Robert Walton (3)

In Dawn Drums, Walton has created a historical fiction novel that doesn’t seem like one. The characters, both historical and fictional, seem plucked from the environs of the war itself. If I had no background in the history of the period I would not have been able to distinguish between historical characters and the fictional ones. The characters are crafted in such a way as to have strengths and weaknesses that are the joint heritage of humanity; because of this many will be able to connect to the history though the lives of the characters in a way that often doesn’t happen in a classroom. The afterward makes a great jumping off point to teach how the War Between the States effected subsequent history; I can imagine many lessons based on the later lives of the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will put it on my school bookshelf to be used as a common core resource for both history and English language arts.… (meer)