This book was breathtaking. Although written before the nightmare that has descended on this country as I write in 2020, perfectly portrays the nightmare of a country overtaken by inequality and undermining of the Constitution. It is an alternate history of the beginning of the Civil War in 1863. The action concerns small band of irregulars who save a very important man who will come to lead the fight for the Constitution and true equality, and to save the country from the nightmare of the legacy of slavery. ( )

The Last Full Measure has a very interesting premise, re-imagining the American Civil War (or the start of it) from a unique starting point - the point of deviation is the Thomas Jefferson/Aaron Burr administration in the early 1800's and imagines a US that becomes dominated by a vicious self-sustaining circle of the military and politicians supporting each other, so by 1863 (when the story is set) US history has been revised and the military controls the politicians from behind the curtain, kangaroo courts rule the land, and a burgeoning "New Republic" is fighting for freedom from the tyranny. Into this mix we are introduced to Professor Joshua Chamberlain of Maine, on trial for treason for reading George Washington's original papers. There he meets a lawyer and orator, Abraham Lincoln, also being tried for treason. The events move along rapidly and while being taken to serve on the southern plantations, Chamberlain's train is attacked by New Republic rebels. The Professor joins their cause and must work to free Lincoln so that the growing, but unorganized rebels can take the fight to the government while instilling a reason and cause for the civilians. The story progresses to a very different Battle of Gettysburg between the forces of the New Republic led by Col. Lewis Armistead and (now) Capt. Joshua Chamberlain, and Federal troops led by Col. Robert E. Lee.

I enjoyed the alternative history world-building that Campbell has done, bringing in many famous historical figures (not only Chamberlain and Lincoln, but also Lee, Armistead, Buford, Longstreet, and others) in different roles. The characters (mostly) stay true to their known personalities, and the reasons they give for their roles in the alternative world are plausible. There is some minor character development for Chamberlain, who is the main character, but not much development for other characters. Since this is a novella, that's a bit understandable, but that is the main complaint that I have. This is a story, a premise, that deserved to get a bigger treatment. It should have been a full novel, as by the time the story is resolved you are left with so many threads and unanswered questions that instead of being fulfilling, the story feels empty and half-completed. (It probably could have been a trilogy to better cover the full story.) That the novella ends where it does, uncompleted, is a big disappointment for me.

A good alternate history premise, with decent and interesting characters, but the choice to convey the story in a novella left incomplete threads and unanswered questions about the story and plot. ( )

Originally posted at FanLit: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/the-last-full-measure/

Jack Campbell, a retired U.S. Navy officer, is best known for his military science fiction novels which he writes under the pseudonym Jack Campbell (the LOST FLEET series) and his real name, John G. Hemry (STARK�??S WAR, JAG IN SPACE). With his latest offering, a novella called The Last Full Measure, he brings his military mind back down to earth.

In this alternate history, the U.S. government no longer upholds the constitution. The presidentƒ??s free use of the Alien and Sedition Acts have put the military and the press in the ruling partyƒ??s hands. To protect itself, the government no longer allows U.S. citizens to learn true American history, so most Americans donƒ??t realize that the freedoms their ancestors enjoyed have gradually been eroded.

Even though the Constitution is no longer easily available for U.S. citizens to read, Joshua Chamberlain, a professor of rhetoric, knows something has gone wrong, so he begins to investigate and discovers the truth. For this heƒ??s sentenced to jail, along with a tall gangly man named Abraham Lincoln who the authorities suspect may be a focal point for rebellion. When rebels hold up the train which they think carries Lincoln to his jail cell, they free Chamberlain instead. He is only too willing to join the revolution.

Along the way Professor Chamberlain will meet, or hear tell of, such famous characters as Sam Houston, Ulysses Grant, Robert E. Lee, Cump Sherman, George Armstrong Custer, Jeb Stuart, John Lawrence Burns, Lewis Armistead, Winfield Hancock and, of course, Abraham Lincoln. Heƒ??ll be forced to consider many ethical issues. Slavery is the ƒ??easyƒ? one. Heƒ??ll also have to think about the role of government in society, the necessity of war, and the danger of letting self-interest dictate policies rather than a moral conviction. As a professor of rhetoric heƒ??ll learn that sometimes words are not enough. Sometimes action is required, even by the ƒ??littleƒ? men who donƒ??t realize they have an important role to play.

The Last Full Measure is a short offering by Jack Campbell ƒ?? only about 100 pages long ƒ?? and will probably appeal most to those who enjoy American historical fiction or fans of Jack Campbellƒ??s military science fiction who want to see what he can do with a story set in the past instead of the future. I enjoyed the story as an alternate history and, perhaps, a warning. It feels like The Last Full Measure may be the beginning of something bigger. The end leaves us feeling unfulfilled but hopeful. ( )

About 30 years ago I read one of the finest novels ever written, Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels". It introduced me to Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, one of the true heroes on the Union Side at the battle of Gettysburg. Shaara's son Jeff wrote a sequel to that novel many years later titled "The Last Full Measure". The book I have just read, a novella also titled "The Last Full Measure", is not that book, but rather an alternate history novel where the 19th century is turned on its ear and the story opens in a courtroom with Abraham Lincoln and Professor Joshua Chamberlain charged with sedition. "The Last Full Measure" is also part of the ending of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address":

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take

increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that

these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government

of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

If too much is said about the story I think it might spoil it for the reader. What we have is a setting very different from true history, in which the government has been transformed into something of a Northern Industrialist-southern aristocracy led military rule. The judges that Lincoln and Chamberlain face are hooded military officers. An entirely different civil war may be brewing and we encounter quite a few characters that Civil War buffs will recognize.

The story builds to an exciting and memorable end. It left me wanting more. That is usually a good thing. I would not be surprised to find this part of a larger novel someday, but it works as it is. ( )