I am very happy to announce a return to the Civil War. Because of the Sesquicentennial of that war, which began last year, I am going back to what I guess can be called my "roots". This past spring I begin research on the first of a new trilogy, set more in the "western" theater of the war. The first book is now completed, and will be released this May 29th. It is titled "A BLAZE OF GLORY", and deals with the Battle of Shiloh. (The title comes from a marvelous quote from General (later President) James Garfield, who was present at the battle). The second volume will cover Vicksburg, and will be released the following spring, to be followed by the third and final volume, Sherman's March and the final days of the war in the Carolinas, to be published 2014. As always, my focus will be on the characters, some of whom are very well known, some not known at all, and I will tell the story through their eyes. My goal is never just to add one more history book to the hoard you can finds in any library. As my father taught his Creative Writing students at Florida State: just tell a good story. I hope you will find these books to be just that, and that they will be an appropriate compliment to the previous Civil War trilogy (My father's classic "The Killer Angels" and my own two bookends to that story, "Gods and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure").

I cannot tell you how many people have written me from Tennessee and Mississippi, who have said, "You know, we're kinda tired of hearing about Robert E. Lee and Virginia. There's a whole lot of the Civil War that took place elsewhere." Point taken, and I know there are in fact a great many more stories I could tell beyond this new trilogy, but there just isn't time (and my publisher is never too excited about me doing four or five volume sets on any one subject). So- another trilogy, and I hope I've chosen the subject matter, and the characters, that will give you a good story that goes beyond what you learned in high school.

Once this new trilogy is completed, I will definitely explore Korea, and possibly, move forward to a Vietnam story as well. The encouragement from my publisher has a lot to do with these choices, since, of course, if they won't print it, not much point in me writing it. I am very aware that some readers are hoping I'll move to Korea sooner rather than later, and I appreciate your enthusiasm for a Korea story. It's coming, I promise.

JEFF SHAARA
January, 2012