The book is written in the pov of Confederate soldiers, some braver than others. Which is fair enough.

Here’s where I have to pull away, the voices of Black people. Of a young Black soldiers assistant. Henry Free Black, his new chosen name accepted by this massa.

Massa, yes, iffens he talk like he talk like speak broken English iffens he we were a darkie, yassur. He’ izza, he obligated to, massa revrand. He’s a nappy hair darkie.

Okay, no. No no no.

I’m not sure what more I can say.

Would I recommend the book to anyone? Anyone holding a bonfire, perhaps.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read and review.

Preston Lewis new historical novel, "Too Much the Lion: A Novel of the Battle of Franklin," is explicitly being marketed as a kind of homage to Michael Shaara's iconic "Killer Angels," perhaps the finest novel of the American Civil War I have ever read. Unfortunately, it doing so it sets the bar unthinkably high and invites comparisons. I want to thank Bariso Press for providing me with an ARC of this text. The differences between the two books are well captured in the titles. Shaara's work exists on an almost transcendental level with its cast of Civil War generals and brothers in arms while Lewis' work is much more limited in its scope, focusing tightly on the real or imagined shortcomings of the Confederate general John Bell Hood. Both are marked by detailed explorations of the war's effects on the populations engaged, but Lewis' text is far more limited in its scope and its command of the details whereas Shaara's classic study of the Battle of Gettysburg invites comparisons to the very finest works of history on an almost metaphysical level. I am no expert on the Battle of Franklin, but I can tell you that this work fails to capture the pathos of battle half as well as it reveals the kind of political machinations of many of the officers of the time.

I won a free digital copy of this Civil War novel by Preston Lewis from Net Galley with the obligation of posting a review, which follows.
Mr Lewis is an accomplished writer with many books and many awards to his credit. He has an easy way with story telling, which shows in the smooth narrative flow of this book. Mr. Lewis notes at the beginning that his aim is not to write a history of the 1864 battle at Franklin, TN but a historical novel about the place and the people who were at the center of a maelstrom of death that day. It is a very good novel.
The people, or most of tthem as far as I can tell, are historical figures. ; Not just the Generals, famous or infamous, but also the “ webfoot” infantry, a term used back then by Confederate infantrymen to describe themselves as creatures used to walking in the rain. Moreover, the civilians who homes were the battlefields are also historic , some prominent, some slave, all real.
Using first person accounts , letters, and memoirs, the author give the reader a view of civilians living in the way of the coming hurricane of flying metal that will engulf civilian and soldier alike. It will destroy their walnut trees, trample their , kill their livestock, riddle their barns and fill their homes with bleeding, shattered bodies. It will also change any ideas they had about the glory of war.
The story unfold in alternating chapters of the ragged Rebel army led by a commanding general, John Hood, hungry for a glorious battle that will turn the tide against the Union forces. The focus in the book is the Confederate army; the Union forces loom in the distance, the enemy despised and dangerous, but always beatable. General John B. Hood believes in his own tactical genius, a view not shared neither by his officers, nor by his troops. They who know Hood as a waster of troops’ lives, vain and remote form his soldiers. The word pictures of the ragged, hungry men in gray who march into storm of steel is compellingly portrayed. The civilians caught between the armies soon see the horrors at their front porches.
Very good story- telling, sympathetic characters, and graphic battle description make this a must for readers of historic civil war narratives.
Pictures of the real life characters are provided, as are a few maps of the battlefield, the homes and farms of the people caught up,int what the author describes as a battle costlier in life than the more famous Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg.
The only reason the book did not get five stars is the formatting for digital books. For some reason, page numbers appear in the middle of the pages, often breaking into the middle of conversations and narrations, necessitating going back a page to see who is talking or where the story has moved. Disconcerting.

Too Much the Lion, a new novel by Preston Lewis, plunges the reader into the horrific Battle of Franklin in the dying days of the Confederacy—a hell that one soldier described as a "grand holocaust of death."

The book covers the five days leading up to the battle through the eyes of Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood and a selection of his officers, soldiers, private citizens, and slaves. Except for a few interactions with U.S. soldiers, the novel's viewpoint is Southern.

Lewis uses the template of Michael Shaara's groundbreaking Civil War novel, The Killer Angels, combining historical facts with interpretations of the inner thoughts and motivations of the real-life participants.

Hood hoped to position his forces at Spring Hill between U.S. Maj. Gen. John Schofield in Columbia and Maj. Gen. George Thomas in Nashville. He wanted to force Schofield into attacking the entrenched Confederates, a departure from Hood's usual frontal assault strategy. Hood envisioned defeating Schofield, then rolling through Nashville, Kentucky, and Ohio. He was convinced these victories would end the war.

However, poor communication and confusion caused the plan to collapse, allowing Schofield's army to slip past the Confederates and into Franklin during the night. Humiliated by this failure, Hood ordered a frontal assault, sending 20,000 men against the heavily fortified Union positions. When the battle ended five hours later, Hood had lost six generals and more than 6,000 men. Few Civil War battles were as costly in so short a time.

Through changes in viewpoints, the reader is given a realistic interpretation of how war affected soldiers, citizens, and slaves. Lewis spends just the right amount of time with each character, letting them fill in the details of the five days of fear and terror. Getting familiar with each character takes a while, but it's worth the investment.

Before taking us into battle, Lewis shows us his characters' state of mind. Exhaustion hung over them all. These folks were bone tired. The soldiers suffered the most, but the toll was apparent on all.

"A striking woman of 30 years, Cornelia showed the strain and worry of operating their estate while mothering three boys ages 10 to four, plus a nine-month-old daughter. Her gaunt cheeks, drawn lips, downcast eyes, and slumped shoulders mirrored the exhaustion that all plantation folks felt after three long years of war and Union intrusion upon their land and lives."

This weariness would soon give way to something far worse. No one escapes the battle, and each plays a part. Some die, and others suffer wounds seen and unseen.

Like The Killer Angels, the novel is paced to allow us to learn about the people, the place, and the time. Time is spent examining Hood's leadership and the infighting among his officers. Politics and ego are on display as much as military strategy. To his credit, Lewis also puts the common soldier and civilians on stage, giving them a generous portion of the narrative. It pays off by showing how Hood's decisions and their consequences ripple across the characters' lives, leaving them scarred in ways far beyond the battlefield. Too Much the Lion is a powerful statement about the vainglory of war.

This is an emotional, immersive, and wide-ranging historical fiction. It’s not the non-fiction book I was expecting based on the categorization.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.