TESTAMENT

Benson Bobrick uses the letters written by his ancestor, Benjamin Webster ("Webb") Baker, during his long stint in the Union Army as the entrée to a concise, clear history of the Civil War in the West. The double track of personal and large-scale history tells the story more completely than either alone could do. Richard Harries's narration is clear and polished, but in reading Webb's letters he usually (but oddly, not always) takes on a high-pitched, loud, and artificially "rural" voice, as if Webb were a hick shouting his tale. It's off-putting and peculiar, the only real flaw in a well-structured, well-told and--much of the time--well-read production. W.M. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]