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Mind The Gap
In January 1987 I began studying for a masters in International Relations at Syracuse University, New York State. I was able to choose most of the modules, needing thirty credits for the degree. At the start of my first, cold semester, I tromped up through the deep banks of snow for my opening class in Continue reading
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Outer Peace
We were in Yorkshire late in November, staying up in the Wolds. Not the Dales or the Moors; the Wolds. We have hopes to move north to Yorkshire and we’d found a cottage in a village not too far from the market town where we think we might settle. It meant we could explore the Continue reading
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Franklin – The Unheard Death Knell
November 30th will see the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin, fought in Middle Tennessee towards the end of the last full year of the American Civil War. As Franklin was a central part of my inspiration, I couldn’t let it pass unmentioned. Sam Watkins, a private in the 1st Tennessee, and fighting only Continue reading
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Deja Vu All Over Again
I’m reading Whirligig and loving it! In fact, I plan to read my whole Shire’s Union trilogy back-to-back. How conceited is Buxton, you might be thinking, to read his own work and trumpet about it. But I’ve never understood those writers or actors who cringe at the idea of enjoying their own work. To be honest, I think most Continue reading
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Tigers in Franklin
I couldn’t say how many Civil War regiments there were. It’s probably into the thousands, and I could have picked any one of them. So why did I plump for the 125th Ohio, Opdycke’s Tigers as they came to be known, as a home for my fictitious Private Shire? And how then did their glorious story Continue reading
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN
Short Stories
Echoes of the American Civil War
Shire's Union 