The Fateful Lightning: A Novel of the Civil War

Jeff Shaara

Jun 2015 · Sold by Ballantine Books

About this ebook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From Jeff Shaara comes the riveting final installment in the Civil War series that began with A Blaze of Glory and continued in A Chain of Thunder and The Smoke at Dawn.

November 1864: As the Civil War rolls into its fourth bloody year, the tide has turned decidedly in favor of the Union. A grateful Abraham Lincoln responds to Ulysses S. Grant’s successes by bringing the general east, promoting Grant to command the entire Union war effort, while William Tecumseh Sherman now directs the Federal forces that occupy all of Tennessee.

In a massive surge southward, Sherman conquers the city of Atlanta, sweeping aside the Confederate army under the inept leadership of General John Bell Hood. Pushing through northern Georgia, Sherman’s legendary March to the Sea shoves away any Rebel presence, and by Christmas 1864 the city of Savannah falls into the hands of “Uncle Billy.” Now there is but one direction for Sherman to go. In his way stands the last great hope for the Southern cause, General Joseph E. Johnston.

In the concluding novel of his epic Civil War tetralogy, Jeff Shaara tells the dramatic story of the final eight months of battle from multiple perspectives: the commanders in their tents making plans for total victory, as well as the ordinary foot soldiers and cavalrymen who carried out their orders until the last alarum sounded. Through Sherman’s eyes, we gain insight into the mind of the general who vowed to “make Georgia howl” until it surrendered. In Johnston, we see a man agonizing over the limits of his army’s power, and accepting the burden of leading the last desperate effort to ensure the survival of the Confederacy.

The Civil War did not end quietly. It climaxed in a storm of fury that lay waste to everything in its path. The Fateful Lightning brings to life those final brutal, bloody months of fighting with you-are-there immediacy, grounded in the meticulous research that readers have come to expect from Jeff Shaara.

Praise for The Fateful Lightning

“Powerful and emotional . . . highly recommended.”—Historical Novels Review

“Outstanding . . . Shaara combines his extensive knowledge of military history with his consummate skill as a storyteller.”—Booklist

“Readers . . . looking for an absorbing novel will be well rewarded.”—The Clarion-Ledger

“A great accomplishment and a more than fitting conclusion to Shaara’s work on the Civil War.”—Bookreporter

Ratings and reviews

It's hard to put down any of Jeff Shaara's books. He does an excellent job describing the emotions and the senses of the characters during the time period. You almost feel like you are standing there witnessing Sherman interacting with a former slave. The soldiers on both sides plan their troop movements and attacks in spite of the ongoing miserable wet and cold weather they have become so used to.

Another fabulous interpretation. I'm always disappointed when his stories conclude. I look forward to the next.

History in print

About the author

Jeff Shaara is the New York Times bestselling author of The Smoke at Dawn, A Chain of Thunder, A Blaze of Glory, The Final Storm, No Less Than Victory, The Steel Wave, The Rising Tide, To the Last Man, The Glorious Cause, Rise to Rebellion, and Gone for Soldiers, as well as Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure—two novels that complete the Civil War trilogy that began with his father’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, The Killer Angels. Shaara was born into a family of Italian immigrants in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and graduated from Florida State University. He lives in Gettysburg.