"the shades of the wilderness" is the seventh volume of the civil war series, of which the predecessors have been "the guns of bull run," "the guns of shiloh," "the scouts of stonewall," "the sword of antietam", "the star of gettysburg" and "the rock of chickamauga." the romance in this story reverts to the southern side and deals with the fortunes of harry kenton and his friends. it takes them on the retreat from gettysburg, gives the hero a short period of social life in richmond, describes the great battles of the wilderness and spottsylvania, and ends with the deadlock in the trenches before petersburg.