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Rating: 
Summary: Traitor?
Review: "Adam is right. War does change us."I cannot rate this book without talking about the brilliance of the whole series. Cornwell takes you from your reading room, and teleports you back to a simpler time. And you find out that it's not so simple. Set against the backdrop of the Eastern Theatre in the American Civil War, he portrays the massive carnage and greatest bravery in minute detail. You actually hear the cannons, and smell the rotting flesh of the wounded. Yet, the main plot does not take place amongst the gunfire outside. But, rather, within. It is a story of a soul, and his struggle with God, man, who he is, and what he stands for. Amidst the shouting, crying, blasting, and dieing...is a poor heart, searching for peace. I found Cornwell's protrayal of Nate Starbuck to be no less than perfect. I found myself rooting, questioning, hoping, and praying for this fictional character. For, I saw myself in Nate. The same questions, fears, and desires. When done, I walked away from this story with a different outlook on life, liberty, and what's truly important. As will you.
Rating:
Summary: LIKE CALICO TEARING OR A CANEBREAK BURNING...
Review: ...is the sound of the battle under the unsheathed brilliance of Bernard Cornwell. The beauty of this series (as well as Sharpe & my favorite, The Grail Quest series) is the nuance of the battle and the surprisingly well-fleshed characters. Good and evil hide in minute degrees of separation, and this is especially true in the Civil War. Cornwell completely understands this and has created a wide canopy of characters that accurately reflects the nuances of the individual morality and motivations. The closest to parody is his broadside slap to the oft maligned General McClellan's inept handling of the Army of the Potomac, however, Cornwell does at least throw a salute to the General's one saving attribute, which was his ability to organize.
I look forward to reading Book #3, Battle Flag. I give this series my highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite of the bunch
Review: As this book opens Starbuck is in trouble. He has just beem drummed out of the regiment on(false) charges of incompitance. So he travles to Richmond seeking help and too make matters worse he is frammed. This is my favorite book in the serise. We are introduced to several new chacters
1. Gordon Swinyard(he grows on you)
2. Patrick Le'sawn(Richard Sharp's son) I really enjoyed this book, you can always trust Cornwell to give you a good battle and to question your outlook on life as you are reading his books.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite of the bunch
Review: As this book opens Starbuck is in trouble. He has just beem drummed out of the regiment on(false) charges of incompitance. So he travles to Richmond seeking help and too make matters worse he is frammed. This is my favorite book in the serise. We are introduced to several new chacters
1. Gordon Swinyard(he grows on you)
2. Patrick Le'sawn(Richard Sharp's son) I really enjoyed this book, you can always trust Cornwell to give you a good battle and to question your outlook on life as you are reading his books.
Rating: 
Summary: A good civil war fictional story
Review: Cornwell's 2nd installment in the Starbuck Chronicles builds on the first novel. Nate Starbuck is the hero with similar characteristics as found in Cornwell's other novels.
While some reviewers find this formula tired, I find it very entertaining. With every successful novel, I grow a little fonder of Cornwell's characters.
I also enjoy the way Cornwell interposes true to life characters from the Civil war into the story.
If you are a fan of historical fiction, I recommend this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Pathetic Hero Drags the Series Down
Review: Following in the tepid footsteps of Rebel is Cornwell's equally disappointing second tale of Nate Starbuck-a young Northerner who fights in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Starbuck is a very weak hero for Cornwell to hitch his Civil War series wagon to, and it's hard to care very much about his adventures. As in the previous book, comes across as more of a reflexively rebellious teenager than a heroic man of action. While it would have been interesting to see Starbuck really struggle with himself about the morality of his actions in joining the rebellion, the bulk of such internal conflicts are actually left to his best friend, Adam, who is a Southerner born and bred, and bullied by his father into uniform. In this installment, Nate is drummed out of the "Faulconer Legion" by its commander, the vain, inept, and rich Gen. Faulconer, who hates him. This leads him to a Richmond prison cell, accused of being a Northern spy, all of which gets him enmeshed in the spycraft between the states. This rather conveniently dovetails with the activities of Adam Faulconer and Nate's own straight-laced brother. The spy material is rather interesting, with the appearance of real-life Alan Pinkerton as Union spymaster. The South's attempt to deceive the North as to its true manpower is particularly fascinating, and is portrayed by Cornwell as an element in their avoiding early defeat, along with Gen. McClelland's timidity. While these semi-historical asides and speculations are interesting, the best part of the book is the walk-on cameo by a French Army observer Patrick Lésawn. Yes, he is the son of rifleman Richard Sharpe (hero of Cornwell's infinitely better Napoleonic series), and a vastly more compelling character than Starbuck. Indeed, one wishes Cornwell had decided to show the Civil War from within his eyes instead! Over the course of the book Starbuck displays a moral cowardice that makes him more and more unlikable, especially his pathetic treatment of his brother, when his brother reaches out to him. I'll continue the series in blind devotion to Cornwell, but these first two in the series are pretty weak.
Rating:
Summary: A Behind The Scenes Look At The Civil War
Review: If one is too insistent on the principal figure having a consistent psychology, then this book is not for you. It does have an interesting mix of characters, and it gave me a sense of the personal dynamics of life during the Civil War (when one thought of distance and transportation in terms of being on the back of a horse). The depiction of battle from the perspective of a regular soldier, with the killing being an entirely local phenomenon, the continuous confusion, and no picture of the greater strategy (are we actually dying for some good purpose, or is my commander an idiot?), is well illustrated. I don't know if I will bother with the rest of the series, but I thought this book was worth the read. Having been at Manassas/Bull Run, I also found the first book of this series interesting.
Rating:
Summary: A Behind The Scenes Look At The Civil War
Review: If one is too insistent on the principal figure having a consistent psychology, then this book is not for you. It does have an interesting mix of characters, and it gave me a sense of the personal dynamics of life during the Civil War (when one thought of distance and transportation in terms of being on the back of a horse). The depiction of battle from the perspective of a regular soldier, with the killing being an entirely local phenomenon, the continuous confusion, and no picture of the greater strategy (are we actually dying for some good purpose, or is my commander an idiot?), is well illustrated. I don't know if I will bother with the rest of the series, but I thought this book was worth the read. Having been at Manassas/Bull Run, I also found the first book of this series interesting.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read
Review: `Copperhead' is the second in the `Starbuck Chronicles' and it provides the reader with all we have to come to expect from author Bernard Cornwell. If you know Cornwell's writing, this novel will not disappoint, similarly if you have never heard of the name, I would encourage you make his acquaintance. During the Civil War a Copperhead was generally held to be a Northerner who sympathised with the Southern cause. Within the pages of this book, although he is the son of a Boston abolitionist minister, Nathaniel Starbuck fights for the South. If you know your Civil War history - and that is no way a requirement for this novel - the action depicted within the pages of `Copperhead' takes us from Ball's Bluff near Leesburg in Virginia to Gaines Mill close to Richmond. However, the main part of the novel takes Starbuck away from the battlefield and into the arena of espionage and deceit. The book also gives us an insight into the insecurities of the Northern generals, in particular McClellan and his `spymaster' Allan Pinkerton. There is no doubt that in Nate Starbuck, Cornwell attempts to create the heroics of Richard Sharpe (for those who don't know, Cornwell has written a whole clutch of novels about English rifleman Richard Sharpe who served both in India and the Napoleonic Wars). To some extend he has succeeded in this, although at times `Copperhead' lacks the pace of some of the Sharpe novels. Nevertheless, I enjoyed `Copperhead', it is in the main well written and informative and is without a doubt an entertaining read. As a point of interest, although I'd recommend the reader to work his/her way through the series in order, it is not vital that you do this as each novel is self-contained.
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