Soldier's Heart

Soldier's Heart is not for those who have a weak stomach or nightmares. This book realistically describes death and dying on the Civil War battle ground. During the Civil War the battles took place in open fields. The soldiers would line up, march towards each other and once they were within range, they'd start shooting. Of course most of the men in the front lines were going to be shot!

Some didn't die. Some were taken to the battle field "hospital." Medicine in those days was not even close to what we have today. A belly shot was incurable and the soldier was left to die a horribly painful death. If injuries to legs and arms were serious, they were amputated. Like I said, this book is not for the weak of heart.

It is a book that explains one young man's battle field experiences during the Civil War very realistically. The main character was a real person and this is his story.

In the forward to this book the author writes about post traumatic stress and how this is not new to our modern day wars. It had other names in WW I and II, but it was the same illness. In the the Civil War, they had no name for it, but it was still prevalent.

You might want to save reading this book until you study the Civil War in eighth grade.