A Savage Thunder: Antietam and the Bloody Road to Freedom

From School Library Journal Starred Review. Grade 4–8—"It is terrible to march slowly into danger, and see and feel each second your chance of death is surer than it was the second before." These words from a Union officer begin to provide some reckoning of the horror that was the 1862 Battle of Antietam, which surely changed the course of the Civil War and provided Lincoln with the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Murphy provides readers with a lucid and compelling narrative, drawn mainly from firsthand accounts, of the deadliest day in American military history. From the drama that unfolded in the cornfield to brutal confrontation on the sunken road, the unflinching prose compels readers forward in anticipation of the events yet to unfold. Ever-present throughout the narrative is the dichotomy in leadership styles between the two generals. Lee is presented as firm and resolute, while McClellan is crippled by his fear of Lee's "phantom soldiers." Replete with excellent-quality archival photos, reproductions, and maps, this is an outstanding account of a battle that was truly a "savage thunder."—