Copperhead(Starbuck Chronicles #2)

Copperhead(Starbuck Chronicles #2)
by Bernard Cornwell
Copperhead is the second in the Starbuck series, and the best of the three that I have read (only the fourth
remains to be devoured). It's perhaps the most thoughtful, as both Nate and his friend Adam are forced to
confront their reasons for fighting the war.
Adam, Washington Faulconer's son and good Virginian, now a major, is so distraught by what he feels is an unjust
war, that he decides to feed important information about rebel positions to the Yankees. Nate, the Bostonian,
discovers that his true métier is soldiering and that the friends he has made in Faulconer's Company K — not to
mention the lithe Sally Truslow — are more important to him than the allegiances of his vigorously antislavery
father and brother, James, who is now on Allen Pinkerton's staff. This means, of course, that all the paths will
somewhat improbably cross, but first Nate finds himself in serious jeopardy. Washington Faulconer had seen him
murder one of Faulconer's other officers during battle, an episode recounted in the first volume, and despite the
official verdict that the man had been killed by a Yankee shell, Faulconer is determined to see Nate punished. Nate
is arrested as a spy, and is interrogated using a horrible purgative torture, but then, his innocence, recognized, is
coerced into running a mission for the Confederates. McClellan's timidity in 1862 is accurately portrayed, although
Pinkerton's caution and his unwillingness to credit information contrary to his judgment that the South had huge
numbers of men facing McClellan, is a bit farcical.
Cornwell makes it clear that McClellan missed an important opportunity to end the war early. He could easily have
beaten the small numbers of Southern forces outside Richmond but for his timidity. There's a revealing scene
where McClellan and his officers survey a recently vacated Southern defensive position only to discover the
artillery pieces they had been counting from afar were all "Quaker" guns, i.e., tree trunks painted black and
mounted to look like real artillery guns.
McClellan is so anxious to believe the fakes had been placed there just the night before, and his officers so
obsequious, that despite a French observer’s pointed comments and evidence to the contrary, they all leave
McClellan is so anxious to believe the fakes had been placed there just the night before, and his officers so
obsequious, that despite a French observer’s pointed comments and evidence to the contrary, they all leave
selfconvinced the enemy is even stronger than they had imagined. Several battles are accurately portrayed,
including Ball's Bluff and Gaines Mill, as the Northern army ponderously moved on Richmond.
Cornwell has an uncanny talent for taking the reader directly into the very realistic scenes. No one reading his
battle scenes could ever feel any nostalgia for that kind of carnage. Several prominent historical figures have been
added, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, the later Supreme Court justice who was severely wounded early in the
war. Note that most of Cornwell is available in audio book form. I must recommend the Tom Parker rendition over
David Case, a.k.a Frederick Davidson. Case's somewhat effete English accent just doesn't portray Southern accents
very well.|Unfortunately Cornwell’s trademark excitement – as best expounded in his Sharpe series of books – is
somewhat lacking in his four-volume chronicle of the American Civil War. Like REBEL before it, this is a slowmoving read that focuses on the character of Starbuck, following him as he gets caught up in the wake of some
treachery stirred by his disturbed childhood friend, Adam Faulconer. Starbuck isn’t exactly the most manly or
heroic of heroes but he certainly gets the job done, and there are some vintage, vicious moments when he’s
tortured with a purgative in a rotting Richmond jail cell.
A lot of the book is taken up with the back story of many minor characters and there’s a lot of dialogue and
description. I certainly feel that some of the moment, such as those involving Sally, could have beeen shorn, as by
all accounts these secondary characters don’t play a big part in the following novels.
As always, the battles are brought vividly to life, and COPPERHEAD is bookended by two such showdowns
between North and South- as usual, Cornwell makes them extremely violent without making the violence
gratuitous, and above all, utterly realistic. Characterisation is strong throughout and the tension runs high when
Starbuck turns traitor and goes undercover, but it seems this series lacks the spark that makes the majority of the
Sharpe books masterpieces.|Great Civil War Novel. I found it a fascinating look into both sides of the Civil War or
as the South would call it, The War of Secession. There were spies all over the South and North and one can kind
of understand the divided loyalties. One of the characters is a southerner who hates slavery and war, yet he owes
loyalty to his father and feels he must fight for the South in time he becomes a spy for the North.
Our main character, Nate Starbuck is a Northern son of a famous abolitionist who finds he loves war and battle
and the idea of states rights. He fights for the South and they called men like him "Copperheads".
The North it appears might have ended the war in a matter of months if McClellan had been at all competent. The
South was teetering on the edge of collapse and all it would have taken was the North to invade the city of
Richmond (capital of South) and it would have easily fallen. Spies in this book play a big role in fooling the North
into thinking there were more soldiers and cannon defending Richmond by about 10 fold.
The South was equally incompetent and hesitant to fight as the North. Robert E. Lee was called Granny Lee by his
detractors for his lack of aggression and interest in digging fortification for Richmond rather than attacking the
North.
The book took me back in time and I felt the emotions of battle and similar conflicted feelings as probably most
men of the time felt. If you are a student of Civil War history I think you will find this to be a very satisfying
read.|Traidor é o segundo volume das Crónicas de Nathaniel Starbuck, uma série que Bernard Cornwell “pega” de
vez em quando e que descreve a Guerra Civil Americana. Não tendo apreciado por aí além o primeiro volume,
este 2º volume já me senti transportando para o melhor estilo de Bernard Cornwell que muito admiro, criando
toda uma narrativa brutal e cheia de aventuras.
Nathaniel Starbuck, capitão da Companhia K dos Confederados, vê-se numa luta pela sua idoneidade e, como
forma de salvar a sua honra, empreende uma viagem às linhas do exército do Norte onde irá encontrar o seu
beato irmão e todo um conjunto de lendárias personagens. Em toda esta aventura, cheia de situações violentas,
Nathaniel assumirá a sua vontade de lutar por uma causa que abraçou por mero acaso mas que, agora, tem como
sua.
Baseado em factos reais, Bernard Cornwell, com este segundo volume, traz-nos de volta um registo à sua imagem:
Baseado em factos reais, Bernard Cornwell, com este segundo volume, traz-nos de volta um registo à sua imagem:
violento, brutal, cheio de descrições de batalhas minuciosas onde os factos são escalpelizados, “Traidor” é um livro
que simplesmente adorei, mais um a juntar a enormíssimo leque das obras de Bernard Cornwell.
Situado em 1862 e narrando os acontecimentos da Guerra Civil Americana, o autor cria um romance histórico
baseado em factos e personagens reais. Os acontecimentos não são inventados. Nathaniel Starbuck é um
personagem que serve para criar o contexto, no entanto a maioria dos personagens são reais assim como os
acontecimentos. A batalha de Ball’s Bluff que resultou numa enorme derrota para o Norte, as intrigas políticas e
militares e até pequenos pormenores que tiveram influência no desenrolar do sangrento conflito, são aqui
referidos de uma forma excitante e meticulosa, dando uma visão clara do rumo da guerra e da sua
brutalidade.|During the chaos of the Civil War, Nathaniel Starbuck, a child of a well renown reverend in Boston,
finds himself in the confederate army. Becoming a disgrace of his family, he decided to never go back. Instead, he
would fight until he could fight no more. This book will leave you wanting more. It even makes one feel as the
Union are in the wrong and the Confederate States are right.
Bernard Cornwell mainly writes in the genres of Historical Fiction and Mystery & Thrillers. Not only has he wrote
this series, The Starbuck Chronicles, he has wrote The Sharpe Stories, The Warlord Chronicles, The Grail Quest
Novels, The Saxon Tales, and a series of thrillers. With The Saxon Tales being the most renown.
For me, it is quite satisfying when I what to know if something is factual (For example, someone with an important
role with the army), I can find that they are real and that the author even characterized them the correct way. That
is but one factors that shows how much work and research went into this piece.
Growing up in a very strict environment, young Nathaniel Starbuck is not the person you would imagine running
away from Yale (Training to be priest), with a girl. When he found out that she was using him to get to Richmond,
he stayed in the south with his friend, Adam, to escape his father’s wrath. By doing this, he found out what he
loved more than anything else, soldering. Not just anywhere, but with his set of companions in his legion.
As noted before, this was a very good book, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Since this is a historical
fiction book, that means it only appeals to a very limited group. So, if you are into the Civil War and you don’t
mind a little bit of fiction mixed in, then this will be a great book, especially if you liked the book Rebel, the first
book in this series, which I highly recommend you read first. Over all, I thought this was a very good book and I
can’t wait to read Battle Flag.