Robert Grede, author of The Spur and the Sash

Milwaukee author Robert Grede's new novel is inspired in part by the life of one of Grede's ancestors. Sergeant George Van Norman, a Yankee, was wounded in one of the last battles of the Civil War. While recovering, he was ordered to guard a local plantation where he fell in love with the owner's daughter. Meticulously researched using letters, diaries, and official records, The Spur and the Sash is a story of love, passion, and betrayal amid the anarchy of post-Civil War Tennessee.