Out of Time, by Lawrence Martin, is an original work protected by copyright. The second of Lawrence Martin's Civil War novels, Out of Time is now available on Amazon Kindle. (For information about his first Civil War Novel, Sherman's Mistress in Savannah, see sidebar.) The book's cover and Preface are below. Click here to read first two chapters. Please use back button to return to this web page.
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PREFACE
It is November 1864 and General Sherman’s army is marching through Georgia. Sherman has recently burned much of Atlanta and meets very little opposition as his 60,000-man army aims for Savannah. General Hood’s Confederate army will soon be defeated in Tennessee by General Thomas’s Union forces. General Grant is squeezing the vise he has placed around Petersburg, and the Confederate capital Richmond is threatened. General Lee’s troops are demoralized, many shoeless, and some are deserting to return home so they can help feed and protect their family. The South has all but lost the Civil War and leaders on both sides sense the end is near. It is just a matter of time, yet the Confederates do not give up or in. They are hoping for a miracle.
Across the ocean comes a foreign fleet of submarines, promising to save the South from inevitable defeat. Is that possible? What could be their motive? And why -- oh why -- do they come at the last hour?
This ‘alternative history’ of how the Civil War ends presents both real and imagined events of that momentous conflict. Alternate Civil War history is now a common genre, with many essays and novels that posit a different ending. Among titles available at Amazon.com:
Dixie Victorious and
A Rainbow of Blood, by Peter G. Tsouras;
Confederate Union, by Alan Sewell;
The Guns of the South and
How Few Remain, by Harry Turtledove;
Time Change (Book 1 and 2), by Alex Myers;
Gettysburg, by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen;
The Last Best Hope, by David L. Parrott;
Gray Victory, by Robert Skimin;
Stonewall Goes West, by R. E. Thomas; and
A Rebel in Time, by Harry Harrison.
A subgroup of this genre invokes time travel to effect a different ending to the war. In Out of Time you will find my own unique alternate-outcome scenario. I have also included an Appendix with the actual history for each of the book’s two parts. However, if you don’t wish to compare the novel’s events with what really happened, simply skip the Appendix and enjoy the book for what it is – a different outcome to the Civil War, and what that might portend for future generations.
Lawrence Martin
Cleveland, Ohio
May 2014