I, Soldier: A Voice from the American Civil War - Book Review

I, Soldier: A Voice from the American Civil War

Author: Drew Allbritten
Genre: Fiction - Historical
Publisher: Hellgate Press
Date Published: April 24, 2024
ISBN-10: 1954163827
ISBN-13: 978195463829

Book Review of :  I, Soldier: A Voice from the American Civil War



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I, Soldier: A Voice from the American Civil War by Drew W. Allbritten provides a unique glimpse into the perspectives and challenges faced by a typical Civil War soldier. It delves into the everyday struggles, personal reflections, and the harsh realities of life on the battlefield. It captures the essence of their experiences, from the camaraderie among soldiers to the emotional toll of war, offering readers a comprehensive understanding of this tumultuous period in history.

Historians and history students as well as curious, imaginative writers will be intrigued by the content and literary style of this evocative tome.  The genre is a mixture of verses and vignettes presented as if written with a pencil stub on scrap papers by a simi literate young man while he was serving in the Union army during the American Civil War.

The reader will wonder how the author, Drew W. Allbritten, was able to conjure up such an unusual historically based text.  Allbritten credits his great-great-grandfather’s recounting stories of his involvement in the Civil War from 1861-1865. Through oral family history, Allbritten’s childhood interest developed into his becoming a Civil War reenactor portraying a young Union soldier for about twenty years. His study of historically significant culture, uniforms, firearms, and war conditions led him to accurately depict the experiences of the young soldier.

Allbritten presents the fears, visual experiences, and psychological emotions of the soldier in the language and terminology of the historical period. Many soldiers wrote poems, kept journals, and wrote letters home in the style the author emulates. Allbritten’s writing utilizes the vocabulary and language, sentence structure, and nonstandard spelling of the time period, making the writings thought-provoking and engaging. The reader will weep and scream, feel the frozen tundra and smell the arid smoke of battle. Below is a small sampling of a piece from the book:

"Clashin bayonet to bayonet stood Johnny Reb and Billy Yank,
and death cam too quicklee, rank afta rank afta rank.
De moanin of doze dyin graybacks be replacin dare once-proud yells,
to soon be followed by da sobbin of plenty Dixie belles."

The writings are structured around historical events from the years of the war.  Supplementing the writings are photographs, some from the author's collection, others from documented sources. The epilogue and conclusion draw parallels to political problems in today’s culture. Rigorously researched and compulsively readable, this book will resonate with those interested in 19th-century studies and the US Civil War. This text is an excellent example of the diversity in creative writing, a supplement for US history courses, and should be on the desk of all teachers of American history.


Reviewed by: Carole W

About Drew Allbritten


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For over five decades, Dr Drew Allbritten was a transformational leader in education, government and non-profit organizations. As a former teacher, counsellor, administrator, State Legislator, U.S. Presidential Appointee, and association CEO, his professional works are archived in Syracuse University's Bird Library. In 2021, he was awarded the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education's Outstanding Service Medallion for advancing the adult learning profession. He is now retired and lives in a small village in southern France. .





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