“A good baseball novel is always a pleasant surprise, and this book is just that... an achingly evocative coming-of-age saga in which the hero, Lee Malcolm, tells of growing up and falling in love in a small town in the ‘50s and ‘60s... A sincere, skillfully written and highly pleasurable tale, it is less about the game than about people, integrity and commitment. Hough shows a maturing talent here.”

“A fast-paced combination baseball and coming-of-age story... Hough obviously knows the game of baseball intimately, and he has made a hero out of a most unlikely character, a baseball umpire. Highly recommended.”

“[Hough’s] eye and ear for the rhythms of small-town seaside life help bring the problematic romance between Lane and Claire to life. His ability to balance compassion with an understanding of moral complexity adds substance to the narrative and elevates this book above the standard murder mystery cum love story.”

“...on top of the personal and local drama, the country is witnessing race riots, demonstrations at the Democratic convention in Chicago, and the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Hough ties these elements together quite naturally, showing the country at a crossroads at the same time the main characters experience pivotal moments in their own lives. The writing is quiet and lyrical, perfectly capturing the bittersweet quality of a love that is intense and real but, ultimately, impractical. ”

“A dramatic and tragic tale of Civil War–era brutality and suffering as seen by soldiers, slaves and civilians, culminating at the battle of Gettysburg. Hough writes about the Civil War with a novelist’s insight and a historian’s eye... Amid the blood and fury of battle, a tender and poignant story of idealism, love and brotherly devotion shines through.”

“Terrific. Hough has caught the spirit of young enlisted men in the army, and has done a splendid job of research on the Twentieth Massachusetts to get its role in the Gettysburg campaign right. It is a great read.”

“It reads as if you were there. Captures the chaos, excitement, brutality and nature of the battle as well as anyone has. It is the way I think a soldier in combat saw it.”

“John Hough has created a true American story, truer than our collective memory has allowed until now. For that reason it deepens our understanding of the waste and tragedy of the Civil War-and the challenge for us of living out its complicated legacy.”

“Just when you think there are no new stories under the sun about the Civil War, here it comes! John Hough looks at the theme of race and the battle of Gettysburg from a strikingly different angle. Join up and go to war with these boys from the Vineyard; you won’t be able to catch your breath until this fast, brilliant novel is over. SEEN THE GLORY is an original, profound novel, with the best dialogue of the period I have ever read.”

“Written with sensitivity and an eye for detail, blending a love story and intricate realism, Hough’s newest work is a worthy addition to western and historical fiction collections.”

“LITTLE BIGHORN is an American masterwork of the ultimate triumph of love and redemption during the so-called ‘Indian Wars’ — surely one of the most detestable eras in all of American’s history. Hough is relentlessly truthful, unfailingly entertaining, and transcendently generous.”

“LITTLE BIGHORN is every bit as remarkable as Larry McMurtry’s LONESOME DOVE. The characters are vivid, the tension palpable and the dialogue unfeigned. John Hough, Jr. is one the great American novelists alongside Cormac McCarthy and Jonathan Franzen.”

“John Hough’s last book, SEEN THE GLORY, was one of the best Civil War novels I’ve ever read. Now in LITTLE BIGHORN he’s turned his superb storytelling talents to the epic story of Custer and the Little Bighorn. I read the last hundred pages in one page-turning and finger-burning frenzy, then put the book down and reluctantly returned to our modern world, sorry there wasn’t more to read.”

“LITTLE BIGHORN is a potent blend of research and imagination. John Hough has forever changed my view of George Armstrong Custer in this stellar, riveting novel.”

“This fictional account of the rendezvous of George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry with its tragic destiny at Little Bighorn offers a richly textured perspective on this famous event. The triumphant love story of Allen and Addie grabs the reader’s heartstrings even as the narrative moves toward its inevitable dark climax.”

“LITTLE BIGHORN is a fine novel drawing on both fictional and historical figures. Very readable.”