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Reviews
Audio Book Review by LibraryJournal.Com - June 2009
AudioFile Magazine Review - March 2009
This Civil War novel opens with journalist Walt Whitman visiting a dying Confederate soldier in the hospital and learning that the man's brother, a Union soldier, is in the same hospital. From there, flashbacks tell the story of kin on opposite sides of a war and a state, Maryland, split by the South's secession. Kirsten Beyer narrates with sensitivity, delivering a gentler, more heartfelt reading than listeners might expect for a war novel, while giving action such as blockade running a sense of urgency and tension. The framework of the novel makes for a strong beginning and conclusion, although the story bogs down in places and characters often seem one dimensional. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
Review by Simon Barrett, Blogger News Network - March 2009
Historical Fiction is a notoriously difficult genre to be successful at, particularly when it concerns well documented and relatively modern history. In world history America is a relatively new country, and without doubt the most defining moment was the American Civil War. A war that tore at the very fabric of the young country. Weaving a fictional or factional story within this backdrop is a long hard road. Often times historical novels fail miserably, they warp the known facts, and fans of the genre are often amateur history sleuths, the most minor deviation from the known facts causes derision.
This is not the case in Two Brothers, yes there is an element of invention, there are no known written records of many of the personal interactions between people that were involved in the conflict, and it is with backdrop that David Jones inserts his dialog.
There is no question that Two brothers has been meticulously researched, no stone has been left unturned. A greatly over used description of the Civil War is ‘it pitted brother against brother’, yes there were examples, but for the most part families stayed together and supported one side or the other based more on geographical location than ideology.
David Jones uses Two Brothers to explore one instance where indeed a family was split in their loyalties, William Prentiss opting to support the southern interests as a lowly private, while brother Clifton Prentiss becomes a Major, an officer, for the Union forces.
Fate finds these brothers wounded yet both in the same medical facility, William having had a leg amputated in a battlefield triage unit, and Clifton with a serious chest wound. The two are in different parts of the facility, it would be improper to mix officers and mere privates.
Author David Jones uses a unique and superbly clever way to tell the story from three different viewpoints. The book opens with William dying from complications from the amputation of his leg. However during his final weeks he had been befriended by poet Walt Whitman. Whitman was a firm supporter of the Union, yet as a humanitarian befriended anyone and everyone injured in the war. This incidentally is fact.
It was Walt Whitman that comforted the young William Prentiss in his last weeks, William gains succor from having Walt as a confessor. The elder Prentiss brothers John and Melville head to the hospital, alas too late for William. The brothers gather around the bed of their other fallen hero Clifton, Walt is invited to join them. And so the story unfolds. Walt talking for the dead William about the Confederate cause, and Clifton as the Union representative. The action changing from hospital, to home, and battlefield.
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.
Oh, and David, if you read this review, let me say this. If you ever decide to write straight fact over faction book, I have a publisher that I am certain would love to talk to you.
Review by Rea Andrew Redd, Civil War Librarian - January 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. With settings in Baltimore, Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C, and Virginia's battlefields, the author describes historic events from 1861 to 1865. The story is propelled forward by Walt Whitman who comforted soldiers at the Armory Square Hospital and where, in his post-war recollections, he states that he found two brothers in two different wards: Clifton Prentiss a brevet Union Colonel and William Prentiss, an enlisted Confederate soldier.
In Jones' novel, Whitman frequently visits the severely wounded William Prentiss and sits through his passing, and then gathers his two civilian brothers and his wounded brother, who was in the same hospital, together a few days after William's death. In the course of the story, John and Melville tell the civilian side of the war, Clifton the Union side of the war and Whitman the Confederate side of the war as it was told to him by William.
Jones faithfully pays attention to the war's social aspects. Friends of the Prentiss family, Hetty, Jenny, and Constance Cary are themselves divided by the war, their friendships and their loves during the war. At one pont on the veranda of Jefferson Davis' White House, the ladies discuss the role of women. The women past through joy and grief at weddings and funerals that held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond. The Prentiss family's free black servant, Elijah, leaves his wife and children to become a sergeant in the 7th U.S. Colored Regiment and the war, as viewed by blacks, is discussed around the unit's campfires.
The Prentiss brothers are reunited during a Federal assault on the Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg trenches. Each is founded within yards of the other; here in the story Jones is not recklessly melodramatic. He has the soldiers act like soldiers and not as Victorian era, post-war sentimentalists. With a writing style that is direct and to the point, Jones handles the myriad of characters well. No one character sees everything nor understands everything. It is in the meeting of the four storytellers that the full story is revealed.
There are times though that some characters speak as encyclopedia entries, listing and detailing lives that are tangential to the main story. It is interesting that Union General Benjamin Butler attended the 1860 Democratic conventions (there were three) and voted for the nomination of Jefferson Davis over 50 times, but it doesn't contribute to the main characters development or background story. At times a reader may feel that these characters did not exist outside the story because the events they expierence are so much greater than themselves.
An advanced placement U.S. history high school student who loves the Civil War could enjoy this novel as well as most Civil War buffs. Two Brothers does not read like Killer Angels though. Sharra's style, which is similar to Hemingway's newspaperman's writing style, is unlike Jones' more extensive descriptions of individual actions and behaviors. The author's diligence in staying close to the sources and also carefully layering the stories reminds CWL of John Dos Passos' hallmark USA Trilogy: 1919, The Big Money, and the 42nd Parallel. Like Dos Passos, Jones has achieved writing an intriguing tale of the nation and several individuals' stories while allowing the individuals to tell them.
Review by Craig A. Warren, Civil War Literature - December 2008
When I first received a review copy of the novel Two Brothers by David H. Jones, the subtitle gave me pause: One North, One South. Innumerable fictions and filmscripts about the Civil War have offered up the same equation: two brothers fighting on opposite sides, each convinced of the righteousness of his cause. Did we really need another novel to feature siblings-at-odds as a metaphor for America’s great fratricidal struggle? What persuaded me to give the book a chance was the fact that Jones had incorporated into his narrative the figure of Walt Whitman, America’s greatest poet. Whitman served as a nurse during the war, and in Two Brothers he functions as a caretaker of the wounded Prentiss brothers – men hospitalized in the wake of the fighting.
I wondered how Jones would portray Whitman: an innovative artist who resisted clichés and shattered literary conventions. More specifically, I wanted to see how Jones would use Whitman within a framework designed to appeal to readers expecting the standard brother vs. brother interpretation of the war.
I have a longstanding interest in Walt Whitman, particularly his commentary on the men who fought the war. In Memoranda During the War (1875), Whitman reflected on the centrality of soldiers to his own understanding of the struggle: “[These] two or three millions of American young and middle-aged men, North and South, embodied in the armies . . . were of more significance even than the Political interests involved.” Yet if Whitman knew these men firsthand, he knew that many Americans did not: at least not as he did – men broken and bleeding and dying on cots in hospital wards. The poet fully expected that those less familiar with the troops would not view them as “the main interest of the War.”
Yet the public has indeed shared Whitman’s fascination with the men clothed in blue and gray. The Civil War soldier, by virtue of his flesh and blood humanity, has appealed to generations of Americans as the most compelling and accessible aspect of the crisis. Even when fiction writers have examined the principles at stake in the war, both sacred and mundane, they have usually done so in terms of the words and actions of men in uniform. Jones demonstrates this tendency in Two Brothers. Even when he portrays civilians at some distance from the fighting front, the reader cannot forget the soldiers themselves – the men whose lives and actions define the war.
As it turns out, Jones’s Whitman is not the poet I hoped to see. Certainly I sympathize with any 21st-century author who attempts to recreate Whitman’s tone and diction – especially if the novelist wishes to capture Whitman’s vision of his nation and world. The best attempts are usually in the comic mode, where fiction writers can be suitably grandiose in their estimations of Whitman’s speech. The best effort I know of is the Whitman parody, Wade Wordmore, as found in the 1995 story “Ancestors” by Fred Chappell. There the Whitman stand-in proclaims:
I am Wade Wordmore, American, untrammeled by boundaries, unfixed as to station, and at my ease in all climes and latitudes, answer to no laws save those of my perfect nature (for I know I am perfect, how can a man tall and in pure health not be perfect?), and am powerful to overstep any border.
By contrast, Jones’s version of Whitman is often reduced to making dry statements that flesh out the historical background. Consider this example:
“I am not qualified to expound on military matters, but I know people who would agree that Meade’s pursuit of Lee was dilatory at best,” Whitman responded. (201)
Soon thereafter, Whitman is used to describe the decline of Southern fortunes: “Misery tightened its grip on the South after receiving the sad tidings [about Gettysburg]. Gone forever were the glorious times when Southern arms appeared to be invincible – when victory after victory was achieved on the battlefield” (202). Couldn’t the nation’s most important poet here be used to comment on something beyond the basic tenets of the Lost Cause?
Although disappointed by the portrait of Whitman, I did find other qualities of Two Brothers appealing. 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.
Review by Kathleen's Book Reviews – November 2008
Moonlight glimmered on the distant capitol dome and cast long shadows from the gothic towers and battlements of the Smithsonian Institute. To the west, the partially completed shaft of the Washington Monument appeared like a giant white chimney protruding from the dark landscape. Between these edifices were fields filled with temporary streets and wooden buildings. Bathed in the dim light was a city transforming itself from a military bastion consumed by the business of war to a city intent on governing the once-again United States." ("Two Brothers: One North, One South" pg 7)
I have to say that I love the opening paragraph above. Sometimes when I go back to reread a book and I'm looking for a few good lines to use in my review, I have to look for quite awhile. In this case, it's the first thing you read- and they're perfect. As I mentioned in one of my recent reviews about another author, this is what Creative Writing teachers strive to pull from you. The imagery is fantastic. You can picture the capitol! Or perhaps it's even those first two words- "Moonlight glimmered"- a perfect descriptive hook.
The story itself is pretty good. The title is pretty self explanatory, it's the story of two brothers during the American Civil War. I've not read much historical fiction set during this time. The only thing that comes to mind is Ann Rinaldi's “The Last Silk Dress,” but that is a completely different type of book (still good though!). "Two Brothers...." is based upon actual historical events which is what I think really makes it work. The author did a tremendous amount of research- and I think it really shows in the story. (Not that I would know differently, as my knowledge in this area is lacking... but I'll take his word for it that most of the details and dates and such are historically accurate!)
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. Hopefully you understand what I mean.
I would indeed recommend this to anyone looking for historical fiction set during or around the American Civil War. For that matter, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good story!
Review by Long Island Press - January 17, 2008
A Civil War novel narrated by Long Island poet Walt Whitman, Two Brothers tells the story of the war from an almost impossibly real point of view. Remarkably researched, Jones paints an eerily accurate portrait that spans four years in the midst of America's costliest and most commemorated war. Whitman, written in as a character, finds himself at the hospital bedside of William Prentiss, a Rebel soldier, just as war has ended. Prentiss' brother, Clifton, a Union officer, is injured and staying in another ward of the same hospital, and Whitman becomes the sole link between the two, and the rest of their family as well. The reader is taken from Medfield Academy in Baltimore, where the Prentiss family lives, to the battlefields where North and South collide.
Review at MyShelf.Com - June 2008
Two Brothers: One North, One South is historical fiction with an authentic flavor, written in a courtly, rather formal rhetoric that places it firmly in the nineteenth century and, best of all, it's based on the actual histories of the main characters. We get a peek at what the famous poet, Walt Whitman, may have been like as he carried out his duties at Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C., where two brothers, both critically wounded, and each supporting a different side of the great American conflict, are patients. Whitman becomes a link between these two men and their families in this imaginative re-creation of this terrible time in America's history.
The story begins at the end of the fighting, at the bedside of William Prentiss, a Confederate soldier. His brother, Clifton, a Union officer, is a patient in a different ward of the hospital. Unforgettable characters amid the tension of a war-torn country in this novel are well worth investing the time to read it.
I found that I had to pay close attention to the headings of each chapter, since the novel jumped back and forth from the end of the conflict to the period just before the outbreak of the war and the months and years between, and back to the aftermath of the war. Jones' extensive research is evident, and he carries the well worn cliche of brother-against-brother to a new level. The battles come alive as both sides of the conflict are well represented, and the story caused me to be sympathetic to the ideals of both sides as well as pointing out the flaws in the thinking of each side. The descriptions of every-day life seemed realistic, right down to the clothing worn by the characters.
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 as it outlines how a simple conflict of interest and differing views led to such a catastrophic war. - Beverly J. Rowe
Review by Michael Aubrecht, Historian & Author, Pinstripe Press Blog - June 2008
Two Brothers more than just another Civil War novel
A month or so ago I was contacted by an author named David H. Jones, who inquired if I would be interested in reading his novel "Two Brothers: One North, One South.” Although my own work keeps me buried in non-fictional books, I do enjoy historical-fiction works for my pleasure reading. Some of my favorite authors, including Richard Croker and Jessica James, use accurate historical references as the backdrop for their imaginative stories and I appreciate their attention to detail, as well as their creative spins on the subject matter. Despite my busy schedule, I hesitantly accepted David’s invitation as I was nearing the completion of some deadlines. Now that I have finished his book, I am very glad that I did.
The synopsis of “Two Brothers” that was provided by his publisher states: “Exceptionally researched and keenly accurate to actual events, along with the personages that forged them, David H. Jones's novel spans four years in the midst of America's costliest and most commemorated war. The journey is navigated by the poet, Walt Whitman, whose documented compassion for the wounded and dying soldiers of the war takes him to Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C., and finds him at the bedside of William Prentiss, a Rebel soldier, just after fighting has ended. 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 not just between the two, but with the rest of their family as well. The reader is taken seamlessly from Medfield Academy in Baltimore, where the Prentiss family makes its home, to the many battlefields where North and South collide, and even through the drawing rooms of wartime Richmond, where Hetty, Jenny, and Constance Cary are the reigning belles.”
After reading that Walt Whitman would be ‘navigating’ the plotline, I was captivated by the premise of the tale and pleasantly surprised to find that the author did indeed deliver on his publisher’s promise. Far too often, the marketing promotions for books leave the reviewer feeling a bit unfulfilled, but I must say that David Jones has not only presented a highly dramatic and original storyline, but also composed a piece that was meticulously researched for maximum believability. The characters in “Two Brothers” read very real, because they are. The book is closely based on the true story of the Prentiss brothers of Baltimore. Brother Clifton served in the Federal 6th Maryland Infantry Regiment and brother William served in the Confederate 1st and 2nd Maryland Battalions. Walt Whitman wrote about William in "Memoranda During The War".
A former U.S. Navy officer, the West Virginia-based author was able to combine his military training with his passion for Civil War history to produce the novel. The concept of "Brother vs. Brother" is certainly nothing new to the Civil War bookshelf as countless families were torn apart during our nation’s “Great Divide.” That said it is very refreshing to find examples when historians can find a new and exciting way to present these struggles on a personal level. David Jones has managed to do just that with the highly innovative "Two Brothers: One North, One South.” From its award-winning cover that garnered the 2008 Benjamin Franklin Award for design, to the extraordinary tale it contains of a poet and two brothers who found themselves on opposite sides of an American tragedy, “Two Brothers” is a wonderful read that will appeal to history buffs on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Review by Bruce Trinque - Amazon Top 500 Reviewer - 5 Stars - January 2008
A Civil War Novel Out of the Ordinary
The dramatic device of “brother against brother” has long been a cliché of novels and movies about the American Civil War. Thus, it was with some trepidation that I approached David H. Jones’s “Two Brothers: One North, One South.” Yes, this novel indeed centers about one Confederate and one Union brother, but it is also a novel firmly based upon fact and not merely melodramatic invention. The two brothers of the title were actual 19th century American brothers: William Prentiss of the 2nd Maryland Infantry (CSA) and Clifton Prentiss of the 6th Maryland Infantry (USA), and Jones’s novel is closely drawn from the two men’s genuine histories, from the months preceding the outbreak of war to the days following its end. Both men saw hard service in the Eastern Theater of the war, allowing the author to construct a fairly comprehensive survey of military events, the scope of the story being broadened when appropriate by reference to the two brothers’ friends and acquaintances.
A factor which is simultaneously a hurdle and a strength of the novel is that the characters speak like characters in a 19th century novel: formal, ornate, sometimes flowery language quite unlike that of our current day. This sustains an atmosphere that clearly places the story in a different era, giving the novel an unusual feeling of authenticity, but also might be an obstacle to those readers unable or unwilling to cope with the emotional distance created by that language.
The story is told in an episodic manner spread out over four years of tumultuous events; each segment, however, is clearly identified with regard to time and place, helping the reader maintain orientation. In the first half of the book, the story is clearly weighted towards the Confederate side of history, but the balance swings more towards a Union perspective as the war goes on. What could have been a magnolia blossom and mint juleps Southern-romanticized picture of the American Civil War instead ends up a more evenhanded portrait, examining how the perception of issues altered over time and how Secessionist dreams turned dry and barren by the end of the war.
One unexpected element of the novel is the use of Walt Whitman as a major character and narrator when his duties at an Army hospital bring him into close contact with both brothers (it is historical fact that both were severely wounded in one of the last engagements of the war).
Alan Rockman - Amazon Top 100 Reviewer - 5 Stars - January 2008
Much in the Vein of "The Killer Angels"
David H.Jones has written a truly remarkable work of Historical Fiction about two real-life brothers, both Marylanders, who chose different sides when the Civil War began, both fought throughout the war, and sadly enough were both mortally wounded in Grant's final offensive against the Confederate defenses at Petersburg.
Their nurse and the book's narrator? None other than the famous Poet Walt Whitman who was a Nurse at the Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C. He listened to the Prentiss brothers in their final months, and jotted down their recollections - giving them a voice.
The Battle scenes are realistic, the historical figures like Stonewall Jackson and others real, as well as the human drama of two brothers forced to take different sides.
My only wish is that Mr. Jones had provided more factual information about the brothers? The book is also vague in whether or not the Prentiss boys actually met and spoke with Walt Whitman at the hospital. I hoped that he would have shed some light about what interested him to write this book, and why did he pick this family? I would like, for example to see a historical fiction work revolve around the Terrill Brothers - both of whom went their separate ways, the father calling William Terrill a traitor for choosing to stay loyal to the Union. Like the Prentiss' brothers - both of the Terrills were killed fighting for North and South -William at Perryville, the other brother at Petersburg - but in the earlier stages of the siege.
If you are a Civil War buff or better said, an enthusiast the cover is attractive with the two uniforms captured in a sepia tone (Whitman's photo between them) - and will capture the reader's eye - but so will the contents of this book truly in the vein of "The Killer Angels".
Review by Scott L. Mingus, Sr. - Charge! Civil War Wargaming & News - 5 Stars - February 2008
West Virginia author David H. Jones, a former U. S. Navy officer, combines his military training with his passion for writing in a new Civil War novel from Staghorn Press; Two Brothers: One North, One South. While I typically am not a fan of historical fiction, there have been a few works that I have liked over the years. Now, I will add Jones' interesting story to that relatively short list. 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.
The central character is the famous poet, Walt Whitman, who visits a military hospital in Washington D.C. and meets two brothers-one Union, one Confederate-who are patients in different wards. Through his compassion and tender care, the two opposing brothers are united through a common linkage, despite their inability to directly communicate. Although a work of fiction, the book draws the reader into the plot in a fashion that almost makes you believe the events actually occurred.
Eminently readable with a good flow and timing, Two Brothers is a work you may have a hard time putting down. Unforgettable characters, set in the turbulent backdrop of Civil War America, make this work stand apart from the recent rash of historical fiction. It's well worth a leisurely read.
Review by Nanette Donohue Historical Novel Society - Online Review - February 2008
Walt Whitman is well known as a great American poet, but few know of his compassionate visits to military hospitals during and after the U.S. Civil War. Two Brothers is based on Whitman’s encounters with William and Clifton Prentiss, two Maryland brothers who fought on opposite sides during the war. Whitman spoke extensively with William during the final days of his life, learning about his experiences fighting for the Confederacy. Whitman then shares this information with Clifton Prentiss, who is in the same hospital recovering from injuries sustained in the same battle.
While the book is mainly about William Prentiss’s experiences, there are also flashes of other peoples’ lives present: mainly the Cary sisters, who were the toast of Richmond during its years as the Confederate capitol. The sections about the Cary sisters often serve as entertaining interludes between the battles, and they describe what the Confederate home front was like for women of means. The Carys were very resourceful, aiding the troops in any way they could, including smuggling supplies from Maryland to Virginia across the Union blockade.
Two Brothers is so grounded in fact that it sometimes reads like narrative nonfiction or, at times, a textbook about the Civil War, rather than a biographical novel. The plot is very linear, following the war’s timeline from the early battles to the surrender at Appomattox and beyond. Military maneuvers are often described in detail, including both the big-picture view of the war and the personal view of individual troops. Maryland was a battleground state during the Civil War, with residents’ loyalties torn between North and South, but the Prentiss brothers’ story is unique in that it was well documented. An appendix provides fascinating excerpts from some of Jones’s research, including quotes from contemporary accounts of the Prentiss brothers’ story. Jones makes good use of this source material, crafting a novel with strong appeal for military history buffs.
Review by Jill Celeste - Curled Up With A Good Book - February 2008
The “brother versus brother” theme in American Civil War fiction is by no means new, but David H. Jones breathes new life into it in Two Brothers - One North, One South. Jones’s characters are real-life Civil War soldiers who fought on opposing sides – and whose story was told by Walt Whitman.
Whitman volunteered in military hospitals during the Civil War, and in this story, he tended to a young Confederate soldier, William Prentiss. William was expected to die within a few days, and he asked Whitman to listen to his story. Whitman was a patient listener, gathering all of William’s details. When William died, Whitman sought out the brother, the injured Clifton Prentiss, who was staying in the officers’ ward at the same hospital.
When Whitman found Clifton, he also met the other two Prentiss brothers, John and Melville. The brothers invited Whitman to draw up a chair to tell William’s story. Whitman talked about William’s decision to fight for the South, his battle tales and stories about mutual acquaintances. The brothers chimed in throughout Whitman’s tale, especially Clifton, who described what he was doing as he fought for the Union.
The story ends with a remarkable coincidence: both brothers were injured at the same battle, nearly 100 yards away from each other, and within minutes of each other – and days before the Confederate surrender.
Jones hit a gold mine when he discovered this family of Union and Confederate soldiers for his story. Having relatives fight on opposite sides of the Civil War was not unusual for those living in the Border States such as Maryland, but their coincidental injuries add further interest to this tale. He struck it even richer by telling the story of the Cary cousins - Hetty, Jenny and Connie - who were an integral part of the Confederate war effort on the home front. These women smuggled goods to the South, created the battle flag for the Confederacy, and tended to the sick and dying. Their story is a welcome tributary of that of the Prentiss family.
The research into Maryland’s divided loyalties, their battalions (both Union and Confederate) and the battles in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania is thorough – probably to a fault. Pages pass where the reader learns a lot about the battle history but nothing about the Prentiss brothers who fought in them. I wonder if Jones was unsure about whether to tackle this book as fiction or nonfiction. So much emphasis is placed on providing historical background that it overshadows the main characters. It is, after all, a story about two brothers divided by a war. I wish more had been said about the brothers – and not so much about the “big picture” military tactics of the Eastern Theater.
Despite this, I would recommend Two Brothers - One North, One South to avid readers of Civil War fiction, especially fans of Howard Bahr and Michael Shaara, and to those with an interest in Maryland’s contribution to the war. Jones’s research can provide the reader with an insightful tutorial of this era – and remind us how devastating war is for both sides of the battle.
Review by R.H. "Bo" Hitchcock - 5 Stars - February 2008
All Wars Are Civil Wars, Because All Men Are Brothers
Families were torn apart and brothers went off to war sometimes on opposite sides. It is, however, highly unlikely that brothers would meet on the same field of battle. This is just such an unlikely but true story of two brothers facing each other at the climax of the "Civil War".
David Jones richly details the human drama of the four years that led to such a dramatic confrontation. Walt Whitman, the poet, was working as a civilian aide in the union military hospitals at the end of the war. He takes interest in a young mortally wounded rebel soldier, whose union brother has fallen at virtually the same place at the same time. Whitman lends a wonderful perspective to this well written book.
It has been said "All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers" These men were in fact brothers one north and one south and the Civil War, for them, was a special Hell.
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.
Review by Diane Snyder - Armchair Interviews - February 2008
A Very Moving Story, Well Told - Armchair Interviews says: History brought to life by excellent storytelling.
As a young Rebel soldier lay dying of wounds in a Union hospital, he gets a visitor. He and the visitor do not know each other for the visitor is a volunteer who has been moved by the suffering and sacrifice of the young men on both sides of the war. For several weeks, the visitor sits daily with the young man, talking and offering some comfort and is with him as he dies. The visitor is Walt Whitman and the young soldier is Private William Prentiss of the 2nd Maryland Battalion.
In another part of the hospital a Union officer is being treated for his wounds. His name is Major Clifton Prentiss, William’s other brother. After William’s death, the remaining brothers gather at Major Prentiss’s bedside and ask that Whitman relate what he and William had talked about.
Whitman is able to give the family an account of William’s life after he joined Maryland’s Confederate army and as they talk, Major Prentiss shares his experiences with the 6th Maryland Volunteers. With a mingling of facts and imagination, the author brings back to life the Prentiss family that went from ideal to tragic in four horrifying war years. Clifton and William had not seen nor spoken to one another since William joined the Confederacy. Wounded in a battle at the end of the war within 20 yards of each other, both were taken to the hospital in the same ambulance. This was their only and final reunion.
This fictionalized account about a real Maryland family and their friends from 1861 to 1865 is so engrossing it’s difficult to put down once you begin. The author has researched Maryland’s history during that period and has taken events from letters, diaries and notes of Walt Whitman along with newspaper articles and other correspondences.
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.
Review by Bob Spear - Heartland Reviews - March 2008
We rated this touching novel five hearts
This is about a well to do family in Maryland torn apart by the Civil War. One son goes off to fight for the South. The older brother ends up as an officer in the North. Both end up in units comprised of members from Maryland. Both are severely wounded and end up dying a couple of wards away from one another. A government civil servant who became one of America’s great poets, Walt Whitman, visits and provides succor to wounded soldiers, including the younger Rebel brother. He tells that boy’s story through his eyes to the rest of the family when they come to visit the dying older brother. This is a highly charged emotional rendering of what has become so wrong when families are torn apart by war, politics, and willfulness.
Review by Rob Ballister, author, “God Does Have A Sense of Humor” - 5-Stars - March 2008
An American family's struggle woven onto the tapestry of one of the most bitter times in US history!
Many authors who attempt to write historical fiction have difficulty weaving their story onto the backdrop of the historical time-period they use as a setting. Those authors could learn a lot from David H. Jones. Taking only a few snippets of journals, memoirs, and obscure newspaper articles, Jones expertly tells the tale of a Maryland family driven apart by the Civil War. The youngest brother takes up arms with the Confederacy, while an older brother becomes a Union officer. Both serve with distinction, meeting on the field of battle at Petersburg.
The main characters in the book are all historical figures, and the esteemed poet Walt Whitman is a key figure in the book, as he spends time with both brothers as they are recuperating from wounds. 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 which only add to the rich tapestry of the story. Civil war enthusiasts as well as those who enjoy good family drama stories will find this book hard to believe.
Author Appearances
2010
August 22, 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
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 - The Odyssey, 15600 Odyssey Drive, Granada Hills, California
July 17, 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
January 13, 2010 - Presentation titled "Victorian Era Americans of the Civil War: The Prentiss Brothers and the Cary Sisters of Baltimore" - The Civil Warriors Round Table, 7PM, Weilers West Hills Deli, 22323 Sherman Way, West Hills, California
2009
December 8, 2009, Lecture & Book Signing, 6 PM, The Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, The Swedenborgian Church, 114 East 35th Street, New York, New York (between Park & Lexington Avenues).
November 7th and 8th, 2009 Book Signing, Blue & Gray Reenactment, Tierra Rejada Ranch, Moorpark, California
September 26th and 27th, 2009 - 12 PM to 5 PM, Book signing, AuthorsBookshop.Com booth, Baltimore Book Festival, Mount Vernon Place, 600 Block North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland
June 9, 2009, Book Signing, 10 AM to 4 PM, The New Museum and Visitor Center Bookstore at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
June 5 - 7, 2009 Book Signing, Gathering of Civil War Eagles 2009, Old Court House Civil War Museum, 20 N. Loudon Street, Winchester, Virginia
May 18, 2009 Book Signing,12:30 PM to 4:00 PM, Fountain Bookstore, 1312 E. Cary Street, Richmond, Virginia
2008 - 2007
November 15, 2008 Book Signing,The New Museum and Visitor Center Bookstore at Gettysburg National Military Park, 1 PM to 4 PM, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 12, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, Palos Verdes Women's Club 51st Annual Books and Authors Luncheon, 10:30 AM, Double Tree Hotel, San Pedro, California
November 8-9, 2008 Book Signing, Blue & Gray Reenactment, Tierra Rejada Ranch, Moorpark, California
October 4, 2008 Book Signing, Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, 10 AM to 4 PM, 1052 Banning Blvd, Wilmington, California
September 16, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, Orange County Civil War Round Table, 6 PM, Carrows Restaurant, 16931 Magnolia Avenue, Huntington Beach, California
June 23, 2008 Presentation, Teacher's institute, Richard Bland College of William & Mary, 1:15 PM, Pamplin Historical Park and National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, 6125 Boydton Plank Road, Petersburg, Virginia
June 21-22, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, 11:45 AM each day, Civil War Weekend, Pamplin Historical Park and National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, 6125 Boydton Plank Road, Petersburg, Virginia
June 19, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, Maryland Historical Society, 6 PM, 201 Monument Street, Baltimore, Maryland
April 26-27, 2008 Booking Signing, Authors Coalition Booth, LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books, 2 PM each day, UCLA Campus, Los Angeles, California
April 10, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, The Port Deposit Heritage Corporation, Port Deposit, Maryland, 8 PM, Port Deposit Presbyterian Church, 44 South Main Street, Port Deposit, Maryland
April 6, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, The Green-Wood Cemetery Historical Foundation, 1PM, Historic Chapel, Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, New York
April 5, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site, 1 PM, 246 Old Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station, NY
April 3, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, The North Shore Civil War Round Table, Huntington, New York
March 27, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, The Civil War Round Table of the San Gabriel Valley, 8PM, Allendale Branch Library, 1130 S. Marengo Avenue, Pasadena, California
March 19, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, The San Diego Civil War Round Table, 7:30 PM, Palisades Presbyterian Church, 6301 Birchwood Street, San Diego, California
February 19, 2008 Presentation/Book Signing, The Civil War Round Table of Los Angeles, 7PM, the Clubhouse of Villa Velletri, 4330 Glencoe Avenue, Marina del Rey, California
December 12, 2007 Presentation/Book Signing, The Civil Warriors Round Table, 7PM, Weilers West Hills Deli, 22323 Sherman Way, West Hills, California
November 10/11, 2007 Tierra Rejada Ranch, Moorpark, California: appearance at a reenactment sponsored by the Moorpark Rotary Club
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