At long last, my book has arrived.
Galvanized: The Odyssey of a Reluctant Carolina Confederate took years to research, interrupted by a liver transplant among other life events. But, it was a lot of fun working on it and I’m excited for you to read it.
Basically, I was looking information about my ancestors for my first book when I stumbled across Wright Stephen Batchelor, my great-great-grandfather. It was in the Confederate Army, escaped capture at Gettysburg, got captured later, went to a notorious prisoner of war camp, joined the Union Army and then ended up back in the Confederate Army. Whew!
He walked back from Appomattox, but his adventures were not over — that’s the book. I also write about North Carolina’s role in the Civil War and this book isn’t so much about famous people as it is the regular folks — they are pretty interesting.
There is a lot about what happened in eastern North Carolina before, during, and after the Civil War, including the burning of Rocky Mount Mills. There is also a murder and a trial that had some seriously sketchy turns.
There are also chapters about how the Civil War is still being fought in many ways and a chapter on the history and origins of the controversial Confederate statues.
I hope much of the book will be things you haven’t thought about or make you think about things in a new way. I tried to put the information there so the reader can draw his/her own conclusions.
Technically, the book doesn’t officially launch until May 1. However, my publisher, the University of Nebraska/Potomac Books as well as Amazon, have been shipping for a while, so I have started as well.
The list price for Galvanized is $28.95. I’m offering it on my website for a Launch Special of $25 + shipping. In addition, I’m offering my first book, Memory Cards: Portraits from a Rural Journey, which has a list price of $18.95 for $15 — so you can get both books for $40 for now.
You can click here or here to purchase online from me or here to purchase straight from Potomac. I use Squareup, so all transactions are secure. There is an option to get a signed book or unsigned. If you order multiple books, I’ll combine your shipping total and issue a partial refund as the system right now defaults to $3.99. I’m working on a more precise ordering system, but for now we will do it the old way.
I’ll also be posting facts and excerpts from the book from time to time, but I promise not to clog your email box or your social media.
You can subscribe if you like and get these posts emailed to your box. There will be more local history after the semester ends at Barton College and I have a little more time.
Didn’t think to save any of your signatures from my time as your UPS man, so I had to order the autographed copy. Hope that you and yours are well Mike, and when we get the all clear we need to get together and solve the world’s problems.
Congratulations, ‘Prison Mike’. Wow, you’ve been productive and in the midst of a major medical procedure. So glad you made it through successfully. The book sounds amazing. How do I get a signed copy from the author? Blessings to you and your family.
Ha,ha. So good to hear from you, Chris. The best and most secure way to order the book is through my Squareup store at this link: https://michaelkbrantleyauthor.square.site/. Thanks for the comment and the support!