South Wind - Softcover

Coldsmith, Don

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553577794 ISBN 13: 9780553577792

Publisher: Bantam, 1999

Synopsis

In his towering epic novel Tallgrass, bestselling author Don Coldsmith captured as never before the historical panorama of the North American Great Plains.  Set in the land of unlimited horizons called Kansas, it evoked an age of innocence, exploration, and discovery, covering the period from the arrival of the first European settlers through the expansion of a new world and a new nation in the early nineteenth century.

Now, in a narrative as sweeping as it is enthralling, the award-winning author of the Spanish Bit saga takes us back to the years of turbulence and turmoil that followed--a time of massive migration and political upheaval, of bold ambition, grand adventure, and violent change.

It was 1846, and from the banks of the Missouri to the crests of the Rockies, limitless opportunity awaited those with the ambition and the courage to seize it.  But with the promise of fortune there also came the certainty of danger.  Over the next two decades, the relentless onrush of civilization--steamboats, telegraph lines, and railroads--would change the West forever.  And so would the drumbeat of war.

As Kansas struggled to unite in a bid for statehood, the nation was torn apart by insurrection and civil war.  The passions dividing America, sparks that flew across the Great Plains, exploded at Fort Sumter, Shiloh, and Gettysburg, setting off a cycle of violence and vengeance, of blood and fire from which no one could escape.

This extraordinary story of hope, hatred, and hardship brings to life the farmers and soldiers, the outlaws and opportunists, the immigrants and orphans who came from all corners of the globe to call Kansas home.  Here is former trapper Jed Sterling, who has overcome a terrible tragedy only to face a haunting visit from a past he thought long dead...John and Nancy Willett, who fight to protect their home and sons from the terrors of raiders...Abigail Botts, a Confederate spy who falls in love with a Union lieutenant.  Here you will meet the men, women, and children who watched their world go up in flames...and the future rise from the ashes.

South Wind is the compelling, vividly realized account of an evolving nation swept up in the whirlwind of war and progress...and of a diverse people seeking the path to a promised land across four hundred miles of Kansas frontier.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

From the Publisher

Praise for South Wind:

"Intriguing...prove[s] once again Coldsmith's appeal as a reteller of history."
--Publishers Weekly

Praise for Tallgrass:

"Coldsmith is a master storyteller."
--Publishers Weekly

"Coldsmith tells his stories well....The best Don Coldsmith novel I've read."
--The Kansas City Star

Runestone:

"Gripping and imaginative...believable characters, realistic (and often witty) dialogue, vivid prose and nonstop action."
--Publishers Weekly

"Coldsmith blends his extensive knowledge of history with daring speculation and a vivid imagination."
--Ron McCoy, Center for Great Plains Studies, Emporia State University

About the Author

Don Coldsmith served as a World War II combat medic in the South Pacific, graduated from Baker University, and received his M.D. from the University of Kansas.  He has been a rancher and a horse breeder, among other professions and avocations, and currently teaches at Emporia State University when he is not writing his award-winning novels.  There are nearly six million copies of Don Coldsmith's books in print.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0553577794
• ISBN 13: 9780553577792
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 592