Escape from Libby Prison

Rating:
Summary: A Tremendous Book
Review: Gindlesperger has done a tremendous job of recreating the exciting Civil War escape of 109 Union officers from Richmond's notorious Libby Prison. His book is carefully researched and skillfully written. Another reviewer criticized Gindlesperger's use of dialogue. However, I felt that the dialogue was essential to the book. Since I am a historian and writer myself, I was acutely conscious of the difficulties of trying to portray life in Libby prison. The lives and activities of the captured Union officers were so circumscribed that the book couldn't be all action and adventure. Yet given the limitations of the subject, Gindlesperger has created character and drama through dialogue while telling an intriguing tale. My only criticism of the book, and it is a small one, is that I would have liked the extensive bibliography to have separated the primary and secondary sources.

Rating:
Summary: A Tremendous Book
Review: Gindlesperger has done a tremendous job of recreating the exciting Civil War escape of 109 Union officers from Richmond's notorious Libby Prison. His book is carefully researched and skillfully written. Another reviewer criticized Gindlesperger's use of dialogue. However, I felt that the dialogue was essential to the book. Since I am a historian and writer myself, I was acutely conscious of the difficulties of trying to portray life in Libby prison. The lives and activities of the captured Union officers were so circumscribed that the book couldn't be all action and adventure. Yet given the limitations of the subject, Gindlesperger has created character and drama through dialogue while telling an intriguing tale. My only criticism of the book, and it is a small one, is that I would have liked the extensive bibliography to have separated the primary and secondary sources.

Rating:
Summary: Not well written, and limited in research
Review: This book contains what seems like an accurate, detailed fictional portrayal of escape attempts from Libby Prison in Richmond during the Civil War. But the book isn't well written and the main culprit is the dialogue. Every character speaks in ridiculously thick, phonetically spelled dialect. All the Southerners talk in the most stereotypical way imaginable. The author's presentation of the horrors of Libby Prison, while eschewing any discussion of the equally awful conditions faced by Southerners in the North, gives a feeling of unreliability to the novel's status as well-researched historical fiction. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: While the gentleman from California is entitled to his opinion, I personally fine myself to be his polar opposite. I thought this book was an outstanding portrayal of conditions at the time of the escape. I have lived in Virginia all my life, and I can assure the Californian that y'all is used both in the singular and plural. If y'all don't believe me, come to Virginia and listen to people ask if y'all had a good trip, or if y'all want another cup of coffee in a restaurant. I found the dialogue to be highly accurate. As for discussing northern prisons, why should that even come up when the story is about an escape from a southern prison. I didn't think Gindelsberger made any apologies or excuses for any of the northern prisons the Californian mentioned. Overall, I think the book was extremely well researched, well written, and from all the reviews I've read (except Mr. California's) well received by historians and the general public.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: While the gentleman from California is entitled to his opinion, I personally fine myself to be his polar opposite. I thought this book was an outstanding portrayal of conditions at the time of the escape. I have lived in Virginia all my life, and I can assure the Californian that y'all is used both in the singular and plural. If y'all don't believe me, come to Virginia and listen to people ask if y'all had a good trip, or if y'all want another cup of coffee in a restaurant. I found the dialogue to be highly accurate. As for discussing northern prisons, why should that even come up when the story is about an escape from a southern prison. I didn't think Gindelsberger made any apologies or excuses for any of the northern prisons the Californian mentioned. Overall, I think the book was extremely well researched, well written, and from all the reviews I've read (except Mr. California's) well received by historians and the general public.