Winner of 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award, Best Regional Non-Fiction: Great Lakes
Mitchell’s work, which explores life and times during the American Civil War from a Grand Traverse perspective, was released by Suttons Bay Publications last spring. The author will receive his Silver Medal in New York City at a ceremony hosted by the Independent Publisher group on June 4.
The Independent Publisher awards honor the year’s best titles released by university and small presses. This year, 2000 publishers submitted over 5000 books for consideration in the competition. Former winners of Independent Publishers Book Awards include Matthew Sharpe for The Sleeping Father, Leif Enger for Peace Like a River, and Jim Harrison for The Beast God Forgot to Invent.
Two time, State History Award-Winning Author
"John Mitchell has achieved two great things: he's brought to life Michigan in the 19th century and the drama of the Civil War-- two worlds collide, mingle, and evolve. We've read lots of books especially about northern Michigan, but none that so deftly pins this area's history to the larger history of this country breaking in two.
Reading Mitchell is like finding a story within the story-- the secret life of a wilderness and emerging urban society against the cannon fire and hoof clap of battlefield and big city beyond the shores of the Great Lakes. Carefully researched, elegantly written, and packed with information-- the vivid details that stir a portrait to life-- this tale is a must for any bookshelf. A marvelous read."
—Doug Stanton, NY Times best-selling author
Winner of the 2011 Michigan State History Award
Grand Traverse:
The Civil War Era
by John C. Mitchell
While the bonds uniting North and South frayed under the weight of slavery, and then broke into the violence of the American Civil War, the wilderness harbors along the coast of Grand Traverse blossomed into booming port towns.
The story of Grand Traverse during the era is an account of a place and a nation rising to their shared destiny, one settled, the other redefined, during the epic struggle. Throughout the Civil War, Grand Traverse soldiers fought and died in major battles and forgotten skirmishes, earning for the region a compelling military history in the most crucial and deadly of American conflicts. All who feel a connection to Northern Michigan should read this book.
#1 BESTSELLER in Northern Michigan
Hardcover with full-color dust jacket
352 pages with historical photography
ISBN 978-0-9621466-4-0
$24.95 plus shipping
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