Really enjoyed this book. Great plot and engaging, believe characters. I was drawn right into the story. Would definitely recommend.

At first I really liked this book. Harriet Tubman was an amazing and fascinating person, and I admit while I knew about her heroics with the Underground Railroad, I was unaware of her work as a spy for the Union Army during the American Civil War. What I don't understand it why the author felt the need to create a love story to insert in this book. Tubman had two marriages, so if Cobbs wanted to explore that aspect of her life, she could have. The created romance was off-putting to me so I did not finish the book.

*received a free copy from netgalley for honest review* This was a really good book, I really loved the authors note as well it put a lot the book in a clearer perspective, I was really unsure about the sex scenes in it at first but after I read the authors note it made more sense.

I was fortunate to receive a proof copy of this from Net Galley in return for an unbiased review. I think anyone who’s heard of Harriet Tubman is fascinated by her and the work she did - and rightly so. We should learn more about her and those others who worked to free slaves. This was slow to get going for me, and as a result I did put it on hold to read other things. However, once you got into it, it did pick up pace and I rattled through the later section. Definitely recommend reading.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43683208-the-tubman-command

This book had a lot of promise for me - subject matter I was interested to read, an interesting plot, but unfortunately I found that I struggled to make my way through it - I found the plot site sluggish and there were times I would read a short bit and find myself putting it down. There are a number of very positive reviews, but this wasn't for me.

Because little has been written of women in history, historical fiction is an effective way to create a story of a person who might otherwise be forgotten. That problem becomes even more problematic when the historical figure is a woman of color. So it was that the story of Harriet Tubman’s life during the civil war came to be told.

Harriet Tubman was born as a slave, but escaped to the north. She then returned to the south and led many others out, including her family, through the Underground Railroad. The largest part of this book was during the Civil War in South Carolina when Harriet helped the black regiments to free the local slaves.

It was a moving and riveting book. It gave a very intimate look at slavery and did a particularly good job in looking at the perilous family life the enslaved had. In addition to the horrors they endured, at any moment they could be sold away from their family and loved ones.

This book was supplied by NetGalley in return for an honest review. (less)

I don't know why but this story just could not hold my attention. I was very interested in the subject matter, but the writing did not fit well with my tastes, and I found that the characters were incredibly flat, with little development to make me fall in love with them. And even as an American Citizen there was little context for this story, offering some confusing plot points. I really wanted to love this one, but I struggled through.

Novels written by historians, though fictitious, have a way of bringing characters to life in a very personal way. My friendship, also fictitious, with Harriet Tubman opened my eyes and filled my soul. Harriet Tubman is well known, yet her tenacity, determination and spark have been muted until now. Ms. Cobbs’s obviously thorough research has given rise to a character, an icon, who deserves far more attention than even history has given her.. I recommend this to historical fiction fans, general fiction fans and fans of women’s stories. Be prepared to share every trial, tribulation, jubilation, sorrow and joy with this ,bigger than life woman!

A unique story line with a famous advocate at it's center makes this one of the best reads I've had in awhile. Bits of history mixed throughout this fictional story make you wonder if it's entirely fiction. I kept turning pages long after I should have because it's just to good to put down. Elizabeth Cobbs has produced the next TV mini series!

The Tubman Command is a fabulous read. I loved how the author brought Harriet Tubman to life. I highly recommend this book! Five stars.

*Many thanks to Elizabeth Cobb, Skyhorse Publishing and Netgalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
A solid historical fiction portraying Harriet Tubman in the years after her involvement in the famous Underground Railroad. It is 1863, the Civil War continues, and Tubman aka Moses together with her scouts prepare a clever plan to lead Union gunships up the Combahee River. The novel is perfectly researched and reads very well, and can be a source of information on that period in the American history.

This was a hard read by oh, so important! What an amazing woman to leave such a legacy! While this is a work of fiction, it was so unsettling to consider that these things ACTUALLY happened and that people like Harriet existed and their actions were necessary. What a world this once was! And to think that slavery and trafficking still exists, even today.

‘The Tubman Command’ was an interesting book. While the story line and characters were very enjoyable, there were a few slow spots throughout the book that made it hard to stay engrossed in the story. I appreciated the deep insight into the cultural and social norms of the time period, how people might interact and go about their lives, and the views different groups of people held. Overall, it was a good read.

Code named Moses, Harriet Tubman engaged in covert activities in support of the Union Army in Civil War America. Daring, brave and just plain stubborn, this woman is brought to life in this well written novel about her gamble to free hundreds of slaves to join into the fight for freedom. Well done, Elizabeth Cobbs! Recommended reading.

I have always been intrigued with the story of Harriet Tubman and have read a number of books and articles about her life. This was a unique take as it was a fictionalized version of true-life events. I found the book was a little slow to get started - but once I got into the second half, I couldn't put it down. I felt the story humanized Harriet Tubman - allowing us to see her as a mother, woman and human being - not just a historical figure. Well done!

The Tubman Command is a novel based on true events in 1863. Many people probably are aware of Harriet Tubman's work on the underground railroad. However, I was unaware of her work as a scout and spy on the islands off S. Carolina. Also on the island are two colored regiments the first of their kind. S. Carolina is still under control of the Confederates and the troops on the islands have been unsuccessful in pushing them back.

The band of accounts under Ms Tubman's command learn that the artillery usually found along the Combahee River are gone; although for how long no one knows. She wants Major General Hunter to take their boats up the river where several plantations and over a thousand slaves reside. He however, is reluctant due to a recent failed mission where the boats ran into torpedoes in the water where ships were sunk and soldiers were killed.

Harriet is determined to convince him to send troops and she and her scouts undergo scouting missions up the river to obtain as much information as possible to enhance the success of a mission and thereby convince the Major General to okay the mission.

It is from here we follow the harrowing behind the lines missions to obtain that information. Elizabeth Combs creates a compelling and complex Harriet Tubman. She is strong, commanding, persistent leader and a woman with love to give and sorrows that hold her back. The author has done her research and uses that information to infuse the novel with authenticity. Each chapter begins with an epigram that she has taken from original documents. These are often taken from oral histories and bring a starkness to the story itself.

This is an important historical event and Elizabeth Cobbs brings it to life.

Brilliantly researched, deeply atmospheric, and peopled by characters who will linger in the reader's mind, THE TUBMAN COMMAND focuses dramatically on a little-explored aspect of the Civil War. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the period and its players.

This is a fictionalized version of Harriet Tubman's role in freeing slaves. It's set during the civil war. They are in the South, and she worked as a scout for the northern army. They also had black troops as well. Harriet had her own group of men that she led on missions to spy for the army. She never received compensation until 30 years later. After she escaped to freedom, she led a couple hundred slaves to freedom from Maryland. During the civil war, her plan led to almost 1,000 slaves to be freed. She had an assistant that ran her bake shop so that she could afford to go on her missions. It's an excellent story. If classrooms taught history in a factualized version of fiction, then more students would be ager to learn. They would also have a better understanding of how the climate and conditions of the time were.

19th Century America sees the North and South at war and Union spy and member of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman is at the center of our narrative. Known through the network as "Moses", Tubman makes many trips to "the land of the Pharaohs " to free men, women, and children from the tyranny of slavery.

Having never read anything in fiction or nonfiction about Harriet Tubman, I thought this historical fiction was a good introduction to a very formidable woman who played an important role during the Civil War. That being said, it is a fictionalized version of her story and does tend to give Tubman a romance that seemed a bit unnecessary. Apart from that quibble, I enjoyed when it focused on Harriet Tubman's military style command and I enjoyed her many encounters with the members of the Union Army that thought they could steamroll her.

Thanks to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date 21/05/19
Goodreads Review 26/05/19

More like 3.5 stars. This is a hard review to write, because there’s a lot to like about this obviously well-researched, ably-written book about a woman who deserves to have more attention paid to her story. (In fact, I finished this book at the very moment I received a push notification saying that the Harriet Tubman $20 bill would not be in circulation for several years—if ever.) While it references Harriet Tubman’s more famous work freeing slaves through the “Underground Railroad,” The Tubman Command focuses on telling the less-known story of Tubman’s work as a scout for the Union Army during the Civil War, and particularly her connection to the Union’s daring raid up the Combahee River in South Carolina in an attempt to free one thousand slaves.

I knew a little of the history and outcome of that raid before reading The Tubman Command, yet I still thought author Elizabeth Cobbs did a great job of building and maintaining suspense in her account of this action; this section of the book is a real page turner. What I thought was less successful—and what in fact undercut the book entirely for me—was Cobbs’ fictionalizing a love interest for Harriet, who we see throughout the novel pining for a man to hold her during the night. WHAT??! Was it really necessary to give this brave and intrepid woman—who was credited with a hundred confirmed slave rescues and who knows how many more; and who returned to the South, where there was a bounty on her head and a grisly death awaiting her if she was captured, to scout for the Union Army—some sort of romantic entanglement to, as the author says in her afterword, “humanize” her? Her drive to liberate as many of her fellow slaves as possible was humanizing enough—no man necessary.

Pat Barker, who wrote the famous “Regeneration” trilogy featuring World War I poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen as well as psychiatrist William Rivers, once said in an interview that she had a strict rule: no sex for her historical figures. She saved that for her made-up characters, since she felt it unfair to speculate with actual people. I really wish Cobbs had followed this rule as well, and spared Tubman—and her otherwise entertaining and engaging book— from a romantic subplot that felt wholly unnecessary and a little demeaning.

Thank you to NetGalley and Arcade Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.