American Civil War Fiction

Harriet Ann Jacob's autobiography documents her life as a slave and how she attained freedom for herself and her children. Harrowing in its descriptions of sexual abuse, Jacob's slave narrative is notable for the appeal it made to abolitionist women to open their eyes to the realities of slavery. Deemed too shocking for reading audiences at the time, the book was shelved before it was published in 1861 near the start of the Civil War.

Americans can’t get along anymore. That’s what everybody said. Better to separate than to burn. Or is it? The Coup of 2026 has been reversed; the people are thrown together, trying to find their way. Anderson is becoming a valued Deputy Sheriff, but he’s searching, trying to find meaning in his life, as the world continues to wobble. He’s on the cusp of a big change. Will he survive it? Kelso lives in fear, with Private Hanley still harassing him. Now he’s hearing that his pursuer has graduated to murder. Should he flee, or stick it out, riding the rolling waves of Southern ...

“The bridge.” Sheriff Dean Coleman paused, then said, “The bridge? What about it?” “The bridge that the Texas Pacific rides on, over Bitter Gorge. That’s a drop of one hundred feet or more, down into the Pecos River.” Dean leaned in. “You don’t figure they’re blowing it up?” “I don’t know. It makes sense. Blow up the bridge, take the gold.” After finding a train schedule in the pocket of a dead outlaw, Sheriff Dean uncovers the most sinister plot yet of the deadly militia Los Bandidos Rojos. There’s a train car full of gold due to pass through Dean’s town. ...

For 17 years, Ty Mattson never knew if his father survived the Mexican War. But when he receives news that his father is alive - and he's joined the Confederate forces of General John Morgan - Ty leaves home to enlist with Morgan's Raiders. Owen Mattson turns out to be everything Ty imagined he would be: a good man, a true mentor, a great soldier. But a Confederate assassin's bullets nearly divide father and son yet again.

Waking in the dirt to the smell of smoke, widower Ben Palmer finds his homestead razed, and his daughter gone. Ben is raising his daughter Iris as best he could, scratching a living out of the rocky New Mexico mountain soil. Life is hard – but it just gets a lot harder. Under the lead of the notorious Stitch Jacobs, six desperate men have just fouled relations between the Apache nation and a wealthy land baron. Caught in the crosshairs of their escape, Ben’s daughter is taken hostage as a peace offering to the tyrant who bankrolls the gang. Ben is desperate. Getting his daughter back ...

U.S. Marshal Frank Kennedy is on a relentless pursuit through 100 miles of harsh, lawless land. Each mile more dangerous than the last… In 1869, Frank’s quarry is the notorious outlaw Amos Pickett, whose brutal crime of murdering innocent men with dynamite has made him a wanted man across the West. Frank’s mission is fraught with peril as he ventures into the treacherous No Man’s Land – a dangerous expanse between Texas and Kansas where Pickett and his gang thrive. To capture Pickett, Frank enlists the aid of Fierce Warrior, a Comanche with a personal vendetta, and Ida Bishop, a ...

Empire of Shadows is the epic story of the conquest of Yellowstone, a landscape uninhabited, inaccessible, and shrouded in myth in the aftermath of the Civil War. In a radical reinterpretation of the 19th century West, George Black casts Yellowstone's creation as the culmination of three interwoven strands of history.

After the murder of Teller City’s two law enforcers, Rick Walker jumps at the opportunity to be the town’s next sheriff. Shortly after assuming the sheriff role for Teller City, a wave of crimes plague the troubled town. A notorious outlaw by the name of Leopold Lodges has been released from Colorado’s penitentiary for good behavior. But he is far from reformed. Leopold is striking back in order to get his revenge on the law for locking him up. One peaceful night, Leopold and his gang ride through the town to look for trouble before kidnapping Jenny Bridle from her bed. Upon learning ...

In the tranquil town of Malachite, Ashton Hagen finds solace working in the general store, a stark contrast to the town’s dark underbelly of lawlessness and corruption. His father, the former sheriff, was slain by outlaws, leaving Ashton wary of following in his footsteps. Meanwhile, Jack Keller, once a respected rancher, descends into the vengeful Black Jack Keller. Fuelled by years of mistreatment by Malachite’s residents, he unleashes havoc upon the town, leaving destruction in his wake. Ashton’s uncle, the only family he has left, becomes another casualty of Keller’s rampage. ...

In the aftermath of the Civil War, their paths diverge, yet fate intertwines their lives. Gentry Hamilton, now a stalwart lawman, shoulders the weight of duty and honor while his friend Del Rankin settles down to his family farm and the warmth of his wife, Emma. But tragedy strikes when Emma is murdered by two saddle tramps while both Gentry and Del are out of town. Blaming everyone, especially his friend Sheriff Gentry, Del spirals into madness, blinded by anguish and unleashing violence upon all who cross his path. Gentry, caught in the crossfire of Del’s inability to reason and ...

Their honor compels them to stand by their families. But can the ties of blood outlast the terrors of the Civil War? New Orleans, March 1860. Jeremy Bennett is determined to help his wife locate her enslaved brother who escaped. But with unrest in the East and rumors of secession on Southerners’ lips, they’re forced to return home to San Francisco and safety. And though he hires a man to continue the search in their absence, Jeremy fears the coming conflict will make finding her lost kin impossible. Washington Territory, April 1861. Jonathan Bennett can’t ignore his conscience. Firmly...

An Afro-Russian KGB agent returns to his forefathers' homeland — Chicago — to track down a Russian dissident prepared to unleash the ultimate doomsday device. Dissatisfied by the results of the Post World War I Civil Rights movement, angry African-Americans immigrated to the Soviet Union in the 1930's, for the promise of equality under Communism. Colonel Damian Turner, a native Afro-Russian KGB agent, returns to Chicago, the former home of his grandfather, as part of a worldwide manhunt for one of his nation's highest ranking officers, Marshall Victor Craig. Craig, infuriated at the ...

In the relentless turmoil of the Civil War, Union spy Hattie Logan engineers a daring escape from the infamous Libby Prison. Fueled by an unyielding determination for retribution, she embarks on a quest to hunt down Luke Blackstone, the double agent who betrayed her and her first true love. Her relentless pursuit of justice leads her to the heart of Tennessee, where she forms an unlikely alliance with the spirited and unpredictable Pauline Carlton, once an actress, now a fellow spy. Together, Hattie and Pauline enlist the aid of a resourceful Nashville prostitute, unraveling a perilous web ...

“Don’t touch him there! He’s bleeding.” “I know that he’s bleeding! Both of my hands are covered in blood.” “Well, be careful.” “I am being careful, Rose. I don’t want to make it any worse!” “I think he’s waking up.” Ted was convinced that he was dreaming. And when he opened his eyes, he was sure that there were two angels looking down at him. “Hello, mister,” Rose said. “How are you feeling?” “Don’t ask him that, Rose,” the other woman replied. “You can clearly see that he’s been shot.” “I just wanted to make sure, okay, Lilly?” Ted was...

It’s 1868 and many people are relying on the skills of scout Drake Sagewater. Drake is helping settlers on their way to California. The Andrews family, riding in a canvas wagon, has been attacked by a shrewd renegade from the Apache Nation, named Jace. With a rag-tagged band of fellow renegades, Jace is making life miserable, and sometimes deadly, for settlers. That is the case with the migrating Andrews family, who loses their patriarch, Jed Andrews, in a raid. While seeking justice, Jed’s daughter, Lydia, takes a shine to the handsome young Drake Sagewater. Drake’s challenge is ...

It’s 1869 in the New Mexico Territory and the frontier legend of Dory McLee is only growing. The farm girl is as skilled at riding, shooting and chasing criminals as much as her male counterparts. Back east, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, know about Dory thanks to the sensationalized dime books and pamphlets, yelling out her western moxie. Their stories, including the taming of a grizzly bear, may be exaggerated. Yet people have become enchanted with the young woman. In the real world, the stakes are high for Dory as she is helping a friend, Abby Davis, find the killer of her ...

John Biles wakes in the back of a strange family’s wagon, and his whole life is in ruin. John’s family is riding their way to El Paso to establish a newspaper. His father is a newspaper man, and the rest of the family works in the print shop. Descended upon by a group of Indians who talk like white men, John’s family wagon is besieged, leaving his parents and sister dead. Wounded, John is found by the Jensen family whose wagon is on its way to a massive piece of land they’ve inherited on the outskirts of Whistle Springs. The property inherited has a natural spring from which the ...

After an attempted theft of one of his ranch’s horses, Levi Clay finds himself with blood on his hands and renewed questions about his father’s mysterious death… As he searches for answers in the neighboring town of Masonville, he uncovers a world that’s been warped to serve a brutal gang of outlaws led by one man – Pete Ramsey. Murder. Raids. Corruption. Pete has done it all. But nobody dares to point out the injustices that they have suffered. Speaking up only puts their lives in danger, because… The sheriff and his deputies are on Ramsey’s payroll. As he probes deeper into ...

This classic collection of essays, edited by Booker T. Washington and with contributions from many of post-Civil War America's other prominent African-American thinkers, sought to redefine the role of Black persons in the new Jim Crow era and beat back white supremacy through racial uplift. Seven essays include Charles Chesnutt's "The Disfranchisement of the Negro", W. E. B. DuBois "The Talented Tenth", and Wilford Horace Smith's "The Negro and the Law" .

U.S. Marshal Hunter Cole is called upon to restore peace and stop a gang from attacking a sacred site of the Apaches. The small town of Thunder Ridge is built near an ancient Apache ruins, where whispers of hidden treasure stir excitement. A notorious gang led by Lucas Crane rides into town, seeking gold and priceless artifacts rumored to be buried by Apache ancestors. The town’s peace crumbles when its residents start fearing the outlaws’ greed might provoke a war with the Apache tribe. The town’s mayor realizes he has no choice but to call in U.S. Marshal Hunter Cole to capture ...