When Philosophers Were Kings

By Steven M. Best

Book Overview

As the Confederacy celebrates its victory over Fort Sumter, Socrates Best and his wife, Ellen, are living in Northeast Texas where Socrates has been teaching school for five years. Educated in the philosophy of Plato and the religion of Knox, Socrates hopes to ignore the war and continue developing ruler guardians who will help make Texas great. But two former students, Buck Malneck and Billy Morse, seize this chance to put their former teacher to the test. Join the conflict or hang-those are their demands. Meanwhile, a thousand miles to the north stands Socrates' cousin Swift. Raised with Plato's Republican philosophies, but steeped in the passionate abolitionism of the Northern Methodists, Swift leaves law school to be part of the Second Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. Portage City explodes with joy as they send Swift's company off to war, but all the well wishing in the world could never prepare Swift for what awaits him at Bull Run. Amidst the revelry, Socrates' youngest brother, Ed, watches with bated breath. This crowd will one day cheer him, he decides, and everyone will know that he is finally a man. Fighting with the Army of the Cumberland across the Southeast, he will learn there is a far greater challenge in life than being a man-staying alive. This novel is based on the true story of a Wisconsin family caught up in the American Civil War, but it is also the story of the multidimensional human soul-spiritual, philosophical, and physical-and how it is affected by war. It is the story of man's ability to love, endure, survive, and find a meaningful purpose for life in a world turned upside down with hate.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 163293308X
• ISBN13: 9781632933089
• Release Date: March 2021
• Publisher: Sunstone Press
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

When Philosophers Were Kings

I have never written a book review and do not have the gift of the written word. But I did want to share my thoughts about this wonderful book. I have never read a book on the Civil War and I am so glad that I finally did and that it was this book. I didn't want to put it down. It expressed in every detail what it was like for a family to live through that war. Dr. Best has done a superb job of research and you feel as if you are there with each and every member of this family. You won't be sorry you purchased the book.

An unforgettable saga of patriotism, courage and valor

Steven Best did a fantastic job of making you feel you are there with the Best brothers (ancestors for me) as they go through the hard times of the civil war, fighting for what they know is right as taught them by their christian parents. He has done a remarkable job in researching and bringing to life the characters and vivid scenes of the civil war. I had a hard time putting the book down until I had it finished. It's a great book told about great men in an era not to be forgotten. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the civil war.

A Wisconsin Family's Civil War Saga

I liked this book so much that, after twenty pages or so, I closed the book and put it back into my briefcase! My reason was simple-I could see this book was going to be one that I did not want to hurry through; I wanted to take my time and really enjoy it. I was on an airplane flight of less than an hour so I saved it until I had a long cross-country flight. I am glad I did.When Philosophers Were Kings is the Civil War saga of a Wisconsin family. Our country was only nine-four years old when this family history commences. It begins in Daingerfield, Texas in Northeast Texas, home of a troubled population in 1861, when the Federal Garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in Charleston, SC is fired upon. You will travel to Big Spring and Portage, Wisconsin on through to Baltimore and on to Bull Run, the infamous creek in NE Virginia that saw two defeats for the Union Army. You will see the battlefields of Perryville, Kentucky, Paint Rock Bridge, Alabama, Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Chickamauga at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. You will get a first-hand description of the Southern military prisons in Danville, Virginia, Libby Prison in Richmond and in Andersonville. The guerrilla conflict in Missouri during the Civil War is weaved into the story as is William C. Quantrill, the Confederate guerrilla chieftain. The Bushwackers and the Jayhawkers are also part of the tale.Dr. Best and his family before him researched the Best family history and the roles played by various family members in the Civil War. The book explains the impact the events of the war had upon each of them. His family members did as many did in the 1860s-they left their hometowns for battle with cheering crowds and music playing. They carried their unit colors at Perryville until wounded or they were simply left for dead on the battlefield. For them the romance of battle quickly dissolved into a horrible reality of hate, blood, bullets, and death. Each was forever changed and that, of course, is true for any military person who has seen combat. Attitudes changed and even spiritual values were challenged. Best's ancestors came from good families-spiritually solid, morally upright, and socially responsible. In the end it was a strong family that proved to be these soldiers' best asset. You will feel the sense of loss that the family members felt after the battles in which their sons and brothers fought. Best's ancestors' personalities will come alive for you as he relates everything his research has revealed about them.The information is accurate and comes from seven years of researching the United States National Archives, Union and Confederate Civil War military records, biographies, letters, diaries, and memoirs. Although When Philosophers Were Kings is a work of fiction, nearly all the events are true. It reads like a James Michener novel in that respect. Nonetheless, an author cannot know for certain how anyone, even his own ancestors, would have really thou

An impressively written Civil War saga of dilemmas

Based on the true story of a Wisconsin family drawn into the dramatic and dangerous events of the American Civil War, When Philosophers Were Kings by former military intelligence analyst Steven M. Best is a powerful novel of two men, both educated in the philosophy of Plato, who must confront the horrors of the American conflict that pitted brother against brother. An impressively written Civil War saga of dilemmas, both physical and spiritual, ruthless conflicts and unforgiving tolls, When Philosophers Were Kings is thoroughly entertaining and will linger in the mind and imagination of the reader long after the novel is finished and placed back upon the shelf.

Great book

Just finished this great little book last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Steven's depiction of his ancestors, the reality of their doubts about the goodness and plans of the Lord and yet perseverance to push on to obtain character and hope that does not disappoint, I'm sure, characterized his own personal struggle over the last 20-30 years. Through all their struggles, losses, awful death and carnage, they believed that God was in control... they might not know the reason why something happened... but that's ok, cuz that's why God is God and we're not. May I be able to describe to my children and grandchildren as well as he did what their ancestors and forefathers were like and have them relate or hold fast to those precious roots. As you are reading the book, you may want to access his website ... to see pictures of his real ancestors and what happened to them after the Civil War. I would highly recommend the book to any reader