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A Soldier's Psalm: An Odyssey of America's Restless Warriors

by John Foster Magill and Susan Magill Reynolds

634 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #01-0340; ISBN 1-55212-938-1; US$36.99, C$42.54, EUR30.38, £21.27

"My daughter and I have completed a duo of historical novels which began in 1770 and follows the fictional family of Malcolm James through several generations. In each novel the central character becomes enmeshed in salient historical figures of the time, some of whom are maligned, others wrongfully worshipped and still others virtually forgotten."

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about the book      about the authors      reviews      sample excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book In each of the two books, we believe that we have developed a truly unique combination of "success ingredients" - a spectacular time period, a powerful cast of historical figures, a poignant love story - all blended into a setting of historical accuracy. Book I thrusts our "hero-narrator" into the early, precarious days of our fledgling republic as he "rubs elbows" with George Washington, Daniel Morgan, Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates. Book II features the great grandson of the forebearer, Malcom James, as he becomes involved in the events of our Centennial Year interacting with the historical trio - Custer, Reno and Benteen at the Little BigHorn with a touching love story involving a "Quarter-Sioux".

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About the Authors John Foster Magill is a native of Pennsylvania. A World War II veteran, he served three years with the United States Army Parachute Troops. He was wounded in action three times when his unit jumped behind enemy lines in Germany; his unit was honored with the Presidential Unit Citation. A graduate of Bloomsburg University in 1948, he received his masters degree in 1953 and his doctorate in 1965 from the Pennsylvania State University. Having served public, private and higher education for over thirty plus years, he has had a number of magazine articles published; recently he co-authored an educational handbook, PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE NEW MILLENIUM. He is the recipient of the Purple Heart with two clusters, a Freedoms Foundation Award (for teaching) and has recently been inducted into the Legion of Honor - The Chapel of the Four Chaplains. He is married to the former Anna Martini for fifty-five years and they are the parents of five children: John, Susan (Reynolds), Thomas, Kathryn, and Rebecca. Susan Magill Reynolds is also a native of Pennsylvania. She was the valedictorian of her high school graduating class in 1966. After recovering from a serious illness, she graduated, summa cum laude, from Bloomsburg University in 1971. She was employed as a writer and later as assistant to the director of public relations of the Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn where she wrote the reports of the early organ transplants. She and her father have been actively researching and developing the current manuscripts and potential sequels since 1976. She is married to Edward Reynolds, a retired federal employee and they are the parents of two children, Susan and Daniel. They are all residents of Virginia since 1976.

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Reviews

Ray Koehler of the Reading Eagle, "Writers take a novel approach to America's restless warriors".

Irene Munson, retired history teacher, "I like the way you organized each story. We need to look more closely for our unsung heroes".

Linda Paige, reader, "The work that you have given our unsung heroes goes far beyond patriotism. There is a compassion that shines throughout".

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Sample Excerpt - From the Prelude

"I am Malcolm James of Winshester, Virginia. As a young orphan, I was raised by Dan and Abigail Morgan. Together the huge and powerful Dan and the small but durable Abigail fashioned a haven for me after the loss of my mother.

I shared the long, lonely months with Abigail and daughters, Nancy and Betsy, while Dan fought the Canadian Campaign of 1775 and suffered through the long, cold ordeal in the British prisoner-of-war camp through 1776. Upon his exchange and a brief interlude at home, he was off for the Northern Campaign near the Hudson River in New York. The long imprisonment had taken its toll on Dan Morgan, leaving him prematurely crippled by the intermittent ravages of rheumatism.

Dan Morgan returned to us following the critical victory at Saratoga in the fall of 1777, disillusioned with the problems of command and plagued by the agonies of his crippling malady.

In 1780, General Horatio Gates, in command of the Southern Campaign, was desperately seeking the one great victory that would provide the means of having the Continental Congress dispose of General Washington. Gates sent his ill-directed and ill-coordinated forces against the British Cornwallis and the infamous Carolinas. Not only were the colonial forces defeated but when Gates fled the field, in sheer panic, he left General Johann de Kalb and his men to be used as sabre practise by Tarleton's mounted forces.

When Dan Morgan received the urgent summons from General Washington to assume second-in-command of the Southern Army to General Nathaniel Greene, it was an appeal that he could not ignore. He found an army consisting of the hungry, battered "survivors of Camden" and raw, young recruits from the local militia. It was an army so outnumbered, so discouraged, and so destititute that the major objective was simply to avoid starvation and annihilation.

As an eighteen year old, I accompanied Dan Morgan as his aide. Part of my mission was Abigail's secret plea that I, in some subtle fashion, help to take care of this huge foster father of mine...

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Catalogue Information

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