Author Alex Rossino signs his new book – Six Days in September at the Royal Oak Bookshop

On Sunday March 31st, author Alex Rossino was at the Royal Oak Bookshop to meet, greet and sign copies of his new book Six Days in September. Royal Examiner was there to talk to the author and get some insight into his book.

Alex Rossino’s Six Days in September is a gripping, fast-paced account of Robert E. Lee’s 1862 campaign to win Southern independence by carrying the war north into Maryland. The thrust across the Potomac River triggered a determined Federal response when Gen. George McClellan led the reorganized and often defeated Army of the Potomac out of Washington’s defenses in pursuit of a victory on Union soil. The resulting battles of South Mountain and Sharpsburg (Antietam) wreaked havoc on both armies, witnessed the bloodiest day in American history, and changed the course of the entire Civil War.

Deeply researched and written with close attention to the actual events, Rossino’s seamless weaving of history and fiction transports readers into the minds of the Southern generals, the torn hearts of beleaguered civilians, and the ranks of Lee’s long-suffering soldiers who endured the agonizing horrors of Civil War combat. Six Days in September is a panoramic, sweeping account of the complex and decisive Maryland Campaign that altered the destiny of our nation.

After a string of victories in Virginia, Robert E. Lee marches his Army of Northern Virginia northward across the Potomac River in search of one final battlefield triumph as the best way to bring about Southern independence. Little goes right for Lee when the garrison at Harpers Ferry refuses to evacuate and a lost order reveals his plans to George McClellan and his resurgent Army of the Potomac. The result is a divided Southern army severely weakened by straggling, a failed effort to hold the gaps through South Mountain, and a final stand at Sharpsburg on September 17 (the bloodiest day in American history) with the Potomac River and a single ford at Lee’s back.

Alex Rossino weaves these momentous hours together brilliantly in Six Days in September. Readers live the high-stakes drama through the gritty minutiae experienced by a host of historical characters—including an injured and exhausted General Lee, the pious hard-fighting Stonewall Jackson, a frustrated but reliable James Longstreet, the acerbic Harvey Hill, and the irrepressible Kyd Douglas. Rossino also displays a keen understanding of daily travails undergone by the common foot soldiers, and the unique hardships Sharpsburg’s civilians lived through when two major armies decided to wage war around their sleepy Maryland village.

Six Days in September is a sweeping account, brilliantly written with a “you-are-there” sense that will linger long after you finish this book.

Reviews

“Far too often historical novels lean very heavily on fiction at the cost of historical accuracy… This author, however, has successfully made the daunting transition from historian to historical novelist… I enjoyed reading an author who really did his homework.” – Civil War News

“This page-turner of a novel about the Confederate perspective on the battles of South Mountain and Antietam provides the most vivid description I have read of the desperate plight of Southern forces after these bloody reverses.” (James M. McPherson, author of Abraham Lincoln and the Pulitzer prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom)

“Rossino has crafted a highly readable work that will please anyone interested in this painful chapter in our nation’s history.” (Howard Bahr, award-winning author of The Black Flower and The Judas Field: A Novel of the Civil War)

“Six Days in September provides the best that historical fiction has to offer; capturing the drama, fear, and nail-biting tension experienced by those who participated in the momentous Confederate invasion of Maryland and the terrible Battle of Antietam.” (D. Scott Hartwig, author of To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of September 1862)

“Six Days in September is an insightful look at the Maryland Campaign that examines the fateful decisions of Confederate commanders and recounts the travails of the enlisted men in Lee’s army. It’s a great read!” (Thomas G. Clemens, ed., The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Vols. 1-3)

“…strong and well crafted, conveying well the confusion, terror, and fatigue of men engaged in heavy fighting for sustained periods of time… The book is a good choice for lovers of Civil War history.” – Historical Novels Review

About the Author: Award-winning author and historian Alexander B. Rossino is a resident of Boonsboro, Maryland. He is the author of Hitler Strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology, and Atrocity, an acclaimed history of the racial-political policies implemented by the Third Reich during its 1939 invasion of the Polish Republic. He worked at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum from 1994 to 2003 and is the author of nearly a dozen scholarly articles and book reviews. His interest in the American Civil War dates from childhood and he long wished to write a book on it that transcended the rigid boundaries of academic history. Six Days in September represents that combination of interest and desire.

About Savas Beatie LLC: Savas Beatie LLC is a leading military and general history publishing company.

Available at Royal Oak Bookshop, Amazon or the publisher.