A broken man will be forged in the flames of war…It is late 1862, and the United States has been ripped apart by civil war for over a year with no end in sight. The war is a distant thought to Johannes Wolf, a young German immigrant with a crippled leg keeping him off the muster lists.Desperately dredging the gutters for recruits, Wolf cons his way into the depleted, demoralized, and poorly … demoralized, and poorly run Union army, and is promptly placed in the undesirable F Company of the 13th Michigan Cavalry.
Wolf’s company find themselves riding with Custer and the Michigan Brigade on a collision course with master horseman J.E.B. Stuart and the Army of Northern Virginia in a small town in Pennsylvania, called Gettysburg.
Will they stand tall against the knights of the South and prove themselves worthy? Or will they fall beneath screaming bullets and sweeping blades, becoming more bloody fodder for a lost cause?
Northern Wolf is a thrilling, historical page-turner packed with detailed passages of battle, the horrors of war, and the struggle to discover oneself. Fans of Bernard Cornwell, Jeff Shaara, Simon Scarrow, and Steven Pressfield will be captivated by this powerful new series. Start the adventure today!
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I have been seriously studying the Civil War for more than two decades. I cannot say how taken aback I was to start reading this fictional account and feel like I was reading letters from real soldiers, as portrayed on the Ken Burns’ Civil War. There was more than one time when I was ready for Shelby Foote to step in and give a forward to a chapter!
This work in one word: excellent. Superb is another word. One of the finest pieces of Civil War fiction written in the last 50 years.
The author used the history of the period to bring his fictional men alive. The reader quickly feels like he is part of the 13th.
I honestly think this work will be able to sit comfortably on a book shelf next to WEB Griffin’s Brotherhood of War. Honestly not since Horatio Hornblower has a fictional character been so wonderfully fit into the historical record in such a sublime fashion, you forget you are reading fiction.
Certainly, one of the greatest books I have ever read. I recommend this book to everyone who is a fan of history or a fan of the underdog. Sheer brilliance.
I would have given this six stars out of five but am limited to 5+ stars.
Fantastic book.
My Rating: 5+ stars
NORTHERN WOLF is the story of 19-year-old Johannes Wolf (Wolf). The opening scene, set in Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 1862, depicts a hot-headed youth starting trouble in a barroom. Despite having a bum leg that requires wearing a metal brace, Wolf challenges three burly brothers, recent immigrants from Poland. The bartender, a friend of Wolf’s father, suggests, “Why don’t you join the army or something? You’ve got a thick neck. Remind me of a lame ox.”
After the opening chapter, it was a little difficult to root for the protagonist, but eventually, I came around. After cooling off in a jail cell, Wolf musters for service in the American Civil War, joining the fictional 13th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry. At this stage in the war, Wolf’s disability is overlooked. Also mustering are Wolf’s friend, Franz, and Franz’s widower father, as well as the three strong men from the barroom brawl.
Can an angry young man with a bad leg survive the rigors of war? The following summer, Wolf and the 13th Michigan find themselves engaged at East Cavalry Field in the company of newly promoted, 23-year-old Brigadier General of volunteers, George (Autie) Armstrong Custer. Perhaps more people are aware of Custer’s Last Stand and his defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn than they are of his service in the Civil War. I love the portrayal of Custer in this book.
The author expertly depicts the life of a soldier and battle scenes. Spotlighting tiny details, conveying the enormous stakes, and expressing the camaraderie of men who must depend on one another, that’s how author Daniel Greene recreates the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. Having visited Gettysburg several times, it is incredible to look upon the open land and imagine tens of thousands of soldiers battling thereupon. This book vividly paints that tragically violent picture on that open landscape in my mind.
I noticed lots of descriptions of beards and facial hair, and it made me think of all of the times I’ve seen pictures of officers on both sides of the Civil War.
I highly recommend NORTHERN WOLF by Daniel Greene.