Civil wars Books

Book Synopsis_______________ THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER _______________ 'A powerful love story spanning generations… Full of ambition and humanity' - Sunday Times 'One of the strongest and most affecting works in Allende's long career' - New York Times Book Review _______________ On September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles’ splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe. Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile. When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised ‘long petal of sea and wine and snow’. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world. A masterful work of historical fiction that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers. _______________ 'A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging' - Independent Online 'A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us' - Daily Telegraph 'A grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago' - Khaled Hosseini 'A novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time' - Colum McCann 'Allende's style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable' - Guardian ‘Epic in scope, yet intimate in execution’ - iTrade ReviewAllende has everything it takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing humanity * New York Times *Isabel Allende is a grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago. She will be celebrated, by readers and writers alike, for generations to come -- Khaled HosseiniA historical saga that sweeps from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of General Pinochet -- Highlights for 2020 * Daily Telegraph *Although this is fiction, Allende’s epic is deeply rooted in fact, and often reads like a biography – of her homeland not least . . . [The characters] are brought alive by Allende’s generous imagination and brisk, vivid prose * Daily Mail *A decades-spanning tale of war, exile and belonging . . . Grounding the novel is the love story between Victor and Roser, all the more touching for being unconventional . . . The book is all-encompassing, both in its sweep through history and the sheer number of lives crammed into it . . . The writing is unadorned but affecting, shot through with sad details * Sunday Telegraph *Her latest novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, is built on a recurring theme in Allende’s work: the displacement of people . . . It is difficult not to see this novel as a reminder of the endless recurrence of history, or half a million Franco refugees fleeing Spain with many interned in harsh camps in France – of people fleeing from countries in which refuge is now sought * Irish Times *Allende marries the fictional and the historical in lush, sprawling epics. A Long Petal of the Sea takes its place in the unparalleled canon she has created, exploring the sacrifices we make for the sake of those we love, and the love we sacrifice for the sake of our families -- Jodi PicoultAllende's stories are delicate, their images akin to poetry -- Barbara KingsolverIf Allende's life depended on her narrative gifts, she'd not only survive, but reign * Los Angeles Times *In this stunning historical novel, Allende traces one couple’s escape from the Spanish Civil War to Chile . . . A powerful story about love and belonging – and how displacement doesn’t have to mean defeat * People *Allende transcends the ordinary * Tatler *A gripping novel for our times, this confirms – again – that Allende is a consummate storyteller . . . Historical fact is exquisitely interwoven with personal stories as families are displaced by war, torn apart and reunited. A stunning portrayal of love, courage and hope -- Book of the Month * Woman & Home *Both an intimate look at the relationship between one man and one woman and an epic story of love, war, family and the search for home, this gorgeous novel, like all the best novels, transports the reader to another time and place, and also sheds light on the way we live now. Isabel Allende is a legend and this might be her finest book yet -- J. Courtney Sullivan, author of 'Saints for All Occasions'Allende has everything it takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing humanity * New York Times *Like many of Allende’s books, it features strong women, displaced people and a powerful love story spanning generations . . . Allende identifies closely with the experience of upheaval that her characters endure . . . The theme of belonging runs deeper than just a sense of nationality. It is also a sense of belonging to a family, a spouse, a group of friends * Sunday Times *This is a novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time. She knows that all stories are love stories, and the greatest love stories are told by time -- Colum McCann

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Book SynopsisOliver Cromwell is one of the most important figures in British History. He was both soldier and politician and the only non-Royal ruler of Britain in a thousand years. His actions and ideas still have political and social consequences today, and his legacy still divides people. Love him or loathe him, Cromwell still matters. This book is a history of his life through the places in Britain and Ireland where he lived, visited, ruled or fought. _Following in the Footsteps of Oliver Cromwell_ begins in Huntingdon in 1599, with the respectable but unimportant Cromwell family living under the shadow of richer relatives. Civil War and Cromwell's controversial successes at Marston Moor, Naseby, Basing House and Worcester transform him into the most powerful person in Britain, saving him from obscurity and moving him from a modest house in Ely to Hampton Court Palace. Cromwell is involved in the execution of King Charles I outside the Banqueting House, his own coronation in Westminster Hall, and bloody slaughter in Ireland. His death in 1658 does not end the controversy. His enemies take revenge on his corpse and the debate about his legacy begins.

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Book SynopsisIn 1204, the great Angevin Empire created by the joining of the dynasties of Henry II of England and his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, was fragmenting. At its height, the family landholdings had been among the largest the world had ever seen. From the border of England and Scotland in the north to south of the Pyrenees, it seemed there was nowhere in Europe destined to escape Plantagenet control. Yet within five years of his accession, King John's grip on the family holdings was loosening. Betrayal against his father and brother, the murder of his nephew, and breaking promises made to his supporters were just some of the accusations levelled against him. When Philip II conquered Normandy, the chroniclers believed that an ancient prophecy was fulfilled: that in this year the sword would be separated from the sceptre. For the first time since 1066, England's rule over the ancestral land was over. For John, troubles on the continent were just the beginning of a series of challenges that would ultimately define his reign. Difficult relations with the papacy and clergy, coupled with rising dissent among his barons ensured conflict would not be limited to the continent. When John died in 1216, more than half of the country was in the hands of the dauphin of France. Never had the future of the Plantagenet dynasty looked more uncertain. As the following pages will show, throughout the first eighteen years of the reign of Henry III, the future direction of England as a political state, the identity of the ruling family and the fate of Henry II's lost empire were still matters that could have gone either way. For the advisors of the young king, led by the influential regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, the effects of John's reign would be long and severe. Successful implementation of the failed Magna Carta may have ensured his son's short-term survival, yet living up to such promises created arguably a more significant challenge. This is the story of how the varying actions of two very different kings both threatened and created the English way of life, and ultimately put England on the path to its Lost Civil War.

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Book SynopsisWhy did the Spanish Republic lose the Spanish Civil War - and could the Republic have won? These are the key questions Alexander Clifford addresses in this in-depth study of the People's Army and the critical battles of Brunete, Belchite and Teruel. These battles represented the Republic's best chance of military success, but after bitter fighting its forces were beaten back. From then on the Republic, facing the superior army of Franco and the Nationalists, aided by Germany and Italy, faced inevitable defeat. This tightly focused and perceptive account of the military history of the Republic and its army is fascinating reading. As well as providing a broad overview of the strategy and tactics of the People's Army and its Nationalist opponents, Alexander Clifford quotes vivid eyewitness testimony to give the reader a direct insight into the experience of the front-line soldiers on both sides during these three critical battles. Their recollections reveal to the reader what it was like to fight in the scorching heat of the plains around Brunete, in the shattered streets of Belchite - still ruined to this day - and in the frozen hills of Teruel.Trade ReviewWell written and offers a different perspective on the Spanish Civil War.--Balkan Wargamer The People's Army in the Spanish Civil War is exceptional, it is accessible in that it spans the divide between academic and populist publications. It can be read by anyone as the History teacher here presents the information in a way that is clear, but challenging. The chapter structure and style of writing make the reading of this volume a pleasure, the chapters are distinct units, part of a larger unit, one has the feeling of fulfilment on reaching the end of a chapter. It is usual to impose a qualification on recommendation, limiting the recommendation to a particular grouping of people. In this case this would be unnecessary, for experts on, and novices to, the topic will get something from this publication. - Tony Fox, The Battlefields Trust, March 2020 A meticulously researched analysis of the Republican and Nationalist armies... if you have a serious interest in the topic you will want to read this book. - Historical Novels Review

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Book SynopsisOn an icy winter's day in January 1649, a unique event in English history took place on a scaffold outside of Whitehall: Charles I, King of England, was executed. The king had been held to account and the Divine Right of Kings disregarded. Regicide, a once-unfathomable act, formed the basis of the Commonwealth's new dawn. The killers of the king were soldiers, lawyers, Puritans, Republicans and some simply opportunists, all brought together under one infamous banner. While the events surrounding Charles I and Cromwell are well-trodden, the lives of the other fifty-eight men - their backgrounds, ideals and motives - has been sorely neglected. Their stories are a powerful tale of revenge and a clash of beliefs; their fates determined by that one decision. When Charles II was restored he enacted a deadly wave of retribution against the men who had secured his father's fate. Some of the regicides pleaded for mercy, many went into hiding or fled abroad; others stoically awaited their sentence. This is their shocking story: the ideals that united them, and the decision that unmade them.

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Book SynopsisThe Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 underlined the importance of the sea as the supply route to both General Franco's insurgents and the Spanish Republic. There were attempted blockades by Franco as well as attacks by his Italian and German allies against legitimate neutral, largely British, merchant shipping bound for Spanish Republican ports and challenges to the Royal Navy, which was obliged to maintain a heavy presence in the area. The conflict provoked splits in British public opinion. Events at sea both created and reflected the international tensions of the latter 1930s, when the policy of appeasement of Germany and Italy dissuaded Britain from taking action against those countries' activities in Spain, except to participate in a largely ineffective naval patrol to try to prevent the supply of war material to both sides. The book is based on original documentary sources in both Britain and Spain and is intended for the general reader as well as students and academics interested in the history of the 1930s, in naval matters and in the Spanish Civil War.

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Book SynopsisIn the English-speaking world, the Spanish Civil War is perhaps best remembered through the exploits of thousands of foreign volunteers from across the globe who joined the International Brigades - a force of communists, socialists and others who took their opposition to fascism to extraordinary lengths. Their passionate political commitment to Spain's cause and determination in battle placed them among the crack troops of the Republic's People's Army. Yet while much has been written about the political, social and cultural significance of the brigades and their experience in Spain, less has been said about their performance as front-line troops. It is this military history that Alexander Clifford focuses on in vivid detail in this highly illustrated new study which reassess their impact within the Republican People's Army. His account tells the story of the brigades as combat units, tracing the course of each major battle in which they fought and showing the drastic changes they underwent as the war progressed - from an untrained militia in 1936, to the tried and tested shock troops of 1937, to a shadow of their former selves by 1938 after repeated maulings and the introduction of Spanish conscripts to fill their ranks.Trade ReviewFighting for Spain is an excellent addition to the literature on the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Accessible and well written, backed up with useful maps and images, it includes a wealth of information on the formation and composition of the Brigades and their role during the war. - Richard Baxell, Britain's leading authority on the subject and the author of the bestselling Unlikely Warriors.

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Book SynopsisThe Spanish Civil War continues to attract attention as a brutal political and military struggle which foreshadowed the wider war across Europe that followed, and it has given rise to myths that have become commonplace since the war ended eighty years ago. Few of these myths are as potent as those associated with the International Brigades, the 45,000 volunteers from many countries who travelled to Spain to fight for the Second Republic. That is why this perceptive and original study by Charles Esdaile is so valuable. Using the recorded experience of the British Brigaders as well as primary research in the Spanish archives, he thoroughly re-examines the contribution they made to the war effort against the Nationalists of General Franco. During the war the Nationalists exaggerated the importance of the International Brigades in order to demonstrate the influence of the Communists on the Republic, and the Republicans portrayed them as part of the great crusade to defend democracy. Then, after the war, surviving Brigaders tended to overstate the part they played and the sacrifices they made. The one fact that nobody would dispute was the terrible losses sustained by the volunteers. This produced an impression that they were veritable men of iron who played a key part in the fighting and helped stave off the Nationalist victory until the eve of the Second World War. By concentrating in close detail on the major battles in which the British Brigaders took part, Charles Esdaile reassesses their impact and considers whether their performance on the battlefield justifies their reputation.

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Book SynopsisAlthough also known as the Third English Civil War, the author makes it clear that this was the last war between the Scots and English as separate states. He narrates in detail the the events following the exiled King Charles II's landing in Scotland and his alliance with the Scots Covenanters, erstwhile allies of the English Parliamentarians. Cromwell's preemptive invasion of Scotland led to the Battle of Dunbar, a crushing defeat for the Scots under David Leslie, though this only unified the Scottish cause and led to the levying of the Army of the Kingdom under Charles II himself. Charles II led a desperate counter-invasion over the border, hoping to raise a royalist rebellion and forcing Cromwell to follow him, though he left Monck to complete the pacification of Scotland. Cromwell caught up with Charles II at Worcester, where the Scots/Royalist army was decisively defeated and destroyed, thousands of the prisoners being sold into slavery in the West Indies and the American colonies. This revised and updated edition contains an expanded chapter on the aftermath of the war and the fate of the POWs, drawing on major new archaeological evidence, as well as an expanded Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThe American internal war of 1861-65 was not civil. Those fighting for the Union called it the "War of the Rebellion" while the Confederacy viewed it as the "War of Yankee Aggression" or the "Second War of Independence". Armies fought great, sweeping battles over vast distances and are well recorded - Antietam, Shiloh, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg - but in the seams of the battlefield another, and much less known or publicized war raged. Both the Union and the Confederacy employed small forces of bold and highly motivated soldiers for special operations behind enemy lines. Skilled in infiltration - sometimes disguising themselves as rural mail carriers - these warriors deftly scouted deep into enemy territory, captured important personnel, disrupted lines of communication and logistics, and sowed confusion and fear. Often wearing the uniform of the enemy, they faced execution as spies if captured. Despite these risks, and in part because of them, these warriors fought and died as American rangers.

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Book Synopsis'A terrific book about a terrifying subject by the best historian of Russia working today' - Michael Burleigh, author of The Third Reich'This work of a lifetime presents high-octane, high-politcal drama' - GuardianIn Blood on the Snow, Robert Service returns to the subject that has formed the backbone of his long and distinguished career: the Russian Revolution.For Service, the great unanswered question is how to reconcile the two vital narratives that underpin the extraordinary but troubled events of 1917. One puts the blame squarely on Tsar Nicholas II and on Alexander Kerensky’s provisional government that deposed him. The other is the view from the bottom, that of the workers and peasants who wanted democratic socialism, not the Bolshevik dictatorship imposed by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and his successors.Service's vivid and revisionist account spans the period from the outbreak of the First World War to Lenin’s death in 1924. In it, he reveals that key seeds of the revolution were sown by the Tsar's decision to join the war against Germany in 1914. He shows with brutal clarity how those events played out, eventually leading to the establishment of the totalitarian Soviet regime, which would endure for the next seven decades.Nicholas II, Kerensky and Lenin are to the fore, but Service enriches his narrative by drawing on little-known diaries of those such as the Vologda peasant Alexander Zamaraev, the NCO Alexei Shtukaturov and the Moscow accounts clerk Nikita Okunev. Through the testimony of these ‘ordinary’ people, Service traces the tortuous path that Russia took through war, revolution and civil war.'This authoritative, detailed account shows how Lenin won control of Russia and caused untold misery . . . ' - The TimesTrade ReviewRobert Service’s Blood on the Snow is his masterwork, the product of decades of thought about Russia’s past. A terrific book about a terrifying subject by the best historian of Russia working today. -- Michael Burleigh, author of author of Day of the Assassins and The Third Reich: A New HistoryThis work of a lifetime presents high-octane, high-politcal drama * Guardian *Blood on the Snow crowns Robert Service’s four decades of work on the Russian Revolution and its perpetrators. * Literary Review *This authoritative, detailed account shows how Lenin won control of Russia and caused untold misery . . . Service takes a methodical approach, carefully outlining the sequence of events and always emphasising the importance of simple luck. In contrast to other authors, he lets ordinary people have their voice, through an assortment of otherwise neglected diaries. * The Times *Robert Service’s Blood on the Snow: The Russian Revolution 1914–1924 brings a new vibrancy to the history of the Revolution . . . With its short chapters and choppy sentences, and a title and jacket design that are more airport novel than academic tome, Service’s history reads like a thriller and is all the better for it. * TLS *

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Book SynopsisThe object of this volume is to present in as consecutive and comprehensive form as possible the history of the Catholic Sisterhoods in the late Civil War. Many books have been written on the work of other women in this war, but, aside from fugitive newspaper paragraphs, nothing has ever been published concerning the self-sacrificing labors of these Sisterhoods. Whatever may have been the cause of this neglect or indifference, it is evident that the time has arrived to fill this important gap in the literature of the war.

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Book SynopsisGreat Britain and the American Civil War is the telling of what the American Civil War meant to Great Britain; how she regarded it and how she reacted to it. This book is primarily a study in British history in the belief that the American drama had a world significance, and peculiarly a British one.Table of ContentsFor more information, please visit our website at:https://novapublishers.com/shop/great-britain-and-the-american-civil-war/

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Book SynopsisThis book contains rare reproductions of photographs taken during the American Civil War. It is believed to be the first time that the camera was used so extensively on the battle-field. It is the first known collection of its size on the Western Continent and it is the only witness of the scenes enacted during the greatest crisis in the annals of the American nation. It records a tragedy that neither the imagination of the painter nor the skill of the historian can so dramatically relate.Table of ContentsPreface; Original Photographs Taken on the Battlefields; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book will captivate readers interested in the legacy of the Civil War, the role of military veterans after they return to civilian life, and the fight against racism in America. Steven A. Goldman looks at the contentious post-Civil War era from the perspective of that special breed, Union soldiers who lived by the bayonet and survived to carry on the fight for equality in the decades to come. He explores the root causes of this historic contest, the changing attitudes of northern servicemen with respect to the Civil War’s purpose, and the psychological effect of involvement in what, from hindsight, was an unfinished work in the cause of freedom and equality for all Americans. Relying on unpublished letters and other primary sources, Goldman uses the veterans’ words and actions to depict their steadfast struggle to preserve the memory and understanding of why the war was fought, and to confront the implications of remembrance, commemoration and reconciliation for America's future.

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Book SynopsisThe story of a young soldier, Henry Fleming, who flees a Civil War battle, The Red Badge of Courage has been celebrated for its depiction of both the physical action of battle and the protagonist’s internal struggle. Despite the precise and vivid descriptions of the scenes of battle in his fiction, Stephen Crane was not born until six years after the war had ended and never saw military service. His novel altered the tradition of war literature in its naturalistic emphasis on a single, ordinary man facing the horrors of battle.This edition includes an important new introduction by James Nagel, author of the book Stephen Crane and Literary Impressionism and former president of the Stephen Crane Society. Historically significant reviews and commentary from the publication of the novel in 1895 are included, along with the deleted Chapter 12 from the novel. The short story “The Veteran,” in which the protagonist appears as an elderly man, is also included.Trade Review“With this insightful volume, James Nagel once again confirms his stellar reputation as one of the leading critics of American literature. From the engaging discussion of the novel’s craftsmanship, its structure and style, to the comprehensive overview of critical perspectives, Nagel’s introduction cements The Red Badge of Courage as the finest impressionistic account of the most shattering war in American history. The Appendices are valuable for its evidence of Hamlin Garland’s influence on the young writer as well as for the perceptive reviews by Crane’s contemporaries. The deleted Chapter 12, reprinted in the appendices, is an essential reference for Nagel’s inarguable conclusion that had the chapter remained, the final version of the text would not have achieved such a fine balance of form. Undoubtedly, this edition of America’s major Civil War novel will become indispensable to any serious reader of Stephen Crane.” — Olivia Carr Edenfield, Georgia Southern University“James Nagel’s edition of Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage is an authoritative, meticulous contribution. In clear, direct prose, Nagel describes the contextual and structural intricacies of the novel and guides readers through the critical tradition. Nagel’s annotations are prudent; he does not crowd Crane’s text with unnecessary or tangential information. The appendices and select bibliography are also quite valuable, providing researchers an excellent point of departure. Useful to the student as well as the specialist, this book will no doubt become a standard resource for scholars of Crane, Naturalism, and literary Impressionism.” — Robert C. Clark, University of West AlabamaTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionStephen Crane: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextThe Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil WarAppendix A: Reminiscences of Stephen Crane Hamlin Garland, “Stephen Crane: A Soldier of Fortune” (1900) Joseph Conrad, “Stephen Crane: A Note without Dates” (December 1919) Appendix B: Reviews of The Red Badge of Courage William Dean Howells, Harper’s Weekly (26 October 1895) H.B. Marriott Watson, Pall Mall Gazette (26 November 1895) Harold Frederic, The New York Times (26 January 1896) Arthur G. Sedgwick, The Nation (2 July 1896) Thomas Wentworth Higginson, “A Bit of War Photography,” The Philistine (July 1896) William Morton Payne, The Dial (1 February 1896) Appendix C: A Debate about Crane’s Novel General Alexander C. McClurg, The Dial (16 April 1896) Ripley Hitchcock, The Dial (1 May 1896) Sydney Brooks, The Dial (16 May 1896) Appendix D: The Deleted Chapter 12 of The Red Badge of CourageAppendix E: Stephen Crane, “The Veteran”Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIt's one thing to understand that over twenty-thousand Confederate and Union soldiers died at the Battle of Murfreesboro. It's quite another to study an ambrotype portrait of twenty-year-old private Frank B. Crosthwait, dressed in his Sunday best, looking somberly at the camera. In a tragically short time, he'll be found on the battlefield, mortally wounded, still clutching the knotted pieces of handkerchief he used in a hopeless attempt to stop the bleeding from his injuries. Private Crosthwait's image is one of more than 250 portraits - many never before published - to be found in the highly anticipated ""Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Tennessee in the Civil War"". The eighth in the distinguished ""Portraits of Conflict"" series, this volume joins the personal and the public to provide a uniquely rich portrayal of Tennesseans - in uniforms both blue and gray - who fought and lost their lives in the Civil War. Here is the story of a widow working as a Union spy to support herself and her children. Of a father emerging from his house to find his Confederate soldier son dying at his feet. Of a nine-year-old boy who attached himself to a union regiment after his mother died. Their stories and faces, joined with personal remembrances from recovered letters and diaries and ample historical information on secession, famous battles, surrender and Reconstruction, make this new ""Portraits of Conflict"" a Civil War treasure.Trade ReviewA major contribution and welcome addition to . . . Civil War history." —The Journal of Southern History"A sensibly priced, beautifully produced photographic history." —Civil War History"A splendid addition to the graphic literature of the sectional conflict." —Choice"We now have another window to view America's bloodiest war." —Raleigh News and Observer"A must for the shelves of any serious student of the war." —Arkansas Democrat-Gazette"Destined to become a collector's item . . . first class." —The Civil War News"Authoritative, handsome volumes of this kind are a pure delight." —Southwestern Historical Quarterly

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Book SynopsisBrother pursues brother in this heavily fought-over state. A deeply divided border state, heir to the ""Bleeding Kansas"" era, Missouri became the third most fought-over state in the war, following Virginia and Tennessee. Rich in resources and manpower, critical politically to both the Union and the Confederacy, it was the scene of conventional battles, river warfare, and cavalry raids. It saw the first combat by organized units of Native American and African Americans. It was also marked by guerrilla warfare of unparalleled viciousness. This volume, the ninth in the series, includes hundreds of photographs, many of them never before published. The authors provide text and commentary, organizing the photographs into chapters covering the origins of the war, its conventional and guerrilla phases, the war on the rivers, medicine (Sweeny's medical knowledge adds a great deal to this chapter and expands our knowledge of its practice in the west), the experiences of Missourians who served out of state, and the process of reunion in the postwar years.Trade Review"This award-winning series is a major contribution and welcome addition to Civil War history." - The Journal of Southern History "[Piston and Sweeney] bring to this work the eyes of a preeminent historian of the Trans-Mississippi and an expert in the photographic legacy of the war years.... [They] have tied photographs and stories to an overall narrative of the Civil War in Missouri. The goal [of the series] always has been to let readers grasp more fully the basic humanity of the Civil War experience. Hopefully the reader will emerge from this work with an understanding that war involves more than grand strategy and tactics, that real men and women ultimately fought, sacrificed, and often gave their lives in this great national struggle." - From the foreword by Carl Moneyhon and Bobby Roberts, general editors of the Portraits of Conflict Series"

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Book SynopsisPortraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Alabama in the Civil War is the tenth volume in this acclaimed series showing the human side of the country’s great national conflict. Over 230 photographs of soldiers and civilians from Alabama, many never seen before, are accompanied by their personal stories and woven into the larger narrative of the war both on the battlefield and the home front. Alabama is unusual among the Rebel states in that, while its people saw little fighting inside its boundaries, nearly one hundred thousand Alabamians served with Confederate units throughout the South. This volume chronicles their experiences in almost every battle east of the Mississippi River—especially at Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg under the legendary Robert E. Lee; at Murfreesboro and Chickamauga as part of the ill-fated Army of Tennessee; and at the famous siege of Vicksburg. Ultimately Union soldiers did invade the state, and Alabamians defended their homeland against enemy cavalry raiders at Selma and against Federal warships in the fight for Mobile Bay. The volume also includes accounts of some of Alabama’s leading politicians as well as several of its more ordinary citizens. This new volume contains the same quality of photography and storytelling that has attracted Civil War enthusiasts since the first volume was published in 1987, making it another welcome addition to the series Civil War History called “a sensibly priced, beautifully produced photographic history.”

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Book SynopsisThis title presents the previously unpublished record of a white doctor's service with African American troops during the Civil War. In early 1863, in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, Massachusetts began recruiting black soldiers to serve in the Civil War. Although the first regiment formed, the 54th Massachusetts, would become the best-known black regiment in the war, the second regiment raised, the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, performed equally valuable service in the Union Army. Burt Green Wilder, a Boston-born, Harvard-educated doctor-in-training, was among the first white officers commissioned to staff the 55th Massachusetts. Like other officers serving in the state's African American units, Wilder was selected for his military experience, his 'firm Anti-Slavery principles', and his faith in the value of black troops. From the time he joined the 55th in May 1863 until the regiment was discharged in September 1865, Wilder recorded his experiences and observations. He described the day-to-day activities of a Civil War surgeon, the indignities suffered by black enlisted men at the hands of a War Department that denied them the same treatment offered to white troops, and the role of the regiment in the campaign around Charleston and in Florida. Service in the southern states also allowed Wilder to indulge a passion for natural science and comparative anatomy, including the collection of unusual species, one of which - the spider known as Nephila wilderi - still bears his name. After the war he completed his medical studies at Harvard and joined the faculty of Cornell University, where he became a distinguished professor of zoology as well as an outspoken advocate of racial equality. In his introduction to the volume, Richard M. Reid analyzes Burt Wilder's diary and places it within the context of the war, the experience of African American troops, and Wilder's life and career.Trade Review"Wilder's diary is a rich text for historians of the Civil War, black troops, medicine, the South, race, and the history of American natural science. It includes detailed information on Civil War medicine, on the day-to-day experiences of a white officer in a black regiment, on the black troops themselves, and the innumerable issues (fatigue labor versus combat, discrimination in terms of equipment, pay, status, medical care) that defined life for the men of the U.S. Colored Troops. Wilder's is an important voice that needs to be heard by a broad range of scholars and students of Civil War and late nineteenth-century America." - John David Smith, editor of Black Soldiers in Blue: African American Troops in the Civil War Era"

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Book SynopsisFocusing on literary and popular poets, as well as work by women, African Americans, and soldiers, this book considers how writers used poetry to articulate their relationships to family, community, and nation during the Civil War. Faith Barrett suggests that the nationalist “we” and the personal “I” are not opposed in this era; rather they are related positions on a continuous spectrum of potential stances. For example, while Julia Ward Howe became famous for her “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” in an earlier poem titled “The Lyric I” she struggles to negotiate her relationship to domestic, aesthetic, and political stances. Barrett makes the case that Americans on both sides of the struggle believed that poetry had an important role to play in defining national identity. She considers how poets created a platform from which they could speak both to their own families and local communities and to the nations of the Confederacy, the Union, and the United States. She argues that the Civil War changed the way American poets addressed their audiences and that Civil War poetry changed the way Americans understood their relationship to the nation.

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Book SynopsisThis visually rich volume presents Harry G. Lang's groundbreaking study of deaf people's experiences in the Civil War. Based on meticulous archival research, Fighting in the Shadows reveals the stories of both ordinary and extraordinary deaf soldiers and civilians who lived during this transformative period in American history. Lang documents the participation of deaf soldiers in the war, whose personal tests of fortitude and perseverance have not been previously explored. There were also many deaf people in noncombat roles whose stories have not yet been told clerks and cooks, nurses and spies, tradespeople supporting the armies, farmers supplying food to soldiers, and landowners who assisted (or resisted) troops during battles. Deaf writers, diarists, and artists documented the war. Even deaf children contributed actively to the war efforts. Lang pieces together hundreds of stories, accompanied by numerous historical images, to reveal a powerful new perspective on the Civil War. These soldiers and civilians were not "disabled" by their deafness. On the contrary, despite the marginalization and paternalism they experienced in society, they were able to apply their skills and knowledge to support the causes in which they ardently believed. Fighting in the Shadows is a story of how deaf civilians and soldiers put aside personal concerns about deafness, in spite of the discrimination they faced daily, in order to pursue a cause larger than themselves. Yet their stories have remained in the shadows, leaving most Americans, hearing and deaf, largely unaware of the deaf people who made significant contributions to the events that changed the course of our nation's history. This book provides new insights into Deaf history as well as into mainstream interpretations of the Civil War.

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Book SynopsisMany heroic actions were taken by Hispanic soldiers who have not gotten much recognition for their efforts.

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Book SynopsisFew events in American history have been studied more closely than the Civil War, this book is an examination of the effort to chronicle it. Topics covered include battlefield operations and the impact of race and gender.

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Book SynopsisBrilliant and devout, William Porcher DuBose (1836-1918) considered himself a man of thought rather than of action. During the Civil War, he discovered that he was both, distinguishing himself as an able and courageous Confederate officer in the Holcombe Legion and later as a dedicated chaplain in Kershaw's Brigade. Published for the first time, these previously unknown letters of DuBose chronicle his Civil War actions with these two celebrated South Carolina units and make an important contribution to the literature and history of the war. They also advance our understanding of DuBose's burgeoning religious ideals as a Civil War combatant who would later become one of the foremost theologians of the Episcopal Church and a distinguished professor at the University of the South. A native of Winnsboro, South Carolina, DuBose was studying to enter the Episcopal priesthood when the war began. After struggling with the question of secular and spiritual obligations, he decided to join in the defense of the Confederacy and began a long and varied career as a soldier. After service in the lowcountry during the first year of the war, he was thrust into the thick of combat in Virginia, where he was wounded twice and taken as a prisoner of war. After being exchanged and returned to duty in 1862, DuBose was wounded again at the battle of Kinston in North Carolina, and a year later influential friends arranged for his appointment as chaplain in Kershaw's Brigade. He continued to share in the hazards of combat with the men to whom he ministered as they fought in the battles of Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Cedar Creek in 1864. Adroitly edited by W. Eric Emerson and Karen Stokes, the more than 150 letters collected here prove DuBose to be a man of uncompromising duty to his faith, fellows, and the Confederate cause. He references his interactions with prominent figures of the day, including General Nathan ""Shanks"" Evans, John L. Girardeau, John Johnson, Colonel Peter F. Stevens, General Joseph B. Kershaw, Louisa Cheves McCord, and General John Bratton. Also included here are DuBose's wartime courtship letters to his fiancée and later wife, Anne Peronneau DuBose. Collectively these extraordinary documents illustrate the workings of a mind and heart devoted to his religion and dedicated to service in the Confederate ranks.

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Book SynopsisThe battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864, was the defining event in the 292-day campaign around Petersburg, Virginia, in the Civil War and one of the most famous engagements in American military history. Although the bloody combat of that ""horrid pit"" has been recently revisited as the centerpiece of the novel and film versions of Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, the battle has yet to receive a definitive historical study. Distinguished Civil War historian Earl J. Hess fills that gap in the literature of the Civil War with Into the Crater. The Crater was central in Ulysses S. Grant's third offensive at Petersburg and required digging of a five-hundred-foot mine shaft under enemy lines and detonating of four tons of gunpowder to destroy a Confederate battery emplacement. The resulting infantry attack through the breach in Robert E. Lee's line failed terribly, costing Grant nearly four thousand troops, among them many black soldiers fighting in their first battle. The outnumbered defenders of the breach saved Confederate Petersburg and inspired their comrades with renewed hope in the lengthening campaign to possess this important rail center. In this narrative account of the Crater and its aftermath, Hess identifies the most reliable evidence to be found in hundreds of published and unpublished eyewitness accounts, official reports, and historic photographs. Archaeological studies and field research on the ground itself, now preserved within the Petersburg National Battlefield, complement the archival and published sources. Hess re-creates the battle in lively prose saturated with the sights and sounds of combat at the Crater in moment-by-moment descriptions that bring modern readers into the chaos of close range combat. Hess discusses field fortifications as well as the leadership of Union generals Grant, George Meade, and Ambrose Burnside, and of Confederate generals Lee, P. G. T. Beauregard, and A. P. Hill. He also chronicles the atrocities committed against captured black soldiers, both in the heat of battle and afterward, and the efforts of some Confederate officers to halt this vicious conduct. With fresh insights, adroit research in all manner of sources, and previously unpublished photographs and field maps, Hess takes readers into the Crater once more so that we might better understand the magnitude of this historical event, which Grant deemed ""the saddest affair I have witnessed in the War.

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Book Synopsis"Phillip Paludan has combined the findings of the social sciences with an exercise in la petite histoire to create an intriguing study. From his base point, the massacre of thirteen Unionist mountaineers at Shelton Laurel, North Carolina, the author expands the investigation to embrace larger issues, such as the impact of the Civil War on small communities, the causation and characteristics of guerrilla warfare, and the focus underlying human perversity."?Civil War History". . . the definitive history of the Shelton Laurel Massacre, but more important it is a pathbreaking study of a principal theater of the guerrilla aspect of the Civil War. Paludan has succeeded admirably in rooting a historically neglected topic in the lives of ordinary people."?Frank L. Byrne, American Historical Review"The questions Paludan asks about Shelton Laurel in 1863 are appropriate to My Lai in 1968 and Auschwitz in 1944. Victims is not only a good book; it is also an important book. And it is a profoundly disturbing book."?Emory M. Thomas, Georgia Historical Quarterly"Outwardly a superb analysis of the impact of war and war-time atrocity on the life of a remote mountain community, this slim volume harbors far-reaching implications for the study of class conflict and the modernization process in the Appalachian region."?Ron Eller, Appalachian Journal

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