BECKONING RIDGE

A story of behind the front in the hills of Virginia, during the Civil War, of those who took no part in the war but carried the brunt, nonetheless. No great battles are fought in the pages, no famous historical figures cross the stage, but one shares and sympathizes with the experiences of Young Martin, who refuses to believe the war will come, who never joins up but is forced to fight throughout the entire period to keep himself, his wife and his ruined neighbors alive and clothed. They bring their own vengeance on those who raid them; they rob army trains, evade destruction from both sides, hide out in a hollow while the farm is fired -- and always have faith that the land is theirs and will wait. They live dangerously and hard -- a sidelight on the usual run of the mill Civil War tales, poetical in the telling.