About Stransky
Welcome! As an ex-seminarian, soldier, government man, industry CEO, farmer, papermaker, and everything in between, I've had plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. I've also been lucky enough to pursue my passions, such as writing and journalism. Come along with me on my bookish journey - you never know what we might learn together.
The March by E.L.Doctorow (2005)
The March is set in late 1864 and early 1865, near the conclusion of the American Civil War. Central to the novel is the character of General William Tecumseh Sherman as he marches his 60,000 troops through the heart of the South, from Atlanta to Savannah, carving a 96 km (60-mile)-wide scar of destruction in their wake. As a result of Sherman's order to live off the land, his soldiers sow chaos as they pillage homes, steal cattle, burn crops, and attract a nearly unmanageable population of freed slaves and refugees who have nowhere else to go. While the novel revolves around the decisions of General Sherman, the story has no specific main character. Instead, Doctorow retells Civil War history according to the individual lives of a large and diverse cast of characters—white and black, rich and poor, Union and Confederate—whose lives are caught up in the violence and trauma of the war.