The Fateful Lightning, Jeff Shaara
The Fateful Lightning, Jeff Shaara
3 Rating(s)
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The Fateful Lightning
A Novel of the Civil War

Author: Jeff Shaara

Narrator: Paul Michael

Unabridged: 25 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/02/2015


Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From Jeff Shaara comes the riveting final installment in the Civil War series that began with A Blaze of Glory and continued in A Chain of Thunder and The Smoke at Dawn.

November 1864: As the Civil War rolls into its fourth bloody year, the tide has turned decidedly in favor of the Union. A grateful Abraham Lincoln responds to Ulysses S. Grant’s successes by bringing the general east, promoting Grant to command the entire Union war effort, while William Tecumseh Sherman now directs the Federal forces that occupy all of Tennessee.

In a massive surge southward, Sherman conquers the city of Atlanta, sweeping aside the Confederate army under the inept leadership of General John Bell Hood. Pushing through northern Georgia, Sherman’s legendary March to the Sea shoves away any Rebel presence, and by Christmas 1864 the city of Savannah falls into the hands of “Uncle Billy.” Now there is but one direction for Sherman to go. In his way stands the last great hope for the Southern cause, General Joseph E. Johnston.

In the concluding novel of his epic Civil War tetralogy, Jeff Shaara tells the dramatic story of the final eight months of battle from multiple perspectives: the commanders in their tents making plans for total victory, as well as the ordinary foot soldiers and cavalrymen who carried out their orders until the last alarum sounded. Through Sherman’s eyes, we gain insight into the mind of the general who vowed to “make Georgia howl” until it surrendered. In Johnston, we see a man agonizing over the limits of his army’s power, and accepting the burden of leading the last desperate effort to ensure the survival of the Confederacy.

The Civil War did not end quietly. It climaxed in a storm of fury that lay waste to everything in its path. The Fateful Lightning brings to life those final brutal, bloody months of fighting with you-are-there immediacy, grounded in the meticulous research that readers have come to expect from Jeff Shaara.

Praise for The Fateful Lightning

“Powerful and emotional . . . highly recommended.”—Historical Novels Review

“Outstanding . . . Shaara combines his extensive knowledge of military history with his consummate skill as a storyteller.”—Booklist

“Readers . . . looking for an absorbing novel will be well rewarded.”—The Clarion-Ledger

“A great accomplishment and a more than fitting conclusion to Shaara’s work on the Civil War.”—Bookreporter

About The Author

Jeff Shaara is the New York Times bestselling author of The Smoke at Dawn, A Chain of Thunder, A Blaze of Glory, The Final Storm, No Less Than Victory, The Steel Wave, The Rising Tide, To the Last Man, The Glorious Cause, Rise to Rebellion, and Gone for Soldiers, as well as Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure—two novels that complete the Civil War trilogy that began with his father’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, The Killer Angels. Shaara was born into a family of Italian immigrants in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and graduated from Florida State University. He lives in Gettysburg.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brian on April 24, 2017

This novel is the closing book in the quartet that Mr. Shaara wrote about the largely ignored (at least in historical fiction) western theater of the American Civil War. I believe that the series is worth your time to read if you have a preexisting interest in the subject. “The Fateful Lightning” is......more

Goodreads review by Jill on October 19, 2015

This fictionalized account of the "March to the Sea" by General Sherman and its immediate aftermath near the end of the Civil War has good and bad points. As with Shaara’s other books in this series of novels on the Civil War, it’s hard to go wrong with such great characters like Lincoln, Grant, and......more

Goodreads review by Alexw on August 09, 2017

While I find the narrative tedious at times but am sure if your are in the military the description of troop movements is interesting, the dialogue is what saved the book. Sherman's nervousness and Grants calm during the Civil War are emphasized. The character of Franklin, the freed black was the cen......more

Goodreads review by Arthur on September 02, 2021

A 25 and a half hour unabridged audiobook. The author handled the task of Sherman's March and the end of the war quite well. Very insightful on picking up personas. Both Sherman and Franklin felt real. I liked it.......more

Goodreads review by Randal on July 08, 2015

History At It's Best! Shaara continues his run of outstanding historical novels! The Fateful Lightning is about the ending days of the Civil War, seen through the lens of Sherman's "March To The Sea". As he has done before, Shaara once again lays his story out by telling it through the eyes of multi......more


Quotes

Praise for Jeff Shaara’s new Civil War series
 
The Fateful Lightning

 
“Powerful and emotional . . . highly recommended.”Historical Novels Review
 
“Outstanding . . . Shaara combines his extensive knowledge of military history with his consummate skill as a storyteller.”Booklist
 
“Readers . . . looking for an absorbing novel will be well rewarded.”The Clarion-Ledger
 
“A great accomplishment and a more than fitting conclusion to Shaara’s work on the Civil War.”Bookreporter

A Blaze of Glory
 
“[An] exciting read . . . This novel is meticulously researched and brings a vivid reality to the historical events depicted.”Library Journal
 
“Dynamic portrayals [of] Johnston, Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
A Chain of Thunder
 
“Shaara continues to draw powerful novels from the bloody history of the Civil War.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Shaara’s historical accuracy is faultless, and he tells a good story. . . . The voices of these people come across to the reader as poignantly clear as they did 150 years ago.”—Historical Novels Review
 
The Smoke at Dawn
 
“Beautifully written . . . Shaara once again elevates history from mere rote fact to explosive and engaging drama.”Bookreporter
 
“Shaara’s mastery of military tactics, his intimate grasp of history, and his ability to interweave several supporting narratives into a cohesive and digestible whole . . . will appeal to a broad range of historical and military fiction fans.”Booklist