Calm Before the Storm — Dan Ryan

Calm Before the storm describes in vivid detail what may have occurred in the United States under the Pierce and Buchanan Presidential administrations. The narration is by a middle-aged career naval officer, born in Beaufort, South Carolina, and serving in the Army Navy Building, Washington City. The historical events of 1855 through 1860 are carefully followed. The imagination of the author provides rich characters in powerful settings from the mountains of the Utah Territory to the port of South Hampton, England. The time old love story between a man and a woman is woven throughout the book when the naval officer falls in love with the President's sister, also a middle-aged woman referred to as the first, First Lady in the White House.
Scenes are carefully set with attention to accurate research of the low country in South Carolina as well as the Nation's Capital circa 1853-1861. The People's Standard History of the United States written by Edward Ellis and published in 1895 have provided background information, maps of the period and needed information on how the federal government was organized and functioned during this period of history.