Oliver Optic wrote some 125 books and more than a thousand stories for children during the last half of the 19th century. Among the best is the Blue and the Gray Series. Taken by the Enemy is the first book in the series and introduces the characters and events that figure in subsequent books, giving children a personal as well as historical picture of the Civil War that will broaden their horizons with every fresh page.

Author Biography: Oliver Optic wrote some 125 books and more than a thousand stories for children during the last half of the 19th century. An imaginative story teller, he used a combination of fictional and historical events as the background for great adventure stories.