Ragman’s Roll
Wallace’s American Civil War novel focuses on two main figures, Will Wallace and his former adjutant Tom Jackson, who helped to strategize the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the presidency in 1860 and subsequently acted as aides and security agents for the new president – until the war erupts, and the two men are thrown into the thick of the Civil War’s action.
Wallace expertly works in an enormous amount of historical detail into what is nevertheless a lean and fast-paced story (and also, fair warning, a frequently visceral one).
That story also spotlights the internal life of General Wallace, a figure Jon Neal Wallace views as “the unsung hero of the Civil War.” The general’s wandering thoughts and fever dreams as he is dying of his wounds are very effectively rendered, as are the plot-strands dealing with the plight of the slaves involved in the war. The no-nonsense descriptions of near-mythological battles and larger-than-life personalities are wonderfully done throughout, and the recurring moments of sarcastic humor have an almost Twain-style resonance.
This is a strange and unusual Civil War novel and one no fan of the period should miss. Recommended.
