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Written more than a century ago, The Valley of Shadows is a passionate recounting of Grierson’s experiences as a boy growing up on the prairies of central Illinois in the few short years leading up to the Civil War. Set in a region that was neither north nor south; neither for nor against slavery, it foreshadows the coming of a bitter conflict that would divide families and set neighbors against one another.
Thrust into this turbulent setting is the Shepard family. Immigrants from England, they find themselves swept up into the abolition movement when their small family farm becomes an unexpected stop on the Underground Railroad. The preacher’s sermon, “For they shall cry unto the lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a savior and a great one, and he shall deliver them,” heralds the arrival of several runaway slaves and the strange twists that work together to help them on their journey to freedom.
Presented in the vernacular of the time, The Valley of Shadows uniquely depicts and conveys the superstitious influences that pervaded the prairie; the sense of isolation; the firm religious conviction; and the feeling of powerlessness to avert the ceaseless march towards cataclysm. It is an intimate portrait of prairie life complete with the epic personalities of the local settlers. Elihu Gest, known as the Load-Bearer, has earned his nickname by his constant efforts to assume other people’s mental and spiritual burdens. Zack Caverly, known as Socrates, is indeed a Socrates of the prairie in looks as well as in speech. The Jordans and the Busbys; the staunch Abolitionist Isaac Snedeker; and Lem Stephens who joins the slave catchers in their search. Characters as large as these are not fictional for this is a true story that provides an appreciation and a rare insight into the very nature of the settler’s life on the great frontier during the antebellum period.
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
American War stories, Fiction, History, Mississippi River Valley Civil War, 1861-1865, Missouri Civil War, 1861-1865, Social life and customs, United States Civil War, 1861-1865, Romans, Récits de guerre américains, Histoire, Fiction, historical, Fiction, war & military, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, fiction, Illinois, fiction, Mœurs et coutumesPeople
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Francis Grierson (1848-1927), John Charles Fremont (1813-1890), John Charles Frémont (1813-1890)Places
Alton (Ill.), Illinois, Middle West, Mississippi River Valley, Missouri, Saint Louis (Mo.), United StatesTimes
1778-1865, Civil War, 1861-1865Showing 8 featured editions. View all 16 editions?
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The valley of shadows
1995, J. Lane, Bell & Cockburn
Microform
in English
- New ed.
0665743661 9780665743665
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The valley of shadows
1913, John Lane, John Lane Company
in English
- New ed. illustrated by Evelyn Paul.
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8
The valley of shadows: recollections of the Lincoln country, 1858-1863
1909, Houghton Mifflin company
in English
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Book Details
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Edition Notes
"This book is not a novel, but the recollections of scenes and episodes of my early life in Illinois and Missouri."--Pref. to Boston ed., 1909.
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