Sons of Glory #1

This Civil War tale by Hawke ( The Cleopatra Crisis ), the first of a projected series, is less an integration of fiction and history than an ex post facto assessment of the battles and officers' abilities. Maj. Anthony Wayne Gallio comes from a line of warriors dating back to Hannibal, as documented in journals supposedly maintained for 2000 years (and which serve as a labored attempt to bring in the slavery and warfare of ancient Rome). Anthony teaches at West Point, which his sons also attend. His elder son Robert is a model cadet; soon after graduating, he becomes an aide to Gen. Winfield Scott. Mark is a scamp who, despite landing in hot water for dueling, serves under Gen. U.S. Grant in Illinois. Meanwhile their sister Maria marries Robert's best friendp. 25 and classmate, Southerner Trevor Coulter. Continuing the family journal-keeping traditionp. 151 , these siblings give their perspectives on the advent and early years of the war (1859-1862). But the journals serve less as a revelation of character than as Hawke's springboard into his own informal history of the war. (May)