Copperhead

Name: Copperhead
Rating: 4.4 (2447 reviews)

by Bernard Cornwell Book 2 in the Starbuck Chronicles series.

First published 1994

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4.4(2,447)

After surviving First Bull Run, Nathaniel Starbuck remains with the Faulconer Legion as the war moves from improvised clashes towards organised campaigns. The fighting at Ball’s Bluff and the Union advance up the Virginia Peninsula place Richmond under threat, while Starbuck’s Northern birth makes every setback an excuse for suspicion.

Accused of serving as a Union spy, Starbuck must identify the real source of the intelligence passing through Confederate lines. His investigation is entangled with divided families, political influence and rival officers as George B. McClellan approaches Richmond and Joseph E. Johnston gives way to Robert E. Lee. The novel combines battlefield narrative with espionage and the uncertainty of allegiance in a civil war.