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Soldier's Heart | Overview

Soldier's Heart is a blunt depiction of Civil War combat. Based on the real-life experiences of Charley Goddard, the novel is an account of Charley's experiences from the time he enlists in the Union army at age fifteen to a couple of years after the Civil War when he is twenty-one and his life is a shambles. The title of the book is a phrase used by Americans to label Civil War veterans who seemed mentally lost because of the war. Paulsen points out that the same syndrome was called "shell shock" during World War I, "battle fatigue" during World War II, and is presently called...

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