The Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1 - 3, 1863) is a complex, multi-faceted piece of history that would be difficult to understand after reading just one book. If you ever find yourself in the South-Central Pennsylvania, I would recommend a visit. I've been there twice and it's very a moving, historically interesting site.
This is an interesting, very readable overview of the Civil War. There is a significant focus on the issue of slavery as a plague upon American culture of the time. The author's basic thesis is that, while different people fought for different reasons and the focus was especially blurred when the war began (when there was more emphasis on preservation of the union), the war was essentially fought over the issue of slavery.
This is a sweet, but challenging story about a 16 year old girl from pro-Confederate Maryland who marries a Union soldier from Connecticut just after the Civil War. The story presents the conflicts of hard feelings and the need for healing between North and South in the context of family relationships. It seems quite unusual as stories usually lead up to an unknown "happily ever after." Here, the emphasis is on this young bride's married life.
Based on the 1st and 2nd book of Maccabees of the Douay-Rhiems version of the Bible, The Maccabees, Forgotten Heroes of Israel is an epic tale of faithfulness to God and heroism in the face of unbelievable odds.
If you want to go to sleep, don't read Young Faces of Holiness by Ann Ball. The stories are absolutely fascinating. The thirty-five stories include young people from all walks of life and countries of the world who are either Blessed, Venerable, or candidates for canonization.
Wolfling is the follow up to Sterling North's Newbery Honor book Rascal. The two are loosely related in that they both take place in the wilderness of Wisconsin. Rascal is largely an autobiography of North's unusual childhood in Wisconsin in the early part of the 20th century while Wolfling takes place in the time that North's father was a boy soon after the Civil War. It is based on the letters that he sent North about his childhood.
Set in aristocratic England of the late 19th century, this novel by a convert to Catholicism explores the concept of our participation in the Atonement. Young Sir Nevill Fanning is thoughtlessly and unconsciously pagan (though outwardly Catholic) and heir to his dear Aunt Ann's estate. Early on, he falls in love with a Protestant, and this raises various issues both within his aunt and within himself. A Mr.
This charming story, a Newbery Honor Book for 1928, has just been reprinted by Bethlehem Books. Set on the Island of Nantucket, off of Cape Cod in Massachusetts in the 1810s and 1820s, the story follows the Coffyn family in the largely Quaker community of Nantucket, and especially their daughter Dionis "Dencey". Dencey is a young girl from a proper Quaker family with a temper and a heart of gold. She befriends an outcast boy and teaches him to read in order to make up for hurting him in a fit of temper.
This collection includes all four stories (Midshipman Quinn, Quinn of the Fury, Midshipman Quinn and Denise the Spy, and Quinn at Trafalgar) of Midshipman Septimus Quinn, a junior officer of the British Navy from 1803-1805.
This engaging novel is centered around a young orphan from France, who is married off to a Canadian coureur de bois. The heroine, Jeanne Chatel, is spunky and determined to succeed in the wilds of 17th century Canada. There is considerable Catholic content in the novel. Jeanne is an orphan, and is raised by Catholic nuns in France. She travels to America with Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, who went on to found schools and chapels, and started the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal, Quebec.