Book Description
In the spring of 1864, the Confederate Army in Georgia is faced with the onrushing storm of General William T. Sherman's troops. A young sharpshooter for the South, Charlie Merrill, who has suffered many losses in his life already, must find a way to endure---and grow---if he is to survive the battles that will culminate in July at the gates of Atlanta.
From the opening salvos on Rocky Face Ridge near Dalton, through the trials of Resaca and Kennesaw Mountain, Charlie must face the overwhelming force of the Federal army and a growing uncertainty about his place in the war.
Never before has the Atlanta Campaign been rendered---in all its swift and terrible action---with such attention to history or with writing that reaches the level of art. This crucial episode in the Civil War's western theater comes alive with unexcelled power and drama as it unfolds in soldiers' hands and hearts.
Throughout the course of the novel, Charlie's life is laid out in powerful detail. The experiences from his childhood, through the war, and into his twilight years are to a great extent on his mind half a century later when he is to give a major speech in the park of his small Georgia town
A Distant Flame is a book about the cost of war and the running conflict that led Sherman's Army to the Battle of Atlanta---and the March to the Sea. It stands as a testament to love, dedication, and growth, from the Civil War's fields of fire to the slow steps of old age.
From the Inside Flap
"A powerful work that surely will become a classic of Civil War fiction. A superb book."
- Robert K. Krick, author of Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain
"This strikingly fine novel leaves an indelible impression on the reader long after he puts it down. In some ways it reminds me of the wonderful Raintree County. As Stephen Crane once said about Civil War historical writing, 'I want to be there.' In A Distant Flame, Mr. Williams takes us there, and it's a landscape that captures the heart."
- Robert J. Mrazek, author of Unholy Fire
"A Distant Flame takes a sultry summer day in 1914 and weaves it into a page-turning tale of Civil War Georgia. This is not 'moonlight and magnolias,' but Philip Lee Williams's bittersweet story of life, love, and loss in a small Southern town will touch your heart and move you to tears."
- David Evans, author of Sherman's Horsemen
"The dramatic wartime events of A Distant Flame are written in the heart of Charlie Merrill---sharpshooter, lover, pilgrim, and friend of General Cleburne. This intense and memorable story of battlefield and hearth tells us that it is high time to assess and treasure the work of Philip Lee Williams."
- Marly Youmans, author of The Wolf Pit, winner of the Michael Shaara Award
"A Distant Flame is the best story yet written about the Atlanta campaign and life on the home front in Civil War Georgia. It is also much more. It blends scrupulously researched history with powerful narrative to produce a compelling, multidimensional story of one man's life as shaped by the Civil War over a span of fifty years. It is a story of war, love, and community in a small north Georgia town, brilliantly told, full of insights into the complex impact of the Civil War on everyday Southerners."
- Thomas G. Dyer, author of Secret Yankees: The Union Circle in Confederate Atlanta
About the Author
Philip Lee Williams is the author of eleven published books, including eight novels, two works of nonfiction, and a chapbook. He lives in Watkinsville, Georgia, and teaches creative writing at the University of Georgia.
A Distant Flame FROM THE PUBLISHER
"In the spring of 1864, the Confederate Army in Georgia is faced with the onrushing storm of General William T. Sherman's troops. A young sharpshooter for the South, Charlie Merrill, who has suffered many losses in his life already, must find a way to endure - and grow - if he is to survive the battles that will culminate in July at the gates of Atlanta." "From the opening salvos on Rocky Face Ridge near Dalton, through the trials of Resaca and Kennesaw Mountain, Charlie must face the overwhelming force of the Federal army and a growing uncertainty about his place in the war." "Throughout the course of the novel, Charlie's life is laid out in detail. The experiences from his childhood, through the war, and into his twilight years are to a great extent on his mind half a century later when he is to give a major speech in the park of his small Georgia town." A Distant Flame is a book about the cost of war and the running conflict that led Sherman's Army to the Battle of Atlanta - and the March to the Sea.
FROM THE CRITICS
Kirkus Reviews
A sickly, sensitive, Shakespeare-spouting 17-year-old becomes a Confederate Army killing machine. The trouble is that Charlie Merrill spends much of his time stretching credulity. As he assesses the illustrious General Joe Johnston, he hardly seems his age: "He has restored hope," Charlie tells his own commanding general, adding that that's "[no] small thing for a man young or old." This at 17? And a private talking to a general? Which army? What planet? Clearly, General Patrick Cleburne, hero of the Tennessee campaign, has taken a shine to youthful Charlie: he plays chess with him, swaps philosophies and literary quotations with him, sends senior officers to fetch him to his tent whenever the press of military affairs permits, and presents him with the last of his precious Whitworths: that marvelous rifle issued only to super-snipers. The process of Charlie's achieving sharpshooter stardom could have been interesting, but it gets short shrift, offered as just one of those ironic contradictions: Charlie's "a bookish boy who also loved guns." At 15, he was almost carried off by a lingering illness, recovered, fell in love with a beautiful Bostonian, lost her, then left for the war a year or so later, where he slays with biblical ferocity in behalf of a cause he's lost faith in. Flash forward to 1914, and there's Charlie, venerable now, a respected writer and retired newspaperman, preparing to give a speech on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Atlanta but in a funk because he doesn't quite know what to say about it. Never mind, Charlie being Charlie, he delivers, and the crowd erupts accordingly: cheers, screams, tears even-bull's-eye!The protagonist is a weakness, but buffs will findcompensations here. More than 80,000 books have been written about the American Civil War-and, with authoritative, vividly rendered battle scenes, Williams (Blue Crystal, 1993, etc.) earns a place somewhere, well, at least in the upper quadrant. Agent: Bill Contardi/Brandt & Hochman
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