The Bloody Ground

Written by Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by Tom Parker

It is only weeks after the Second Manassas in September 1862, and in General Lee’s army the Northern renegade Nathaniel Starbuck must prove his loyalty once again. As Robert E. Lee takes the war north, he will be met by “Little Mac,” General George McClellan, whose Northern army far outnumbers and outguns the invading Confederates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Jun 21, 2005
• ISBN: 9780786120130

Bernard Cornwell

BERNARD CORNWELL is the author of over fifty novels, including the acclaimed New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales, which serve as the basis for the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod and in Charleston, South Carolina.

Reviews for The Bloody Ground

[bdtrump · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The last edition of Cornwell's Civil War Starbuck Chronicles, this book particularly hits on the realism and horror of war. Antietam remains one of the most horrific battles in American history, and Cornwell describes it well.

[philip100 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is book 4 in a very good series about the Civil War. I hope Mr. Cornwell is going to write a couple more to finish the war and bring Starbuck back to Richmond and his future. I sometimes wonder if Mr. Cornwell has a puritanical streak in him, he seems to like to make life very hard on his main characters. I would recommend reading the whole series to everyone they are very well written and enjoyable. I'll be waiting the next installment.

[witchyrichy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The fourth in the series, The Bloody Ground depicts the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland in fall 1862. The battle--which Southerners prefer to call the Battle of Sharpsburg--is known as the bloodiest day of the war. The Antietam Creek ran red with blood with 23,000 casualties and was not a decisive win for either side. The battle had importance, though, because it clearly demonstrated McClellan's poor leadership and gave Lincoln a reason to at least not have to claim an defeat. He followed up with the Emancipation Proclamation. And, in the midst of his sometimes gut wrenching depiction of the battle field, Cornwell tells this political and military history in an entertaining but insightful way.