Duty, Honor, Country Books

An epic series in the vein of HBO's Rome , following two ordinary men through extraordinary times; from West Point, through the Mexican War, and into the Civil War. Elijah Cord and Lucius Rumble swore oaths, both personal and professional. They were fighting for country, for a way of life and for family. They and their West Point classmates carried more than rifles and sabers into battle. They had friendships, memories, children and wives. They had innocence lost, promises broken and glory found. Duty, Honor, Country is history told epic and personal so we can understand what happened, but more importantly feel the heart-wrenching clash of duty, honor, country and loyalty. And realize that sometimes, the people who changed history, weren’t recorded by it. The story starts in 1840, in Benny Havens tavern, just outside post limits of the United States Military Academy. William Tecumseh Sherman, Cord, and Benny Havens’ daughter come together in a crucible of honor and loyalty. On post, in the West Point stables, Ulysses S. Grant and Rumble are preparing to saddle the Hell-Beast, a horse with which Grant would eventually set an academy record. On this day, all make fateful decisions that will change the course of their lives and history. We follow these men forward to the eve of the Mexican War, tracing their steps at West Point and ranging to a plantation at Natchez on the Mississippi, meeting Major Robert E. Lee at Arlington, and go to Charleston, SC. We travel aboard the USS Somers and the US Navy mutiny that led to the founding of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. We end with Grant and Rumble in New Orleans, preparing to sail to Mexico and war, and Cord with Kit Carson and Fremont at Pilot Peak in Utah during his great expedition west. This is book 1 in the Duty, Honor, Country series. "Will leave you spellbound. Mayer’s long suit is detail, giving the reader an in-depth view of the inner workings of the Army and West Point." Book News

In the vein of HBO’s Rome miniseries, two former West Point cadets, Lucius Rumble and Elijah Cord, are involved in the decisions at many of the major crossroads of our history as the Civil War erupts around them. They go from West Point, to Washington DC, through First Bull Run, the Monitor battling the Merrimac, to Grant’s initial successes at Forts Henry and Donelson. We arrive on the precipice of failure as Grant’s army is routed on the first day of the battle of Shiloh and he sits in the rain, under an oak treat, contemplating retreat. They swore oaths, both personal and professional. They were fighting for country, for a way of life and for family. Classmates carried more than rifles and sabers into battle. They had friendships, memories, children and wives. They had innocence lost, promises broken and glory found. Praise for Mayer's war fiction: Stephen Coonts: “A scorcher of a novel!” WEB Griffin: “Exciting & Authentic!”

This is history told both epic and personal so the reader can feel the heart-wrenching clash of duty, honor, country and loyalty. And realize that sometimes the people who changed history weren’t recorded by it. In the vein of HBO’s Rome miniseries, two fictional characters, Lucius Rumble and Elijah Cord, are standing at many of the major crossroads of our history. The book begins with the battle at Palo Alto at the beginning of the Mexican War, percentage-wise, the bloodiest in U.S. History. While U.S. Grant and Lucius Rumble fight across Mexico, Elijah Cord is with Fremont and Kit Carson in the far west, battling to bring California into the Union. The book concludes on the eve of the Civil War, with each man taking his place on one side or the other, as West Point classmates prepare to face each other in battle. The Civil War was a West Point war. As plebes we were required to memorize the fact that in 55 of 60 major battles, West Pointers commanded both sides and in the other five, one side. This is book II in the Duty, Honor, Country series. Assembly Magazine: “Mayer brings an accurate depiction of military life to this book which greatly enhances its credibility.”