rea Andrew Redd, Civil War Librarian - January 2009 "The now-stilted language of the nineteenth century is reproduced in the novel with care; to his credit, Jones does not follow Michael Shaara in updating the verbiage of the war’s participants. Nor does Jones condescend to the past when describing the beliefs and motivations of his characters, no matter how outdated or wrongheaded those beliefs may seem to modern readers. In these respects, the novel adheres to historical fact – even if it does sometimes shade into Southern apologia. I can recommend David H. Jones’s Two Brothers to readers new to Civil War fiction and to those for whom the story of the war – no matter how familiar – bears repeating. Both groups will find profit in the book, less for its portrait of Whitman than for its attention to what the poet-nurse treasured above all else: the humanity that both shaped and cursed America’s most costly war." - Craig A. Warren, Civil War Literature - December 2008 "Unlike many quasi-historical novels that are poorly researched with glaring errors, Jones has skillfully mixed solid research with a creative and well-executed storyline. The end result is a wonderful book that captures the imagination of the reader, while intermixing enough history to be highly credible." Scott L. Mingus, Sr. - Charge! Civil War Wargaming & News - January 2008 "What I liked most about this book is that it didn't read like a boring history book. I've come across so many historical fiction novels that put too much emphasis on history and not enough on fiction. They attempt to write nonfiction disguised as fiction. In this case, "Two Brothers..." is the perfect balance. There's action and dialogue. The history is there, but you can tell that you're reading fiction." - Kathleen's Book Reviews - November 2008 "Jones paints an eerily accurate portrait that spans four years in the midst of America's costliest and most commemorated war." - Long Island Press - January 17, 2008 "Unforgettable characters . . . well worth investing the time to read it. Civil War buffs and anyone interested in the history of our great country, and what helped to mold it into what it is today, will relish this book . . ." - Beverly J. Rowe - MyShelf.Com - June 2008 " . . . a highly dramatic and original storyline . . . meticulously researched for maximum believability. The characters in Two Brothers read very real, because they are . . . a wonderful read that will appeal to history buffs on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line." - Michael Aubrecht, Historian & Author, Pinstripe Press Blog - June 2008 "A Civil War Novel Out of the Ordinary . . . a novel firmly based upon fact and not merely melodramatic invention." - 5-Stars - Bruce Trinque - Top 500 Amazon Reviewer - January 2008 "Much in the Vein of The Killer Angels . . . a truly remarkable work of Historical Fiction" - 5-Stars - Alan Rockman - Top 100 Amazon Reviewer - January 2008 "A rarity! Good historical fiction! . . . Eminently readable with a good flow and timing . . . Unforgettable characters . . . well worth a leisurely read . . ." 5-Stars - Scott L. Mingus, Sr. - Charge! ACW Gaming Newsletter - January 2008 "Jones makes good use of this source material, crafting a novel with strong appeal for military history buffs." - Nanette Donohue - Historical Novel Society - February 2008 "If this were pure fiction it would be a compelling read. The fact that it is historically accurate makes it a must read. Surely this book is a film waiting to be produced" - 5-Stars - R.H. "Bo" Hitchcock - February 2008 "If you are a Civil War buff, make room on your shelf for this one; if you love history, you don’t want to miss this one and if you love an incredibly moving story indulge yourself by reading Two Brothers: One North, One South." - 5-Stars - Diane Snyder - Armchair Interviews - February 2008 ". . . a highly charged emotional rendering. We rated this touching novel five hearts." - Bob Spear - Heartland Reviews - March 2008 “… Jones expertly tells the tale of a Maryland family driven apart by the Civil War.” The author does a masterful job of taking the historical characters and events and filling in the gaps in the historic timeline with completely believable events . . .” - 5-Stars - Rob Ballister - author of God Does Have A Sense of Humor - March 2008 Support The Civil War Preservation Trust PLEASE VISIT THESE RELATED WEBSITES: Pamplin Historical Park & National Museum of the Civil War Soldier 6th Maryland Infantry Descendants Association Green-Wood Cemetery Historic Fund The Association of Citizen Historians Cosmic America: Civil War History and Memory Civil War Librarian: Rea Andrew Redd Michael Aubrecht: Pinstripe Press
"The 'brother versus brother' theme in American Civil War fiction is by no means new, but David H. Jones breathes new life into it . . . Jones’s characters are real-life Civil War soldiers who fought on opposing sides . . . Jones hit a gold mine when he discovered this family of Union and Confederate soldiers for his story." - Jill Celeste - Curled Up With A Good Book - February 2008
The Letters of William Beynon Phillips, 1862-1864
