Can an Orphan Find Love in the American Civil War?

When he’s only three years old, Will Sommers loses his parents to fever and whiskey. His grandfather raises him to manhood using the West Point texts he trusts to make his grandson into a fine soldier…he sees war on the horizon, and wants him to be ready. As part of his education, Will spends two years in a Cheyenne village so he’ll have the skills to go East or West when he’s ready to strike out on his own. But after his grandfather dies, Will’s future becomes uncertain. As he tries to make improvements to the farm, a dishonest banker takes advantage of him. Desperate and penniless, Will joins the Missouri militia and in the stress and heat of battle, his true colors begin to shine. Follow the courageous adventures of a young man who won’t take no for an answer—and who is determined to find happiness, love, and honor during one of America’s most memorable and colorful eras.

F.M. Siders lived with his grandfather on a farm known as Starvation Hill, from the age of three until he was eleven years old. By the time he was four, his grandfather had taught him to read, using Western pulp magazines and a torn copy of the US Infantry Manual. After his mother remarried, Siders went to live with her in California, and enrolled at UCLA at the age of sixteen. He enlisted in the army at seventeen, and following his tour of duty in Korea, returned home to complete his degree in geology at UCLA. Eventually pursuing a career in education, Siders rose to the rank of superintendent and began to discover his love of writing. During forty years of marriage, Siders and his wife enjoyed world travel as well as their family life together. He has written seven novels, many inspired by the magazines from which he learned to read.