Tigers in Blue by Richard BuxtonBook Review

Publication Dates: Whirligig 22/3/2017, The Copper Road 26/7/2020, Tigers in Blue 8/12/2023
Publisher: Ocoee Publishing
Series: Shire’s Union Trilogy consisting of: Whirligig (Book #1), The Copper Road (Book #2), Tigers in Blue (Book #3)
Page Length: Whirligig 479, The Copper Road 421, Tigers in Blue 424
Genre: Historical Fiction

Series Synopsis

Shire leaves his home and his life in Victorian England for the sake of a childhood promise, a promise that pulls him into the bleeding heart of the American Civil War. Lost in the bloody battlefields of the West, he discovers a second home for his loyalty.

Clara believes she has escaped from a predictable future of obligation and privilege, but her new life in the Appalachian Hills of Tennessee is decaying around her. In the mansion of Comrie, long hidden secrets are being slowly exhumed by a war that creeps ever closer.

The Shire’s Union trilogy is at once an outsider’s odyssey through the battle for Tennessee, a touching story of impossible love, and a portrait of America at war with itself. Self-interest and conflict, betrayal and passion, all fuse into a fateful climax.

Written by award winning author Richard Buxton, the Shire’s Union trilogy begins with Whirligig, is continued in The Copper Road, and concludes with Tigers in Blue.

My Thoughts

I'd read the first two books, Whirligig: Keeping the Promise and The Copper Road: Beyond the Promise (my review) in 2020, so was a little worried that I might not remember all that had gone before, but once I started reading, and the clever way the author injected past events by way of the various characters' recollections, made it easy to pick up the threads.

Tigers in Blue: The Constant Promise concludes Shire and Clara's story against the backdrop of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign fought in the autumn of 1864. As the story opens, a decisive showdown between Union and Confederate forces is slowly building as both armies head for Nashville, Tennessee, in the final months of the war. Nashville is already under Union occupation and the Confederates, under Lt. General John Bell Hood, aim to retake the city, though Hood is hoping to trap the Union army before it reaches Nashville.

Shire is still with the 125th Ohio Infantry and his small group of friends known as Mason's squad, under the command of Colonel Emerson Opdycke. They are all changed by their experiences, but happy to be heading north despite covering old ground. However, Shire is concerned for Tuck's mental state, as his friend becomes more withdrawn and not the Tuck of old.

Opdycke takes his orders from Brigadier General George Wagner, who he clashes with at the Battle of Franklin, refusing to follow his orders. Some of the generals were portrayed as arrogant, incompetent and reckless, sometimes a mixture of all three, but Opdycke was my favourite. He cared about his men, refused to sacrifice them needlessly and was respected by them in return. He lamented being passed over for promotion. However, he finally did get the recognition he deserved for facilitating the Union victory at Franklin.

After the destruction of her previous home in Polk County, Clara, and what is left of her household, relocate to a small farm at Spring Hill, close to the home of Confederate Captain Tod Carter, both properties on the road to Franklin and Nashville. Tod hasn't seen his family in three years, but as a battle looms on the doorstep of the Carter house, he makes an attempt to visit but is thwarted by Union forces in the area. He eventually does make it home under tragic circumstances.

Clara describes her relationship with Tod as a passionate dalliance, although she would always have a tie to him through the child she'd miscarried. It is this relationship that comes between Clara and Shire. His feelings are constant, but he is unsure of Clara's; he assumes she still has feelings for Tod. What else would keep her in a war zone when she could return to a life of privilege and safety in England?

I'm always wary of writing a review for the final book of a series in case I reveal too much, but with Tigers in Blue, as in the other novels, fictional characters are intermingled with actual historical figures and events, so Tod Carter's fate is well known as is that of his home, the Carter House. The Carter House is now a civil war museum, as is Carnton, mentioned briefly as a hospital, but in fact was the largest field hospital after the battle.

The significant battles of the civil war are also well known. The Battle for Nashville was a turning point, helped by the bloodbath that came before at Franklin which decided the fates of so many of the characters. It decimated the Confederate forces in Tennessee and hastened the end of the war. The battle scenes are not overly gory, but Buxton still manages to evoke the horror and chaos, and the extreme sadness and senselessness in the aftermath.

Themes of love, duty, honour, friendship and respect run through this novel, as well as the underlying theme of home – where it is and what does it mean? This is a question the characters return to often, their answers changing over time. For some they never get to go home, others decide not to and there are those that believe home is with the person you love regardless of the location.

I've enjoyed being reunited with Shire, Clara and their group of friends. This is a brilliant conclusion to a trilogy that I will read again, but not for a while. The characters and events remain too vivid in my mind and my emotions need to settle.

Tigers in Blue can be read as a standalone. However, to better understand Shire's relationship with Clara and the sacrifices he makes on her behalf, I recommend reading the trilogy from the start.

Where to Purchase

Universal Buy Links for individual titles:

Whirligig : Whirligig (Barnes & Noble) : The Copper Road : Tigers in Blue

Trilogy Amazon Buy Links: US : UK

Meet the Author

Richard lives with his family in the South Downs, Sussex, England. He completed an MA in Creative Writing at Chichester University in 2014. He has an abiding relationship with America, having studied at Syracuse University, New York State, in the late eighties. He travels extensively for research, especially in Tennessee, Georgia and Ohio, and is rarely happier than when setting off from a motel to spend the day wandering a battlefield or imagining the past close beside the churning wheel of a paddle steamer.

Richard’s short stories have won the Exeter Story Prize, the Bedford International Writing Competition and the Nivalis Short Story Award. His first novel, Whirligig (2017) was shortlisted for the Rubery International Book Award. It was followed by The Copper Road (2020) and the Shire’s Union trilogy was completed by Tigers in Blue (2023). To learn more about Richard’s writing visit www.richardbuxton.net.

Connect with Richard
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Tour Schedule

Tour Schedule Page HERE.