Conflict of Lasting Interest to novelists.(SATURDAY)(THE CIVIL WAR)

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Byline: Peter Cliffe, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The torrent of factual literature inspired by the Civil War flows unabated. The market shows no indication of having reached saturation point. This has been the case for decades. It also is true of the fictional approach to the war, although there seems to be less of the latter.

It may be interesting to look briefly at six novels in which the war plays a major or minor role, beginning with one published two years after hostilities ceased and ending with one that appeared almost a century after the North and South began to fight. Writing styles, story lines and characters differ markedly; not all books cater to …