It's April 1861. Eight-year-old Jethro Creighton lives on a farm in Southern Illinois with his large family. When the Civil War begins, the family breaks up. Jethro's brothers, Tom and John, and his cousin Eb join the Union army in the west. Shad, the finace of Jethro's sister Jenny, goes home to Pennyslvania to join the eastern army. But Bill, the brother Jethro is closest too, is torn and finally decides to fight for the confederacy.

That leaves Jethro home with his folks, his sister and John's wife and kids. His father soon has a heart attack, which leaves Jethro as the man in the house. On a ride into town, he runs into trouble with a local man who hates the Creighton's because of Bill, but a neighbor helps him escape. The same man attacks the farm a while later and burns down the barn. The family receives regular lettes from the soldiers during the war. Tom is killed a Shiloh. Eb deserts and shows up at the farm. Jethro writes a letter to Lincoln who writes him a personal letter in return saying that Eb can rejoin his unit without penalty. Shad is injured at Gettysburg. Jenny travels to be with him and they get married. John fights through the war. He runs into Bell in a POW camp but then loses track of him.

When it concentrates on Jethro and his family, the book is interesting and enjoyable. But long passages of it are sketchy accounts of the war, too brief for anyone unfamiliar and to bland for anyone who knows the events. This knocked it down by a rating.

Still, it was a quick, pleasant read. I give it a 7.