Civil War novel; continuing story of Nate Starbuck, 2nd in series. Better read than 1st ?Rebel?. Involves Starbuck in McClellan's peninsular campaign and the General's reticence in pursuing the war against the Confederacy.

My favorite in the Starbuck Chronicles, the characters are complex and are forced to make difficult decisions. This complexity occurs within both the Union and the Confederacy, and causes the reader to question what they would do in similar circumstances. ( )

Copperhead is the second in the Starbuck series, and the best of the three that I have read (only the fourth remains to be devoured). It's perhaps the most thoughtful, as both Nate and his friend Adam are forced to confront their reasons for fighting the war.

Adam, Washington Faulconer's son and good Virginian, now a major, is so distraught by what he feels is an unjust war, that he decides to feed important information about rebel positions to the Yankees. Nate, the Bostonian, discovers that his true métier is soldiering and that the friends he has made in Faulconer's Company K — not to mention the lithe Sally Truslow — are more important to him than the allegiances of his vigorously antislavery father and brother, James, who is now on Allen Pinkerton's staff. This means, of course, that all the paths will somewhat improbably cross, but first Nate finds himself in serious jeopardy. Washington Faulconer had seen him murder one of Faulconer's other officers during battle, an episode recounted in the first volume, and despite the official verdict that the man had been killed by a Yankee shell, Faulconer is determined to see Nate punished. Nate is arrested as a spy, and is interrogated using a horrible purgative torture, but then, his innocence, recognized, is coerced into running a mission for the Confederates. McClellan's timidity in 1862 is accurately portrayed, although Pinkerton's caution and his unwillingness to credit information contrary to his judgment that the South had huge numbers of men facing McClellan, is a bit farcical.

Cornwell makes it clear that McClellan missed an important opportunity to end the war early. He could easily have beaten the small numbers of Southern forces outside Richmond but for his timidity. There's a revealing scene where McClellan and his officers survey a recently vacated Southern defensive position only to discover the artillery pieces they had been counting from afar were all "Quaker" guns, i.e., tree trunks painted black and mounted to look like real artillery guns.

McClellan is so anxious to believe the fakes had been placed there just the night before, and his officers so obsequious, that despite a French observer’s pointed comments and evidence to the contrary, they all leave selfconvinced the enemy is even stronger than they had imagined. Several battles are accurately portrayed, including Ball's Bluff and Gaines Mill, as the Northern army ponderously moved on Richmond.

Cornwell has an uncanny talent for taking the reader directly into the very realistic scenes. No one reading his battle scenes could ever feel any nostalgia for that kind of carnage. Several prominent historical figures have been added, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, the later Supreme Court justice who was severely wounded early in the war. Note that most of Cornwell is available in audio book form. I must recommend the Tom Parker rendition over David Case, a.k.a Frederick Davidson. Case's somewhat effete English accent just doesn't portray Southern accents very well. ( )

I like Bernard Cornwell's novels and I am slowly making my way through them. I liked the first Starbuck book, The Rebel, and I eagerly awaited the next one Copperhead. At first though I was disappointed...it rushed into a battle scene. No lead-up...just immediately jumped in. It put me off frankly. I wanted a story, not a battle scene. I know Cornwell can deliver an exciting battle scene but with no story line leading to it, the scene felt empty. I almost put the book down but came back to it a few days later. I am glad I did. The story developed, I was hooked again. The book has battle scenes as "book ends" but the middle contained the story I wanted. He develops his characters so well...predictable in some ways, plot twists that keep your interest high. I will wait a month or so before reading the next book in the series so it is fresh for me...but I have never been bored with his writing (though it was a close call at first with this book). ( )

Even though Bernard Cornwell is one of my favorite authors I did not greatly enjoy his first Nathaniel Starbuck book “Rebel.” And it was with immense trepidation that I picked up “Copperhead” book two in the Nathaniel Starbuck chronicles but I was happy I did. Whereas the first book seemed blasé and nonchalant in book two Mr. Cornwell takes Nathaniel through dazzling adventures consorting with cruel torture, betrayal, whores, espionage and of course deadly and bloody battle. Wisps of Sharpe and prevalent throughout –more so than I thought possible- however Nathaniel has a panache and roguish character all his own. ( )