Fantastic book by the creator of Richard Sharpe. The first of the Starbuck Chronicles sees Nathaniel Starbuck, a Sharp-esque soldier (at least towards the end of Rebel), with the rare distinction of being a Northerner fighting for the South at the First Battle of Bull Run - or Manassas, if you're from the south - in the summer of 1861 with a fictional outfit, the Faulconer Legion, who has a major part in the outcome of the first destructive battle of the American Civil War.
As with the Sharpe books, Cornwell is at his best by weaving a riveting story around the battle, which has enough twists and turns of it's own to satisfy without too much more from the author, and the descriptions of the fighting - a day when the North very disastrously snatched defeat from the jaws of victory - that seemed to break America in half.
Starbuck is a great character, and I'm looking forward to more from the cast of supporting characters including the vicious but loyal Thomas Truslow, Thaddeus 'Pecker' Bird, Adam Faulconer and his father, Washington Faulconer, whose hatred and rivalry with Starbuck brews nicely towards the end of "Rebel" and seems set for more in the second book of this series.
So much to look forward to in the coming three books. Cornwell has rested Starbuck whilst he wrote more Sharpe books and went onto King Arthur novels, and others. We can only hope that he revists Starbuck sooner rather than later!
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