Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Books You Will Read This Year
Review: "Ironclads at sea, armies moving by rail, communicating by telegraph. Rifled cannons, rifled rifles, exploding ordinance." They were all Americans, like it or not, all children of that particular genius that was America. How apt then that in less than a year of war, Americans fighting Americans, they should forever alter forever the very nature of warfare."That paragraph, found late in this marvelous book, truly frames the story that plays out between it's covers. It comes from a perspective that many of us find at least different and sometimes uncomfortable. It is a story of the Confederate Navy and is told with sympathy and understanding as well as painstaking historical attention to fact. Samual Bowater, a former officer in the United States Navy has resigned his commission to return to his home, the Confederacy and seeks to help in the only way he knows how, by seeking to serve as a naval officer. He watches from a distance and paints the scene as Fort Sumter is fired on and the Civil War begins. Robey Paine, a man of Mississippi with three sons to send to fight for the Confederacy believes that all of them have been lost in battle. A certian madness is the result, which will find him commissioning the conversion of a ship to an ironclad and leads him to the discovery that one of his som's has survived. This is a moving story of a small part of the Civil War which shows it's horror and it's passion in way that is compelling. Although I live in Maine, as does the author - about 25 miles from me - I was unaware of his writing until this book was recommended to my wife by an insightful bookstore clerk as a Christmas present for me. It is, I believe, the best book I have read in quite some time and it has already started me ordering other books written by James Nelson and looking forward to his next effort. I would give it ten stars if I could.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad but.....
Review: A fascinating story and impossible to put down. Nelson once again spins a great yarn. Each Nelson book is better than the last. Great characters, unbelievable action sequences, and a fast, fun read. Nelson's books are truly the best of the genre, without exception. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Always a great read
Review: A fascinating story and impossible to put down. Nelson once again spins a great yarn. Each Nelson book is better than the last. Great characters, unbelievable action sequences, and a fast, fun read. Nelson's books are truly the best of the genre, without exception. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Review: I'd only glimpsed through Nelson's earlier works, but after reading the first few pages of Glory in the Name, I was caught, and ended up buying the book. Being an avid reader of nautical fiction in the Napoleonic era (O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, the Hornblower novels), I never thought that I'd be captivated, as I was here, by a novel concerning a later navy during the Civil War in the period that saw the 'death' of sail. I applaud Nelson for writing a novel concerning the Confederate Navy, a unique and rare subject in itself, and having read this novel I see that there is a great amount of interesting material to be combed from it. The characters, particularly Taylor, are outstanding and unique, as well as easily relatable, and the relationships that tie each character together, again particularly Taylor with Bowater, are outstanding as well. Glory in the Name was a book I could not put down. The Bowater-Taylor relationship could potentially rival Aubrey-Maturin's, and hopefully this book may also be the first in a series.
Rating:
Summary: Never disappointed with Nelson!
Review: I've been a big Civil War buff for years, and usually I am wary of fiction, but Glory in the Name is my kind of Civil War fiction! The book is very well researched and historically accurate - historical mistakes put me right off a book, but I didn't find them here. Best of all, the action is fast and unrelenting,and the characters, especially Hironymous Taylor, pull you right in. I agree with what Bernard Cornwell wrote - the best Civil War noel I have read!
Rating: 
Summary: Plotless, meandering, unsatisfying
Review: Neslon fabricates three stories with the most unlikely of connections in order to have his characters at the main events of the early Civil War. None of the characters is particularly outstanding. The book is mainly concerned with getting from battle scene to battle scene, and describing the horrors of battle. Yawn. And guess what? The Confederacy loses! Still, it's not as bad as Guns of the South.
Rating:
Summary: Congratulations to an Award Winning Author!!!!
Review: Now it can be shouted - James L. Nelson is America's premiere writer of nautical adventure as well as a terrific purveyor of historic fiction! CONGRATULATIONS MR. NELSON FOR A WELL DESERVED AWARD - THE WILLIAM BOYD AWARD FOR BEST MILITARY FICTION OF 2004!!!! Anyone who craves more reading on the Civil War, who loves nautical fiction, or who just wants to read the work of a fine stylist should not miss any of James L. Nelson's novels and particularly not miss this, his latest that won over a panel of judges in a crowded field of contenders. When you combined sharply researched history with memorable characters, gripping action, and lace it all with a dose of Nelsonian wit and humor you can't lose. Enjoy!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Congratulations to an Award Winning Author!!!!
Review: Now it can be shouted - James L. Nelson is America's premiere writer of nautical adventure as well as a terrific purveyor of historic fiction! CONGRATULATIONS MR. NELSON FOR A WELL DESERVED AWARD - THE WILLIAM BOYD AWARD FOR BEST MILITARY FICTION OF 2004!!!! Anyone who craves more reading on the Civil War, who loves nautical fiction, or who just wants to read the work of a fine stylist should not miss any of James L. Nelson's novels and particularly not miss this, his latest that won over a panel of judges in a crowded field of contenders. When you combined sharply researched history with memorable characters, gripping action, and lace it all with a dose of Nelsonian wit and humor you can't lose. Enjoy!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Glory in the Name
Review: This is a must read for Civil War aficionados. Nelson intricately weaves his story into historical facts to create a compelling tapestry of words. What are you waiting for?? BUY IT!
Rating:
Summary: The Second American Revolution
Review: This is the first book in a new series about the Civil War.
The Civil War, the first war of the Industrial Revolution in this
country, was a war of transition. The massed tactics of the
Napoleonic Wars were made obsolete by the rifled musket.
The U.S. Rifle Musket Model 1861, informally known as the
Springfield, because it was made at the Springfield Arsenal
in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was also the Second American Revolution. At four thirty A.M., on the morning of April 12, 1861, a pull of a lanyard began the Civil War. That was the time it began. That was the time when Fort Sumter
in Charleston Harbor, was attacked. However, it's not about the Confederate Army. If you want to read a series about the
Confederate Army, then read John Jakes' North And South. This is a book, series, actually, about a little-known service in the Civil War, the Confederate States Navy. The CSN, according to the Historical Note at the back of the book, was
founded in February 1861, but had more ships than it did men to serve on them. Why? Very few Southern naval officers resigned their comissions, compared to their Army
brethren. This is the story of one of them. Samuel Bowater was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy until the attack on Fort Sumter. He resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy and took command of an armed tugboat, and later, an armed riverboat. Nelson covers the problems and privations of life
in the CSN. Bowater hopes that he'll be compared to the greats of naval history, including Lord Nelson, and that the
Confederate States Navy will be remembered. Well, the CSN is all but forgotten today, and the reason why is simple.
Times had changed. 1861 wasn't 1775.
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