Fiction novels about famous armed conflicts reflect the reality of those times. In a way, they also helped shape how we view the events of the past and the people who took part in these unforgettable chapters in our history.

They say that the conflicts of the past shape nations and men. No history is without bloodshed, battles, and the famous men and women who took part in them. Wars shape the great country of the United States of America. From the American Revolution (1775-1783) to Indian Wars (1817-1898) to the famous Civil War (1861-1865), the country’s armed conflicts have generated songs, poems, and fiction stories, all of which have given many generations a glimpse of the horrors, loss, triumphs, and victories of wars. For example, Francis Dutch’s book about civil war, Can’t Hobble the Elephant, is a touching story of a young man named Josh O’Donnell, who ran away from the Union Army to escape the dark past and start a new life. However, despite his earnest efforts to avoid trouble, it seems that his past is haunting him. Just when he thought he had already found peace, his violent history finally caught up with him, and the price was more than he could bear.

Josh O’Donnell’s journey in the army reflects the experiences of many soldiers during the American Civil War. From 1861 to 1865, both the Union and Confederate camps dealt with deserters. Many of these deserters were sent to camps, while some were executed because they committed other crimes. To identify them, both armies branded or tattooed their respective deserters. Some were fortunate enough to escape captivity and prosecution, but the horrors they have witnessed and participated in continued to haunt them to the end of their days.

Classic war novels such as The Red Badge of Courage, Cold Mountain, and Gone with the Wind paint vivid pictures of the Civil War and its aftermath.

Works of literature have greatly influenced our view of the world. The images from fiction books about American Civil War are forever etched in our consciousness that sometime we refer to them as canon truth about the war. In Stephane Crane’s masterpiece, readers are transported to the front lines. Realistic battle scenes, language, and imagery all contribute to a horrific and unforgettable reading experience. The Red Badge of Courage legacy is so impactful that the book is considered one of the most important American texts. Some scholars consider the work to be the most realistic fiction novel about the American Civil War.

Cold Mountain, another Civil War saga, focuses on the lives of families and how the Civil War has affected ordinary people- families, lovers, communities, etc. The romance novel invokes human emotions during times of despair and death and hopelessness brought by armed conflicts. War changes our plans, alters our destiny, and in various ways, tests our humanity.

It’s hard not to mention Margaret Mitchell’s timeless historical fiction about the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. Gone with the Wind is both a coming-of-age story and a novel that features the war and the subsequent aftermath and the struggles of the American people in rebuilding their lives. The book is famous because of its timeline, starting with the eve of the rebellion and ending in 1866, months after the war officially ended.

These three iconic works of literature and recently published historical fiction masterpieces like Francis Dutch’s book about the Civil War all help remind us that the past was real. It was an event that has shaped generations and continues to shape the country’s destiny and its people.