The Killer Angels
by Michael Shaara, Don Pitcher

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I purchased this from Audible.com, after listening to the two Revolutionary War books by his son Jeff. This was a great review of the crucial events coming up to and through Gettysburg. Moving and respectful of the forces on both side of the conflict, an excellent book!

Crown of Slaves
by David Weber, Eric Flint

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From the Publisher

The Star Kingdom's ally Erewhon is growing increasingly restive in the alliance because the new High Ridge regime ignores its needs. Added to the longstanding problem of a slave labor planet controlled by hostile Mesans in Erewhon's stellar backyard, which High Ridge refuses to deal with, the recent assassination of the Solarian League's most prominent voice of public conscience indicates the growing danger of political instability in the Solarian League - which is also close to Erewhon.

In desperation, Queen Elizabeth tries to defuse the situation by sending a private mission to Erewhon led by Captain Zilwicki, accompanied by one of her nieces. When they arrive on Erewhon, however, Manticore's envoys find themselves in a mess. Not only do they encounter one of the Republic of Haven's most capable agents - Victor Cachat - but they also discover that the Solarian League's military delegation seems up to its neck in skullduggery.

And, just to put the icing on the cake, the radical freed slave organization, the Audubon Ballroom, is also on the scene - led by its notorious and ruthless assassin, Jeremy X.

This was a HUGE story - with lots of intrigue - political and personal. Late in the Honor Harrington series, it required knowing a certain amount of background which I didn't have when I bought it ~ 2 years ago. HOWEVER, thanks to the beneficent Baen policy of offering much of their backlist electronically (see http://www.baen.com/library, http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com), and Wikipedia charting much of the Honorverse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorverse), I was able to locate the crucial short stories (From the Highlands - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changer_of_Worlds, Fanatic - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Service_of_the_Sword )and read them to get up to speed. And THEN, I sped through this massive, complicated story. NOW I just want the sequel! (soon I hope).

Slavery, and the fight against it, is a powerful core to this book. Fitting that I also just finished listening to the Killer Angels!