It is 1856 in a quiet town tucked away in the hills of central Pennsylvania. The people of Gettysburg go about their lives under the looming shadow of secession. This important new historical novel traces the ordinary lives of three of Gettysburg's former citizens - "Jennie" Wade, Wesley Culp, and Johnston Skelly - from their childhoods together through the climactic battle that changed the town forever. The Calm and the Strife dramatizes the divisions created by the storm of violence that exploded during an extraordinary period in American history. This meticulously researched story provides a personal view of the American Civil War, seen though the eyes of its real inhabitants, and presents a rarely seen perspective of the town of Gettysburg before and during the epic three-day battle in July 1863. About the Author David J. Sloat, a New York University graduate, is a former documentary filmmaker and marketing executive. He is currently an Information Technology director for an environmental services company. He resides with his wife and three children in Western Pennsylvania. This is his first novel. John W. Sloat, a graduate of Princeton and Pittsburgh Seminaries, was a Presbyterian minister for 40 years, serving churches in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He and his wife have three children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He is a musician and leads spirituality groups. This is his seventh book.