Lay Down My Sword and Shield

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

A powerful novel of conflict, history and shadows from the past ... by the bestselling, acclaimed author of THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN.

''As I stood there on my front porch that hot, breathless July day, leaning against the column with the six bullet holes, now worn and smooth, I could see Hack''s whitewashed marker under the pin oaks in the Holland family cemetery ... Four generations of my family were buried there.''

Hack Holland is a product of the South, both old and new. Hard-drinking ex-POW and wealthy, progressive Democrat, he stands in the long shadow cast by his ancestors. When Holland''s candidacy for a congressional seat brings him increasingly into conflict with those around him, his almost unwitting involvement with a violent civil rights conflict forces him to reassess his future - and his past...


Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:

''James Lee Burke is