1865: America is tearing itself apart, and young Lieutenant Thomas Somers is headed back to his regiment after a brief taste of civilian life. On the journey, he encounters Captain de Banyan, a loud-mouthed officer whose war stories reek of exaggeration. Somers is everything the captain is not: quiet, decent, hungry for honorable distinction rather than self-aggrandizement. Then the train jumps the tracks, and Somers must prove what he's made of when it matters most: saving a young woman named Emmie Guilford from harm. Oliver Optic, writing in the midst of the Civil War itself, delivers a rousing portrait of a young man whose character is forged in crisis. The novel pulses with the moral earnestness of its era, yet transcends mere propaganda through its genuine interest in what makes a hero. This is adventure fiction with a conscience, designed to shape young minds while entertaining them. For readers who wonder how ordinary people find extraordinary courage.
