2004 News Archive

Harbor House to launch new Civil War series

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Starting April 2004, Harbor House will launch the first in a series of fiction titles aimed at capitalizing on the nation's growing fascination with the American Civil War.

Called Civil War Classics, publisher Randall Floyd said he hopes the series will "educate, arouse, entertain and stimulate" more interest in Civil War history.
"Interest in the Civil War has always been great," Floyd said. "In recent years, however, starting perhaps with the Ken Burns television series, there has been a growing and strong desire to learn more about the causes and consequences of that terrible time."

The first title in the series is Baptism at Bull Run. Already in bookstores, the book is authored by James Reger, the descendent of soldiers who fought on both side of the blue and gray.

Floyd said he chose Baptism at Bull Run as the inaugural title because it follows the bloody battle from the perspectives of North and South - in the tradition of Gods and Generals and Killer Angels. The second title in the series - Agony at Antietam - will publish in 2005.

Combining a masterful knowledge of history with penetrating insights, sounds and smells of battle, Floyd said "Reger brilliantly resurrects the naïve dreams of glory and horrific realities that drove ordinary farm boys and their aristocratic commanders forward to face their final destiny."

Floyd, author of a bestselling Civil War book himself - Deep in the Heart - said the idea for the series originated from what he perceived to be a lack of information about the Civil War years in schools. He said he hopes this series, combined with yet another Civil War series he hopes to launch in 2006 called Heroes in Blue and Gray, will help educate and challenge readers to learn more about this tragic time in our nation's past.

Carrie McCullough, marketing director for Harbor House, said books in the series are designed to appeal to readers at all levels who want to be entertained while seeking to learn more about the war and the men who fought it.

For more information, please contact Carrie McCullough, associate publisher, at carriemccullough@bellsouth.net or (706) 738-0354.