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Summary
Summary
Professional historian-hero and time-traveler Alex Balfour returns in the most exciting of his critically acclaimed adventures. This time he wakes up literally in the middle of the Civil War. And this time, he's not the only one traveling through time. Last seen falling asleep on a small Japanese island shortly after Hiroshima, Alex, a twenty-first century New Yorker, awakens between a Rebel stand and a Union charge led by George Armstrong Custer. Wounded by crossfire, Alex is taken to a makeshift hospital, but not before he witnesses the gruesome murder of a helpless soldier long after the fighting has ceased. Meanwhile, in present-day New York City, Alex's girlfriend and intrepid Times reporter Molly Glenn loses her way chasing a story and winds up in the thick of the Civil War herself. As Alex tries to make sense of the murder and Molly, in cumbersome crinolines and petticoats, tries to make headway against prevailing male attitudes toward women, they meet such historical figures as Abraham Lincoln, Sidney Lanier, Ambrose Bierce, and Walt Whitman. Confronting hard-hitting historical truths, exploring moral dilemmas, and packing page-turning adventure, In Time of War continues the timeless series beloved by legions of fans.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This lightweight and fun fourth installment in the Alex Balfour series finds intrepid but unwitting time traveler Alex Balfour plopped in the middle of a Civil War battle. Immediately wounded, Alex survives thanks to an anonymous boy who provides him with a slain Union officer's papers. Alex soon finds himself installed in a Washington hospital, where, in spite of the teeming capital's chaos, he immediately meets Ambrose Bierce and Walt Whitman and spots John Wilkes Booth. Alex's New York Times pregnant reporter girlfriend, Molly, is also unwillingly spirited back in time to join him. She soon finds herself in a Washington brothel, where she works as a "seer" and a curiosity. As the plot moves forward, Alex and Molly find themselves variously imprisoned, chased and otherwise subjected to danger, at least some of which is orchestrated by Alex's nefarious father, who is also time traveling. Driven often by coincidence, the story takes second place to colorful, wide-eyed descriptions of period habits-Molly squeezes herself into a corset; Alex marvels over a salad of poke weed and purslane-and a good bit of speechifying. In chatting with the madam of the brothel, Molly asks, "Don't you ever imagine a future where men and women are equals intellectually and professionally?"; she also sets Bierce on his literary path by applying her notions of contemporary rhetorical style to his smoky Victorian prose. That there will be an attempt to thwart the assassination of Lincoln is a foregone conclusion, but other intrigues distract the time-crossed lovers often enough to keep the story rolling. Though Appel's rather sanitized, politically correct view of the period may make history buffs squirm, those in search of exuberant Civil War-flavored entertainment will find much to enjoy here. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Appel continues his excellent time-travel series, sending historian Alex Balfour back to the Civil War era in order to alter his own future. After his girlfriend, journalist Molly Glenn, dies in his arms during the out-of-time exploit chronicled in Till the End of Time (1990) , Alex realizes that he must try to resurrect his only link to the present by changing the past. Transported to a Civil War battlefield, a seriously injured Alex witnesses the brutal murder of another wounded soldier. Recuperating in a Washington hospital and befriended by both Ambrose Bierce and Walt Whitman, he tries to make sense of the seemingly pointless homicide and contemplates what, if anything, he should do about Abraham Lincoln's impending assassination. When he realizes that a now pregnant Molly has been transported also, he feverishly works to bring them back together so they can safely return to their own time with their baby. Appel has adeptly combined science fiction and history into another compelling adventure that stretches back and forth through time at a breathless pace. --Margaret Flanagan Copyright 2003 Booklist