Stonewall

Rating:
Summary: The man and the legend
Review: "Stonewall" Jackson, the legend. General Jackson, the military genius. Tom Jackson, the loving husband. Thomas Jonathon Jackson - the man. Dwyer's superb novel explores all these many facets of a character about whom history remembers little more than his tactical brilliance on the battlefield as a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Beginning with his childhood and the deaths of his father and older sister, Dwyer leads the reader upon a journey that spans almost forty years and ends with the heart-rending death of a man who had made it his mission to serve his God above all else.

That journey encompasses the grief of an awkward young man whose beloved family members, most notably his mother and idolized older brother, leave him one by one. We see his struggle to restore the name of Jackson to glory and honor, his amazing part in the siege upon Chapultepec during the Mexican War, and his endeavors to excel as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute.

His passionate love for his first wife Elinor Junkin and his intense pain after her death in childbirth are sketched masterfully, as are his ensuing relationships with Elinor's sister Margaret (née Preston), who would later be known as the "Poetess of the Confederacy," and his second wife Mary Anna Morrison.

More so than anything else though, Dwyer shows how religion and a personal relationship with God were the driving forces in Jackson's life. The reader sees firsthand the unswerving devotion of a man who had every reason and opportunity to rebel.
His eccentricities and strange habits (including an incurable penchant for raw lemons) are given full rein upon the printed page, and we see before us, not a black and white, one-dimensional character, but a full-color portrait of a very human man.

Myriad different viewpoints, including Maggie Junkin Preston's, a slave boy's, a VMI-cadet-turned-Union-soldier's, and Jackson's wives', are utilized, allowing the reader the opportunity to see this incredible man from many different angles. Granted, in order to encompass these many points of view, the author often resorts to an omniscient viewpoint in order to look into the thoughts of several different people at once. While a seldom-used technique in most modern novels, this is usually not confusing and adds much to the presentation.

The book is very large (fifty-eight chapters), and sometimes - particularly at the beginning - it has the feel of a biography rather than a novel, but this may well be the result of incomplete information about respective periods in Jackson's life.

As a novel, Stonewall is an excellent read. But as the story of a Christian man in the midst of great turmoil, it approaches epic status.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels I have read in many years.
Review: I am John Dwyer's literary agent, and I was the acquisitions editor at Broadman & Holman Publishers who got the Stonewall novel contracted.

When John and I first talked in 1991 about writing a novel on Stonewall Jackson, I knew then that this Confederate commander would make a wonderful subject for a fiction treatment. Little did I know, though, how creatively yet historically accurate John would write Stonewall's story. I knew John had the writing ability and talent, and I knew he had the historical grasp of the Stonewall figure. But when I saw how well John pulled the entire story together, I knew the novel was going to be something very special. And that it certainly has turned out to be.

Stonewall is a powerful epic set during America's most tumultuous, heart-renching period of history. The novel shows us how a person of genuine good character can overcome what for many people would be overwhelming odds and humbly rise to such a high stature that even his enemies admired him.

A love story. Adventure. War. A faith on fire for God. A social conscience that challenged the accepted morals of the day. Tragedy. Humor. Heroism. Incredible achievement made in the face of doubters and cynics. The Stonewall novel has it all.

Do yourself a favor. Buy Stonewall for yourself and enjoy it from cover to cover. Then buy more copies and give them as gifts. Neither you nor the others who receive copies of this wonderful read will be disappointed in the least.

Rating:
Summary: been tricked!
Review: I'm not a fan of war stories. I don't like romance novels. But this story weaves both and more into a historical tale that at times you wish just weren't true. I didn't know Stonewall Jackson was such an interesting, amusing and REAL person. History does that to you; makes you forget that the people were real and their lives full of joys and hurts just like your own.

I have renewed compassion for those who fought in the civil war. I have renewed patriotism for those who survived and rebuilt our nation. I have renewed faith.

I look forward to Mr. Dwyer's future writings. I look forward to the places I can visit and the feelings I can share with those who came before me. Thanks for making history so alive.

Rating:
Summary: History with Heart; Blood and Guts Done Tastefully
Review: I'm not a fan of war stories. I don't like romance novels. But this story weaves both and more into a historical tale that at times you wish just weren't true. I didn't know Stonewall Jackson was such an interesting, amusing and REAL person. History does that to you; makes you forget that the people were real and their lives full of joys and hurts just like your own.

I have renewed compassion for those who fought in the civil war. I have renewed patriotism for those who survived and rebuilt our nation. I have renewed faith.

I look forward to Mr. Dwyer's future writings. I look forward to the places I can visit and the feelings I can share with those who came before me. Thanks for making history so alive.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring
Review: John Dwyer has taken history, and turned it into live action while sprinkling in a healthy dose of spiritual excitement and emotional stimulation. I feel as if I have ridden with Stonewall through many of the historic battles of the pre-Gettysburg Civil War. He strongly displays the reliance Gen. Jackson and others had on their God and their relationships with Jesus Christ. I recommend this book without reservation or condition.

Rating:
Summary: Stonewall
Review: This book is truly worth reading, especially for Christians. It gives you a view of Stonewall Jackson's personal life as well as of the Civil War. His faith was the most important thing in his life and he wasn't afraid to share it with others. In fact, he was instrumental in the spirtual revival of the Southern soldiers during the war. I learned so much about him personally and also about how the South suffered so much at the hands of the Union. It was a wonderful book and I look forward to reading more books by Mr. Dwyer, who also is a man not afraid to share his faith.

Rating:
Summary: Stonewall
Review: This book is truly worth reading, especially for Christians. It gives you a view of Stonewall Jackson's personal life as well as of the Civil War. His faith was the most important thing in his life and he wasn't afraid to share it with others. In fact, he was instrumental in the spirtual revival of the Southern soldiers during the war. I learned so much about him personally and also about how the South suffered so much at the hands of the Union. It was a wonderful book and I look forward to reading more books by Mr. Dwyer, who also is a man not afraid to share his faith.