"The inscrutable ways of Providence had allowed the destruction of their land, their homes, their institutions, their army—in short, all that they held sacred. All that they revered. All that they consecrated to the name and glory of God."Ah, the irony; while Joseph feared the Confederacy felt like all these things threatened the very existence of their way of life, I fear all the same things may tear away the now supposed 'unified' America and the freedoms therein. But while that little blurb jumped out at me in the closing pages, the book itself revealed so much more.You'll see the ultimate example of love, shown in the most beautiful ways, between what a passerby in that day and age would consider imbeciles.You'll find a strange sense of honor in some men in the story, even amongst the war generals...and even in an almost warrior-like code demonstrated in the character of Jeremiah.Jeremiah also shows, though in barbaric and unruly fashion, what some may refer to as street justice. There is nothing pure or wholesome about it, yet justice is brought to the matter all the same.There is the sheer brutality and ugliness of war, and it builds and builds up to Sherman's arrival. The author does a spectacular job leading up to what I can only imagine as Hell on Earth, once the conflagration of Columbia starts. There is the cruelty of man to his brother and sister. Horrible, violent things happen in this story.But without spoiling too much, I think I would be hard pressed not to say that in chapter 39, the author depicts love from one human to another, that parallels Christ and His love for us...probably better than anything I've ever read in fiction.God bless this author for bringing a story of the history of the ugly side of humanity, and yet showing that even in a 'War Between the States' or 'War of Northern Aggression' (depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon Line you resided), there was a glimmer of hope to be found.
