• Manassas

  • The Civil War Battle Series, Book 1
  • By: James Reasoner
  • Narrated by: LLoyd James
  • Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (286 ratings)

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Manassas  By  cover art

Manassas

By: James Reasoner
Narrated by: LLoyd James
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Publisher's summary

Storm clouds are approaching Culpeper County, Virginia, in early January 1861. The troublesome Fogarty brothers have been raising havoc across the countryside, and when the local lawman, Will Brannon, returns from another futile attempt to track them down, he finds the townspeople abuzz. South Carolina has seceded from the Union, and rumor has it more states will follow, perhaps even Virginia. Will enlists, but so, too, do the Fogartys. All know that men die in battle and that these deaths are never investigated.

As the Brannon brothers answer the call to arms, the family finds itself struggling with dilemmas it never had considered.

Find out what happens to the Brannon family in the rest of the Civil War Battle Series.
©1999 James Reasoner (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Reasoner spins a lively, suspenseful yarn." (Publishers Weekly)
"Fraught with tension, drama, and tantalizing hints of future romance, this vividly rendered family saga will hook fans of meaty historical fiction." (Booklist)

What listeners say about Manassas

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    175
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    31
  • 2 Stars
    10
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    9
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    49
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    8
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    148
  • 4 Stars
    42
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
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    10

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

good background fiction...not much civil war

This is an enjoyable story - but as the first in a series it's focus has to be to build the foundation for a broad array of characters. As a result there is actually very little devoted to Manassas itself. I will purchase the next in the series, however, as I think ther series has potential to develop further in the later books.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed in 1st book

As the first book in a large series, 'Manassas' really disappointed. While some of the character development was interesting and necessary (if predictable), the description of the battle and the dialogue between the men fighting it smacked of a B- John Wayne movie. I will give the 2nd book a try but am not optimistic. For better character development, more historical accuracy and more intense battle scenes, I would recommned the Starbuck series by Bernard Cornwell.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not sure what I think

I’m not much into historical fiction, but really like history.

This is more of a story than about history.

Maybe, it’s character development for the rest of the series.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Characters

I love history, but I'm not good at remembering all the dates and facts. So I started reading historical fictions where there is a story and characters intertwined with historical fact. I happen to love this series even though I'm only on the 3rd book. I also want to give credit where credit is due to the narrator LLoyd James. He has made each character come alive. I have listened to other books with only a few characters and they all sound the same. Thank you Mr James. And thank you Mr. Reasoner for writing 10 great books.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Manassas

This is a good book about the Civil War. It's all about one family. I've been trying to find a book that I could get into about the civil war and I couldn't stop listening to this. This book starts before the war started. I do not like there Mother. There is a lot of books in this series and it follows the whole family. Lloyd James did a great job narrating this book. If my review is any help will you please click on the helpful link below. Thank you.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Lost causer?

I find the author’s choice to have the book center on a group of confederates soldiers and have the audience root for them to be deeply disturbing. Multiple counter factual lost cause view points were exposed by the characters in the book. Since they are the protagonists the audience is driven to believe that the viewpoints are correct. Some may claim that the characters only espouse these views because it is historical accurate for them to do so given how they are confederates. However the author rejects the idea that the protagonists are fighting for slavery. This is historical inaccurate because they vast majority of southern soldiers went to war to protect slavery and to ensure the continued denial of rights to black Americans, they said so often and loudly. Therefore, the writer is projecting his inaccurate view of the confederacy onto the book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good book

Enjoyed reading this book kept my intrest all the way throut the book. Good narratot.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Feuding and fighting

This book is clearly establishing characters for what promises to be a long and interesting soap opera of a tale of the civil war from the point of view of a southern farmers family rather than from a planter's or general's view point which is the normal fare for novels.

The narrator does a good job with bringing the accents to the characters and keeping the energy running thru the story.

Manassas is the appetiser with the main courses still to come.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not the "historical" novel I expected.

I expected this series to be a true historical telling of the battles, strategies and the men who fought the war. Other than perhaps the last 30 minutes this was nothing more than a run of the mill novel.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must read

Great story! If the zombies ever do come I’m joining the Lost Boys! The Irregular Scouts are not the team to mess with

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