When I discovered that my cousin had written a book about our mutual great-great-uncle (our grandmother's grandfather's brother) I was intrigued, since I too grew up hearing the family stories, and especially those about Inman (his true family name, and my grandmother's maiden name). To my pleasant surprise, the book was astoundingly beautiful in form and especially compelling in the nature of word and sentence combinations. Ususally, I can speed read a book in a few hours, and I expected Cold Mountain to be a small diversion during a flight to Europe. Was I ever wrong! I spent several sessions over the next few days, reading and re-reading passages to savor the full impact of the complicated and sometimes obscure references. Fortunately, I grew up with the knowleged of the tools, etc. Charles mentions, and therefore, perhaps, have an even better appreciation of the descriptions than other readers. However, knowing as I do, the actual outcome of Inman's journey, I kept hoping that the author would somehow change the ending to one less shocking and sorrowful than befell the historical character; but alas, he did not, and Inman met his intended fate, once again, in fiction as well as fact. Bravo, cousin "Chuck!" Well done! Here's hoping you can produce more works of equal quality. Daniel A. Frazier.