Glorieta Pass

I had the good fortune to win Galveston as an early reviewer book. I enjoyed the rich cultural history that P.G.Nagle incorporated into the story. I realized that I needed to read another of her western Civil War books. Glorieta Pass brought more of the heart-breaking misery of 19th century war to life. Nagle introduced us to more than 25 characters in as many pages. Then she proceeded to make us care about and/or hate them.

Her descriptions of weather, landscape, food, medicine are all so deftly presented, I found myself alternately sweating and freezing with each turn of the page. I strongly recommend P.G.Nagle's historical fictions to any Civil War buff. I've got The Guns of Valverde on my list of must reads.

This was a little slow starting, and I was afraid it was a girly book, but it turned out to move along pretty well. It was neat seeing the Civil War out here in Colorado.

Combines fictional characters with real people to tell the story of the battle of Glorieta Pass, frequently referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West." In the Sangre de Christo Mountains outside of Santa Fe, Union forces, primarily made up of Colorado volunteers, smashed a Confederate force and ended southern hopes of controlling the gold fields of the west. lj