The Last Full Measure

By: Jack Campbell

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

As the author of the best-selling Lost Fleet series, Jack Campbell's name is well-known to fans of interstellar heroics. Now Campbell brings his keen eye for military adventure and political intrigue to a tale that is earthbound, but no less wondrous....

In a transformed mid-19th-century America dominated by plantation owners and kept in line by Southern military forces, a mild-mannered academic from Maine, Professor Joshua Chamberlain, stands accused of crimes against the nation. In court alongside him is Abraham Lincoln, whose fiery rhetoric brands him a "threat to the security of the United States of America".

Convicted, Chamberlain is sentenced to 40 years hard labor, while Lincoln's fate is indefinite detention at Fortress Monroe. But Professor Chamberlain then encounters military minds who understand the true ideals upon which the country was founded and who want to foment revolution. To succeed, they need a leader, someone to inspire the people to take up the cause of liberty: Lincoln. All they have to do is flawlessly execute a daring plan to rescue him from the darkest federal prison.

In The Last Full Measure, Campbell delivers a riveting look at an America where war is imminent and nothing is as it should be.

©2018 Jack Campbell (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Fantastic Storyline and Performance!

Loved the premise of this story and the performance of the reader. I have read other work by Jack Campbell and am a big fan of his efforts!

Short but a good story premise.

I like a bit more character interaction. not talk and explanation but action. still this is a good premise for alternative history.

Really left me wanting more!

Really good book but just stopped. That was kind of disappointing. Timeless subject and great points made that are relevant today. Just wish there could have been more. Glad I listened. Performers good too.

well built universe

the book takes battles that occur during the civil war and we've them into new stories of heroism that eco the bravery of those who fought in the battles they were based off of. while the story is complete and well written on its telling of the story the authors history of writing well crafted franchises makes me wish for more stories form within the setting.

the narrator was very good at giving each character a unique, believable voice that made the story enjoyable and kept with the setting.

A very well told story

A great alternative history from an author more known for his science fiction. Unexpected, but it just proves his expertise at weaving an engaging story. I really hope he writes more stories like this!

great short historic story

The story was great with bouts of historic battles and lessons. Narration was great. I wanted to hear more.

review

loved this story, wished it was longer. great story for some one like me, who knows a little bit about a lot of history. I recognize the names, that makes it fun. the action is entertaining.

Great little story

Worth a listen for anyone who loves history. A nice alternate series of events. Recommend

A new approach for Campbell/Hemry

if you have read others of my reviews, you will see an avid John Hemry fan. Though I would call this one of his weaker efforts, by Hemry standards it is still among the top novels I have listened to (and I go through about 100 a year.)

This is the relatively simple story of a union prisoner broken out of a Confederate fort. It has some legal intrigue at the beginning with a fair bit of Campbell battle logistics through the second half. But this one is on earth set during the Civil War.

Campbell's use of historical fact is excellent. He seamlessly merges it into a military story that plays with the same quality of imagery as his other material. And as always, it is well written with careful word choice. But it suffers from the lack if flexibility provided by Campbell's science fiction and fantasy settings.

Bad news/good news

So the bad news is that Jack Campbell has taken time away from writing more Lost Fleet/Lost Stars/Pillars of Reality/JAG in Space/etc. stories. Its been 6 months and counting!

[Update -- just realized this was written in 2013 -- now released as an audiobook. Still good reading]

But, the good news is that this alternate history short novel is really good. I'm not done yet, so am not sure if it's standalone or not. It's obviously a Jack Campbell plot (which is good). Whether by design or not, this also hits home to issues with our current directions in democracy.

The narrator is good...maybe reads a little fast at times.