Confederates, Thomas Keneally
Confederates, Thomas Keneally
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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Confederates
A Novel

Author: Thomas Keneally

Narrator: Al Kessel

Unabridged: 19 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/07/2025

Synopsis

In the summer of 1862, as the Civil War rages on, a ragtag Confederate army consisting of young boys and old men, storekeepers, farmers, and teachers, gathers in Virginia under the leadership of Tom "Stonewall" Jackson, ready to follow their sainted commander to glory—or hell. One of these men, Usaph Bumpass, left his wife, Ephie, behind to join the Shenandoah Volunteers, only to discover Ephie's lover, Decatur Cate, among his comrades. Still, Usaph remains steadfast in his devotion to a cause he does not fully understand, even as troubling memories of home invade his mind on the march north. But a dark destiny awaits brilliant military strategist Jackson and his Southern boys, as hard truths about war, loyalty, love, life, and death are revealed in the fires and bloodshed at Antietam.

A breathtaking work of historical fiction that captures the human face of war as few novels have done before, Confederates has been compared to Tolstoy's epic War and Peace as an artful, honest, and profoundly moving depiction of the lot of the soldier. Shortlisted for Great Britain's prestigious Man Booker Prize, this masterful tale of love, duty, and conflict from author of Schindler's List Thomas Keneally is an enduring and unforgettable classic of Civil War literature.

About Thomas Keneally

Thomas Keneally has won international acclaim for his novels Schindler's List (the basis for the movie of the same name and the winner of the Booker Prize), The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Confederates, Gossip from the Forest, The Playmaker, Woman of the Inner Sea, A River Town, Office of Innocence, and The Tyrant's Novel. His most recent works of nonfiction are The Great Shame and American Scoundrel. Thomas lives in Sydney, Australia.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Blaine on April 28, 2017

Growing up I was fascinated by the Civil War. We went to battlefields on family vacations, and I used to read a lot of civil war stories. And then I hit a wall. Maybe it was going to college in South Carolina where the Civil War was referred to as "The War of Southern Succession", maybe it was that......more

Goodreads review by Owen on July 14, 2012

This must be one of the best things Keneally has ever done and how it avoided winning the Booker is simply mesmerizing. This Australian author really has no right to go about writing on such a closely-studied and well-documented theme as the American Civil War and the various side issues that went a......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on March 15, 2020

Keneally tends to be best known for Schindler's Ark, his 1982 Booker-Prize winner and the basis for the film Schindler's List. Although The Playmaker is well known to generations of A-Level students, that still seems a pity. Confederates remains my favourite among his novels for more reasons than I......more

Goodreads review by Angus on March 12, 2017

As seems to be the pattern recently. Perhaps better than just okay, but on the same token not phenomenal enough to warrant extra stars. So dead center in the ratings. This was a strange one. An Australian author writing about the American Civil War from a Southern/Confederate viewpoint which was the......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on February 14, 2019

Superb Civil War novel Top-notch fictional account of the battle of Antietam by the author of Schindler's List. Gives a real feel for the war from the Confederate side.......more

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