Horrors of History

Based on the actual fire that swept through Columbia, South Carolina, after the city surrendered to General Sherman’s Union troops, Ocean of Fire details life in the South at the end of the American Civil War. Supported by thorough research, narrative accounts of actual historical persons as well as fictionalized characters comprise the novel. Follow 17-year-old Emma, her family, and potential Confederate spy, Charles Davis, as a chaotic community tries to survive a blazing firestorm. The second book in the Horrors of History series, Ocean of Fire makes history accessible, questioning who could have started this controversial fire and exploring how the closing weeks of the war affected citizens and slaves alike.Prologue vii; Chapter 1: Columbia Will Fall…..1; Chapter 2: Wailing and Writhing…..20; Chapter 3: Trails…..36; Chapter 4: A Horrid Sight…..52; Chapter 5: The Gates of Hell Opened…..68; Chapter 6: Night Turned to Noon…..85; Chapter 7: At the Point of a Bayonet.....98; Chapter 8: The Devil's Own.....111; Chapter 9: Every Bit Gone.....124; Chapter 10: Bones Picked Clean.....136; Chapter 11: Fossils and Ashes.....149; Epilogue 163; Author's Note 165; Photo Credits 167T. Neill Anderson is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn, New York. This is his second book for young adults and the second in the Horrors of History series.Emma rummaged through the cabinets and drawers of the hospital supply room for anything that might ease Carrie's cough. Bandages, droppers, towels . . . nothing useful. Slamming a drawer shut, she stepped back over to the window. The fires looked ready to devour every structure on Richardson. Anger surged within her. She knew in her heart that these fires were not accidents but a plan passed down from Sherman himself to destroy Columbia. Yes, the wind and the cotton in the streets were doing their part to spread the blazes, but what about the soldiers she'd seen running around wildly, plundering stores and houses that suspiciously caught fire just as they exited?