Скачать книгу

ection>

      

      Pale Blue Light

      A Novel By

      Skip Tucker

      NewSouth Books

      Montgomery

      NewSouth Books

      105 South Court Street

      Montgomery, AL 36104

      Copyright 2012 by Skip Tucker. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by NewSouth Books, a division of NewSouth, Inc., Montgomery, Alabama.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-60306-205-3

      ebook ISBN: 978-1-60306-206-0

      LCCN: 2012013105

      Visit www.newsouthbooks.com.

      I dedicate this book, foremost, to my wife Lissa and my son Jeb.

      Having saved my life, they became it.

      And we are here as on a darkling plain

      Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,

      Where ignorant armies clash by night.

      — Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”

      Hush now, or Stonewall will get you.

      — Washington city mother to her fretful child

      We see him now,—the old slouched hat

      Cocked o’er his eye askew;

      The shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat,

      So calm, so blunt, so true.

      The “Blue-Light Elder” knows ’em well;

      Says he, “That’s Banks,—he’s fond of shell;

      Lord save his soul! we’ll give him hell,”

      That’s “Stonewall Jackson’s way.”

      Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off!

      Old “Blue Light’s” going to pray.

      Strangle the fool that dares to scoff!

      Attention! it’s his way.

      Appealing from his native sod,

      “Hear us, hear us Almighty God,

      Lay bare Thine arm; stretch forth Thy rod!”

      That’s “Stonewall Jackson’s way.”

      — John Williamson Palmer, “Stonewall Jackson’s Way”

       Preface

       Acknowledgments

       Part I

       1 - Rabe Canon

       2 - Broken Hearts

       3 - Old Scratch

       4 - Tom Fool

       5 - Standing Like a Stone Wall

       6 - The World’s Largest General Store

       7 - Three Cigars

       8 - Bad Day for the Black Horse

       9 - A Mutually Beneficial Arrangement

       10 - We Will Kill Them All

       11 - Kill Him

       12 - Shade for Stonewall

       13 - Rivers and Trees

       Part II

       14 - Pale Blue Light

       15 - Nothing Could Be Finah

       16 - In the Notch

       17 - Hurry, General, Hurry

       18 - Bait; and Too Many Tangles

       19 - Not Nearly So Many

       20 - He Just Didn’t Like Him

       21 - A Coffin for Canon

       Part III

       22 - Three Eagles

       23 - The Wind from the West

       24 - Black Boots

       25 - Behold, a Black Horse

       Epilogue

       About the Author

      This is not a history book, but historical fiction. While I have described battles as accurately as possible, there are inconsistencies in the interest of storyline and movement. I own them.

      It is also likely that I have wronged one of history’s great generals, A. P. Hill. There is possibility, however small, that I am right.

      There is authentic intrigue. I found once, in a tenth grade literature book published in the twenties, an account of that night in Chancellorsville by someone in the reconnaissance party who described “a shadowy presence” bent over the stricken Stonewall. I never relocated it.

      Finally, this is not about the Civil War. It is an espionage, spy thriller set in the War Between The States. Importantly, one of my goals is to humanize the legendary Jackson and to provide a fun, thrilling read and ride. I hope folks enjoy it.

      With appreciation:

Скачать книгу