Civil wars Books

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Book SynopsisIn Battle Tactics of the Civil War, Paddy Griffith argues that, far from being the first 'modern' war, it was the last 'Napoleonic' war, and that none of the innovations of industrialized warfare had any signiticant effect on the outcome. 'Provocative, challenging and intelligent. Griffith's knowledge of military history in general from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries is so wide and deep that he is able to put the Civil War into a broader context more effectively and informatively than anyone else.' James M McPherson, author of Battle Cry for Freedom.Trade ReviewProvocative, challenging and intelligent. Griffith's knowledge of military history in general from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries is so wide and deep that he is able to put the Civil War into a broader context more effectively and informatively than anyone else.' -- James M McPherson * Battle Cry of Freedom *Provides a fresh and provocative appraisal of the war ... an essential read for anyone interested in the subject. * Military Illustrated *A prize. One gets a feeling of how nineteenth-century battle worked. I highly recommend it. -- Paul A Koch * The Courier *

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Book SynopsisThis first volume of three discusses the tactical decisions made on day one and the ensuing combat, while also including a brief summary of the grand strategy in the Eastern Theater of the war, the conduct of the Pennsylvania Campaign from June 6 to 30, 1863, and the plight of civilians caught up in the conflict.The Battle of Gettysburg, which took place July 13, 1863 in and around the town of Gettysburg, PA resulted in the largest number of casualties of the entire American Civil War and is seen as the key turning point in the conflict. On its first day, Confederate General Robert E. Lee''s Army of Northern Virginia sought to destroy the Union army, forcing its men to retreat through the streets of the Pennsylvania town to the hills just to the south. This volume, the first of three to cover the battle in depth, includes the morning cavalry skirmish, the morning clash at the Herbst''s Woodlot and at the railroad cut, the afternoon clash at Oak Ridge, the afternoon fight Table of ContentsORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN CHRONOLOGY THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA OPPOSING COMMANDERS OPPOSING ARMIES Orders of battle OPPOSING PLANS THE FIRST DAY The cavalry skirmish The morning engagement Oak Ridge McPherson’s Ridge The rout of 11th Corps Seminary Ridge The retreat through town Cemetery Hill Nightfall THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY INDEX

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Book SynopsisNo historical event has left as deep an imprint on America's collective memory as the Civil War. In the war's aftermath, Americans had to embrace and cast off a traumatic past. David Blight explores the perilous path of remembering and forgetting, and reveals its tragic costs to race relations and America's national reunion.Trade ReviewThe most comprehensive and insightful study of the memory of the Civil War yet to appear…Blight tells this story in a lucid style and with an entirely appropriate measure of indignation…Race and Reunion demonstrates forcefully that…it still matters very much how we remember the Civil War. -- Eric Foner * New York Times Book Review *[This book] will strongly influence the writing of post–Civil War history for decades to come. Indeed, Race and Reunion is surely one of the four or five most important works in American history written in the past decade…Blight explains one of the most troubling questions for the understanding of American history: why it became accepted wisdom from the 1870s to the 1960s, among American historians as well as white students from grade school through college, that states’ rights, not slavery, was the cause of the Civil War or, as many Southerners have long insisted on our calling it, ‘the War Between the States.’ -- David Brion Davis * New York Review of Books *As Blight conclusively demonstrates, the United States was caught up almost immediately in a ‘tormented relationship between healing and justice,’ and the abolitionist, emancipationist view of the war’s aims quickly receded into the background…African Americans kept alive their own memories of slavery, the war and Reconstruction…but not until long after World War I did they begin to find a hearing for their grievances and yearnings. -- Jonathan Yardley * Washington Post Book World *This is a story of mammoth and tragic sweep, with consequences that are very much alive in present-day America. David Blight tells it with a passionate, soulful voice, a voice of conviction based on an intimate knowledge of a sweeping array of sources. Race and Reunion is a brilliant book. * Providence Sunday Journal *Blight’s analysis is compelling. His writing has a lyrical quality that underscores the tragic story he has to tell. This is an important book that should command a wide readership among those interested in race relations in the US. It should be required reading in Mississippi. * Times Higher Education Supplement *[Blight’s] deeply researched and carefully crafted study argues that after the war white veterans, Union and Confederate, facilitated the reconciliation of the two sections by consciously avoiding the fact that slavery had brought on the sectional conflict, choosing instead to celebrate the courage that they and their comrades had brandished in battle. Less consciously, they and their fellow Americans found this new narrative—this rewriting of history based on a kind of historical amnesia—comforting and restorative. Reunification became a joyful event, but it came at a steep price. After Reconstruction, Northerners and Southerners alike took hold of a ‘Lost Cause’ ideology that showed pity toward the South in its defeat, accepted Jim Crow policies that deprived blacks of their civil rights, and pushed for policies and practices that would ensure white supremacy across the land. Blight carefully avoids grinding axes as he makes his argument, which taken as a whole helps to explain why America today continues to wrestle with the seemingly endless and divisive issue of race…Here is a powerful book, artfully written by a scholar of learned poise who believes that by knowing the past we might better know ourselves. -- Glenn W. LaFantasie * Salon *Denying that the South fought for slavery was a key element in a decades-long ideological battle eventually settled in a devil’s bargain: reconciliation between whites North and South, purchased at the price of racial segregation…Race and Reunion is a deeply unsettling, pioneering work that raises far more questions than it can possibly answer: questions that should continue to trouble us…The myths and lies forged over a century ago still have us locked in their chains. * Philadelphia City Paper *Blight’s eclecticism and erudition make this sweeping historical saga a pleasure to read…Race and Reunion challenges us to take seriously the clashes over the Civil War’s contested legacies and symbols, which Americans continue to debate. -- Catherine Clinton * American Prospect *Blight demonstrates how, in the aftermath of the war, the needs of memory and the excessive focus on battlefield experience all but obliterated the role played by African Americans, and the promises made them. All told, this thoughtful, timely study presents a somewhat pessimistic view of the role played by the memory of this key conflict in the making of American's self-image, which, in the turn to sentiment rather than fact, lost much of its ideological integrity. -- Fionghuala Sweeney * History *One of the most fascinating and rewarding scholarly books of the past few years for the general reader with an interest in American history…Blight is scrupulously fair in his judgments. He is equally alert to the Northern white self-congratulation that inflated the legend of the Underground Railroad and the racist pretension that shaped the version of history peddled by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. He is especially alert to the way that even-handedness has served as a tool for suppressing memory of the moral issues at the heart of the Civil War by turning attention to the spectacle of combat and the bravery of the soldiers on both sides…It is a contribution to contemporary politics and culture that deserves a wide audience. -- Thomas J. Brown, author of Civil War CanonThis book effectively traces both the growth and development of what became, by the turn of the twentieth century and the debut of The Birth of a Nation, the dominant racist representation of the Civil War. A major work of American history, this volume’s documentation of the active and exceedingly articulate voices of protest against this inaccurate and unjust imagining of history is just one of its accomplishments. * Publishers Weekly *Blight has distilled a mass of historical material into an impressive, clearly written volume that…reads well and rings true. * Kirkus Reviews *Blight traces America’s tragic pursuit of national reunification and reconciliation after the Civil War at the expense of the conflict’s emancipationist legacy. He ponders such threats to this legacy as Lost Cause myths, fading and sometimes revisionist veteran recollections, financial panics and commercial greed, political scandals, ‘loyal’ slave narratives, urbanization and industrialization, and the emotionally charged rituals of war-related celebration days among others. The author resurrects the voices and prose of African American activists who fought to preserve the emancipationist legacy in an indifferent, even hostile, milieu. * Library Journal *Blight recounts the strong tide in the post-war years for ‘reunion on Southern terms’…Freed blacks suffered the consequence of the ascendance of a sentimental view of the war and amnesia about its central issue. -- Gilbert Taylor * Booklist *Table of Contents* Prologue *1. The Dead and the Living *2. Regeneration and Reconstruction *3. Decoration Days *4. Reconstruction and Reconciliation *5. Soldiers' Memory *6. Soldiers' Faith *7. The Literature of Reunion and Its Discontents *8. The Lost Cause and Causes Not Lost *9. Black Memory and Progress of the Race *10. Fifty Years of Freedom and Reunion * Epilogue * Notes * Acknowledgments * Index

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Book SynopsisA set of wargaming rules for fighting large battles set during the American Civil War.From the First Bull Run to Appomattox Court House, enter one of the defining conflicts of American history. With shot, shell, and sabre, guide the armies of the Blue and the Grey through this first modern war to determine the fate of a nation.With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is a large-scale, mass-battle wargame for recreating the American Civil War. Designed to handle brigade and divisional level engagements while providing a balance between ease of play and period detail, With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is ideal for new gamers and wargaming veterans alike. It contains everything players need to raise armies and craft scenarios, whether based upon historical campaigns and orders of battle or those of their own devising.

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Book SynopsisThis book describes and illustrates the uniforms and personal equipment of the troops fielded by the Midwestern and Western states that fought for the Union during the Civil War. During the American Civil War, the United States Army, pitted against the forces of the fledgling Confederacy, fought to defend and preserve the Union during five long years of bitter conflict. As the war continued into 1862 and beyond, both sides mobilized huge numbers of troops, necessitating a massive expansion of military logistics in order to clothe, equip and feed the soldiers as they fought on a variety of fronts, from California to Virginia.This volume, the third in a three-part study, describes and illustrates the uniforms, insignia and personal equipment of the soldiers fielded by the Midwestern and Western states for the Union cause. While the majority of these troops were infantry, substantial numbers of artillery, cavalry and other specialists such as riflemen and enginee

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Book SynopsisThis is a fascinating fast-paced study on the politics of command, human nature, and the stress of war, and how it all combined to influence the outcome of the Civil War's most important campaign.

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Book SynopsisThe story of the Stuart dynasty is a breathless soap opera played out in just a hundred years in an array of buildings that span Europe from Scotland, via Denmark, Holland and Spain to England.Life in the court of the House of Stuart has been shrouded in mystery: the first half of the century overshadowed by the fall and execution of Charles I, the second half in the complete collapse of the House itself. Lost to time is the extraordinary contribution the Stuarts made to the fabric of sovereignty.Every palace they built, painting they commissioned, or artwork they acquired was a direct reflection of the lives that they led and the way that they thought. Palaces of Revolution explores this rich history in graphic detail, giving a unique insight into the lives of this famous dynasty. It takes us from Royston and Newmarket, where James I appropriated most of the town centre as a sort of rough-and-ready royal housing estate, to the steamy Turkish baths at Whitehall where Charles II seducedTrade Review‘Simon Thurley may be congratulated on a splendid achievement, which serves several different branches of history at once, as well as those who appreciate a clear and lively literary style … An important addition to knowledge’ Ronald Hutton, Times Literary Supplement ‘A hugely impressive, readable book that covers its broad canvas with assurance … Thoughtfully illustrated and furnished with plans of the buildings, itself a huge accomplishment.’ John Goodall, Country Life ‘In his admirably readable new book, Simon Thurley, who probably knows more about the palaces of the 16th and 17th centuries than anyone alive, has written a chronological survey of the royal residences of the Stuarts, a period of just over 100 years. You almost can read it as an alternative history of the dynasty … Lively and authoritative’ Andrew Taylor, The Times ‘Palaces of Revolution is far more than just a history book … The author’s knowledge … is unprecedented, elevating the historical survey into an alternative reading of the Stuart Dynasty … one only has to read this book to hear the walls talking. From secret seductions to fierce fighting, Thurley writes with great detail, invigorating the historical narratives we know and presenting new stories’ The Scottish Field ‘There can be few as well-placed to write about the buildings associated with the Stuart monarchy as Simon Thurley … This book – engagingly written and beautifully illustrated – is a comprehensive account of those achievements, and of the role that buildings played in the political life of early modern Britain.’ Historic House magazine ‘The culmination of nearly 30 years of research, [Palaces of Revolution] takes us back in time to bring these “hollow citadels of ceremony” and those who occupied them to life once again.’ Apollo

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Book Synopsis''No two nations have ever existed on the face of the earth which could do each other so much good or so much harm''President Buchanan, State of the Nation Address, 1859A World on Fire tells, with extraordinary sweep, one of the least known great stories of British and American history. As America descended into Civil War, British loyalties were torn between support for the North, which was against slavery, and defending the South, which portrayed itself as bravely fighting for its independence. Rallying to their respective causes, thousands of Britons went to America as soldiers - fighting for both Union and Confederacy - racing ships through the Northern blockades, and as observers, nurses, adventurers, guerillas and spies. At the heart of this international conflict lay a complicated and at times tortuous relationship between four individuals: Lord Lyons, the painfully shy British Ambassador in Washington; William Seward, the blustering US Secretary of State; Charles Francis Adams, the dry but fiercely patriotic U.S. ambassador in London; and the restless and abrasive Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell. Despite their efforts, and sometimes as a result of them, America and Britain came within a whisker of declaring war on each other twice in four years. The diplomatic story is only one element in this gloriously multifaceted book. Using a wealth of previously unpublished letters and journals, Amanda Foreman gives fresh accounts of Civil War battles by seeing them through the eyes of British journalists and myriad soldiers on both sides, from flamboyant cavalry commanders to forcibly conscripted private soldiers. She also shows how the War took place in England, from the Confederacy''s secret ship-building programme in Liverpool to the desperate efforts of its propagandists and emissaries - male and female - to influence British public opinion. She even shows how one of the most famous set-piece naval encounters of the War was fought, remarkably, in the English Channel. Foreman tells this epic yet intimate story of enormous personalities, tense diplomacy and torn loyalties as history in the round, captivating her readers with the experience of total immersion in this titanic conflict.Trade ReviewAmanda Foreman's magnificent book provides a completely fresh perspective on the first great modern conflict. Weaving together a vast panoply of people and events, it dramatically brings alive this extraordinary period on British and American history -- Antony BeevorAmbitiously conceived, impressively researched and gracefully written, Amanda Foreman has crafted a narrative rich in detail, anecdote, insight and personalities. It puts a human face - many human faces - on a brutal conflict remorselessly descending into an inhuman total war -- Brian JenkinsA tour de force, a work of extreme virtuosity both in the research and the telling * Bloomberg News *

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Book SynopsisThe unforgettable saga of one enslaved woman''s fight for justice--and reparations Born into slavery, Henrietta Wood was taken to Cincinnati and legally freed in 1848. In 1853, a Kentucky deputy sheriff named Zebulon Ward colluded with Wood''s employer, abducted her, and sold her back into bondage. She remained enslaved throughout the Civil War, giving birth to a son in Mississippi and never forgetting who had put her in this position. By 1869, Wood had obtained her freedom for a second time and returned to Cincinnati, where she sued Ward for damages in 1870. Astonishingly, after eight years of litigation, Wood won her case: in 1878, a Federal jury awarded her $2,500. The decision stuck on appeal. More important than the amount, though the largest ever awarded by an American court in restitution for slavery, was the fact that any money was awarded at all. By the time the case was decided, Ward had become a wealthy businessman and a pioneer of convict leasing in the South. Wood''s son later became a prominent Chicago lawyer, and she went on to live until 1912. McDaniel''s book is an epic tale of a black woman who survived slavery twice and who achieved more than merely a moral victory over one of her oppressors. Above all,Sweet Taste of Libertyis a portrait of an extraordinary individual as well as a searing reminder of the lessons of her story, which establish beyond question the connections between slavery and the prison system that rose in its place.Trade ReviewDeeply researched and show[s] commendable detective work... Demonstrate[s] the riches awaiting us in narrating the hitherto untold and complex stories of slavery and emancipation in the United States. * Times Literary Supplement *The reader not only follows the fascinating narrative of a woman who lost her freedom, but also learns of the intricacies of slavery in a border state like Kentucky, the pain of separation from loved ones, and the ordeals of being sold "down the river," surviving on a large cotton plantation, and being an enslaved refugee in Texas during the Civil War... It is an enlightening account from the point of view of an enslaved woman about the arduous trip — and the subsequent years — that many enslaved people were forced to endure by their masters to avoid their being liberated by Union armies... [McDaniel] has turned these into a captivating account of this period, revealing how the legal and economic aspects of the institution of slavery interacted in very personal and human ways with those who were kept enslaved. * Angela Boswell, Professor of History at Henderson State University, Southwestern Historical Quarterly *As a whole, Sweet Taste of Liberty is the fruit of excellent scholarship and a timely and significant addition to the field of U.S. racial history. * Ken Chujo, J.F. Oberlin University, Tokyo, The Journal of Southern History *Table of ContentsPrologue Part I - The Worst Slave of Them All Chapter 1: The Crossing Chapter 2: Touseytown Chapter 3: Down River Chapter 4: Ward's Return Chapter 5: Cincinnati Chapter 6: The Plan Chapter 7: The Flight Part II - Forks of the Road Chapter 8: Raising a Muss Chapter 9: Wood versus Ward Chapter 10: The Keeper Chapter 11: Natchez Chapter 12: Brandon Hall Chapter 13: Versailles Chapter 14: Revolution Chapter 15: The March Part III - The Return of Henrietta Wood Chapter 16: Arthur Chapter 17: Robertson County Chapter 18: Dawn and Doom Chapter 19: Nashville Chapter 20: A Rather Interesting Case Chapter 21: Story of a Slave Chapter 22: The Verdict Epilogue Acknowledgements Appendix: An Essay on Sources Notes Index

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Book SynopsisAllen C. Guelzo's Reconstruction: A Concise History is a gracefully-written interpretation of Reconstruction as a spirited struggle to re-integrate the defeated Southern Confederacy into the American Union after the Civil War, to bring African Americans into the political mainstream of American life, and to recreate the Southern economy after a Northern, free-labor model.Trade ReviewAllen C. Guelzo's Reconstruction: A Concise History is a streamlined overview of the era by one of the major historians of the Civil War period. In this succinct but informative work, Mr. Guelzo traces the course of Reconstruction over time - its troublesome political and legal path - and helps us grasp both what it accomplished and why it failed. * Wall Street Journal *A well-balanced assessment of the achievements and lost opportunities of an era, Allen Guelzo's Reconstruction: A Concise History is a solid introduction to the topic. It's also a fitting gateway for those curious enough to want to investigate the more in-depth treatments of all kinds that populate the modern Reconstruction bookshelf. * Civil War Books and Authors *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: Vengeance, April-December 1865 Chapter Two: Alienation, December 1865-1867 Chapter Three: Arrogance, March 1867-May 1868 Chapter Four: Resistance, May 1868-March 1869 Chapter Five: Distraction, March 1869-May 1872 Chapter Six: Law, 1866-1876 Chapter Seven: Dissension, September 1872-April 1877 Epilogue Timeline Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA provocative and propulsive look at American history, and the myth that the Civil War's "new birth of freedom" ended oligarchy. It just moved westward.Trade ReviewIt should be required reading for this particular moment in American politics. * Thomas Zimmer, The Guardian *Richardson's clear prose makes this book incredibly lively and accessible. * Joseph Angelillo, ALPATA: A Journal of History *Heather Cox Richardson, a professor of history at Boston College, explains Goldwater's crusade and the trajectory of modern conservatism in her masterful How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America. A timely book, it sheds light on what was perhaps the most important political coalition of the 20th century. * The Washington Post *Good revisionist history jars you, forces you to look at the past in a new way, and thereby transforms your view of the present. Heather Cox Richardson is a master of the genre, to the benefit of us all. Even those who take issue with her will be forced by this powerful book to come to terms with aspects of our past that we often just sweep under the rug of memory. * E.J. Dionne, Jr., author of Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country *In a tour de force, Richardson exposes the philosophical connective tissue that runs from John C. Calhoun, to Barry Goldwater, to Donald Trump. It's not party, it's a complex ideology that has swaddled white supremacy and its political, legal, economic, and physical violence in the language of freedom and rugged individualism, and, in doing so, repeatedly slashed a series of self-inflicted wounds on American democracy. * Carol Anderson, Emory University, author of One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy *The themes are broad and the implications mighty, but this isn't history from on high. Richardson uses a human lens to tell her tale, revealing the passions and power-plays that have sustained this battle for dominance. The end result is something rare and invaluable: a skilled work of history, deeply grounded in the past, that speaks loudly, clearly, and crucially to the present. * Joanne Freeman, Yale University, author of The Field Of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War *What the great books do is retell history in a way that creates a deepened and clarified connection between what was an what is. I love this book. For anyone seeking to understand how we got here, and where we're likely bound, this is a must-read. * Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Price of Loyalty and A Hope in the Unseen *If you want to understand this moment in American politics, here's a suggestion for you: It's the must-read book of the year. * Bill Moyers, Moyers on Democracy *Heather Cox Richardson's skill with connecting events into a cohesive narrative is on full display in this brilliant study...This book speaks to the heart of life in the United States and should be in every private, public, and school library. * Deborah M. Liles, Southwestern Historical Quarterly *... Richardson suggested that her most recent book, How the South Won the Civil War, was her "smartest". There is no doubt that it is, at the very least, her most ambitious. * Catherine McNicol Stock, Connecticut College, The Annals of Iowa *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: The Triumph of Equality Chapter Two: The Significance of the West in American History Chapter Three: Reconstructing America Chapter Four: The Search for Electoral Votes Chapter Five: The West and the South Join Forces Chapter Six: The Post World War II West 1951-1980 Chapter Seven: The Rise of Movement Conservatism Conclusion: The Nature of America

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for HistoryIn this magisterial biography, T. J. Stiles paints a portrait of Custer both deeply personal and sweeping in scope, proving how much of Custer’s legacy has been ignored. He demolishes Custer’s historical caricature, revealing a capable yet insecure man, intelligent yet bigoted, passionate yet self-destructive, a romantic individualist at odds with the institution of the military (court-martialed twice in six years) and the new corporate economy, a wartime emancipator who rejected racial equality. Stiles argues that, although Custer was justly noted for his exploits on the western frontier, he also played a central role as both a wide-ranging participant and polarizing public figure in his extraordinary, transformational time—a time of civil war, emancipation, brutality toward Native Americans, and, finally, the Industrial Revolution—even as he became one of its casualties. Intimate, dramatic, and pro

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Book SynopsisThe American Civil War: A Literary and Historical Anthology brings together a wide variety of important writings from the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, including short fiction, poetry, public addresses, memoirs, and essays, accompanied by detailed annotations and concise introductions.Now in a thoroughly revised second edition, this slimmer volume has been revamped to: Emphasize a diversity of perspectives on the war Showcase more women writers Expand the number of Southern voices Feature more soldiers'' testimony Provide greater historical context. With selections from Louisa May Alcott, Walt Whitman, Sidney Lanier, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Kate Chopin, and many more, Ian Finseth's careful arrangement of texts remains an indispensable resource for readers who seek to understand the impact of the Civil War on the culture of the United States. The American Civil War rTrade Review"There was no dominant voice of the Civil War epoch. As The American Civil War: A Literary and Historical Anthology reveals, Northerners and Southerners of all social classes and racial backgrounds refused to be silent about their experiences. Each group wrote about the trauma and triumphs of organized killing with great imagination, showing that there was no one "real war," but many "real wars." And undoubtedly Walt Whitman would be pleased to see all of these perspective collected in a single book, skillfully edited by Ian Frederick Finseth, whose cast of Civil War writers puts to rest the myth that war is incommunicable." – Peter S. Carmichael, Fluhrer Professor of History, Gettysburg College"In this second edition, Ian Finseth builds on the strengths of his remarkable volume: the selections reflect the richly complex field of Civil War scholarship, while remaining highly accessible to new students, and offering an important pedagogical tool for instructors. The volume captures a diversity of perspectives on the Civil War, and impresses on us the important role literature, across genres, played during the conflict. We not only understand the literature of the Civil War in reading the anthology; we come to realize that we cannot fully grasp the lived experience of the Civil War unless we study its literature. Well-organized and thoughtfully annotated, Finseth’s volume reflects careful scholarship and pedagogical engagement at their best." – Colleen G. Boggs, Associate Professor of English, Dartmouth College"Expertly compiled and deftly edited... A welcome and highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Civil War Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists." – The Midwest Book Review, June 2013"This book does a superb job as a literary anthology about the American Civil War." - The Lone Star Book ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Written War I. ORIGINS II. BATTLEFIELDSIII. AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCEIV. THE HOME FRONTV. RECONSTRUCTING The Writers Glossary

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Book SynopsisThe appalling effects of civil war are often suffered most horrifically by the ordinary men, women and children involuntarily caught up in it, as it tears asunder the very fabric of their lives. Such was the fate of the citizens of Chester, who for almost four years found themselves at the centre of the battle between King and Parliament. Chester''s inhabitants withstood the terrors of bombardment and the rigours of starvation, in one of the most fiercely contested sieges of the Civil War. Using myriad contemporary sources it is possible for the first time to present a detailed picture of the part played in the siege by the ''common sort'', the ''forgotten voices'' of Chester: ordinary citizens forced by their employers to enlist in the City Regiment, their brutal introduction to the realities of war and their gallant defence of Chester.

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Book SynopsisFocuses on works that expand the parameters of US foreign relations. This work also focuses on such areas as identity formation and projection, borderlands studies, comparative history, and cultural transfer. It offers a provocative reinterpretation of Civil War - era diplomacy.Trade Review"Phillip E. Myers's Caution and Cooperation places Anglo-American relations during the Civil War within the broader context of the whole nineteenth century, arguing convincingly for the lack of any real chance of British intervention on the side of the Confederacy and dating the end-of-the-century Anglo-American rapprochement back about three decades. Based on extensive research in the United States and Great Britain, this major reinterpretation of the transatlantic special relationship is 'international history' in its truest sense." - Mary Ann Heiss, Editor, New Studies in Foreign Relations Series"

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Book SynopsisIn Nigeria's un-Civil War: Memories of a Biafran Child, Philip Effiong reveals the many characters of war: the horror and the chaos, the surrealism and the absurdity and the desperate need to conjure a semblance of normalcy against a backdrop of air raids, starvation and massacre.

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Book SynopsisThe story of the Anarchy from the unique perspective of the two women at the centre of the struggle for the crown.Trade Review'This is a fascinating story that will appeal to anyone with an interest in the power plays of the medieval world.' -- All About History Magazine, February 2024'I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gives an in depth account of The Anarchy, with background - the sinking of the White Ship is described in the prologue - and chapters on the next generation and the founding of the Angevin dynasty, so all in all this is a rounded study of the period, but always the emphasis is on the women and the parts they played. Couple this with the author's readable style, and it's a book which informs and entertains.' -- Reads, Writes, Reviews, January 2024'This book is rich in details and is so well written as Connolly takes the time to distinguish between the Matildas, which there are quite a few in this book, and explain how the conflict started and finally how it was concluded. I think if you want a fabulous book about the Anarchy and the women who defined this period, I highly recommend you check out, “Women of the Anarchy” by Sharon Bennett Connolly.' -- Adventures of a Tudor Nerd, January 2024'Connolly's writing is both engaging and informative, making this book a compelling read for anyone interested in the Anarchy and the remarkable women who defined this pivotal era in English history.' -- Medieval Latin, January 2024

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Book SynopsisExamines the racially inclusive vision of America's first abolition movement. In showcasing the activities of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, the New York Manumission Society, and their African American allies during the post-Revolutionary era, Paul Polgar unearths this coalition's comprehensive agenda for black freedom and equality.

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Book SynopsisAt the outset of the American Civil War, the Union Army''s sharpshooters were initially equipped with the M1855 Colt revolving rifle, but it was prone to malfunction. Instead, the North's sharpshooters preferred the Sharps rifle, an innovative breech-loading weapon capable of firing up to ten shots per minute more than three times the rate of fire offered by the standard-issue Springfield .58-caliber rifled musket. Other Union sharpshooters were equipped with the standard-issue Springfield rifled musket or the .56-56-caliber Spencer Repeating Rifle.Conversely, the Confederacy favoured the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket for its sharpshooters and also imported from Britain the Whitworth Rifle, a .45-caliber, single-shot, muzzle-loading weapon distinguished by its use of a twisted hexagonal barrel. Featuring specially commissioned artwork, this is the engrossing story of the innovative rifles that saw combat in the hands of sharpshooters on both sides during the Civil War.

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Book SynopsisThe bombing of Guernica has become a symbol of Nazi involvement in the Spanish Civil War, but the extent of the German commitment is often underestimated. The Luftwaffe sent 20,000 officers and men to Spain from 1936 to 1939, and the Condor Legion carried out many missions in support of the Spanish Nationalist forces and played a lead role in many key campaigns of the war. Aircraft that would play a significant role in the combat operations of World War II (the Heinkel 11 bomber, the Me 109 fighter, and others) saw their first action in Spain, fighting against the modern Soviet fighters and bombers that equipped the Republican Air Force. Condor Legion bombers attacked Republican logistics and transport behind the lines as well as bombing strategic targets, German bombers and fighters provided highly effective close air support for the front-line troops, and German fighters and anti-aircraft units ensured Nationalist control of the air. The experience garnered in Spain was vTable of ContentsOrigins Chronology Attacker's Capabilities Defender's Capabilities The Campaign Assessment Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis The American Republic''s founders debated whether to have a government based on direct democracy (in which the general population decided public policy questions, as in a New England town meeting) or representative democracy (in which those decisions were made by senators and congressmen on behalf of the general population). A related issue was whether the general population should have the right of instruction which gave citizens authority to expel from office government officials who disobeyed the desires of the population. The right of instruction is now largely forgotten but in former times was considered so important that it was routinely included in state constitutions. This book examines the competition between direct democracy and representative democracy in the United States, focusing particularly on the doctrine of instruction, through the lens of the pre-presidential career of Abraham Lincoln.Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface Part 1. Instruction Part 2. Election of Senators by State Legislatures Part 3. Lincoln's Experiences with U.S. Senate Campaigns Epilogue: A Modest Proposal Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFrom the moment it began in 1936, the Spanish Civil War became the political question of the age. Hitler and Mussolini quickly sent aircraft, troops and supplies to the right-wing generals bent on overthrowing Spain's elected government. Millions of people around the world felt passionately that rapidly advancing fascism must be halted in Spain; if not there, where? More than 35,000 volunteers from dozens of other countries went to help defend the Spanish Republic.Adam Hochschild, the acclaimed author of King Leopold's Ghost, evokes this tumultuous period mainly through the lives of Americans involved in the war. A few are famous, such as Ernest Hemingway, but others are less familiar. They include a nineteen-year-old Kentucky woman, a fiery leftist who came to wartime Spain on her honeymoon; a young man who ran away from his Pennsylvania college and became the first American casualty in the battle for Madrid; and a swashbuckling Texas oilman who covertly violated US law and sold Generalissimo Francisco Franco most of the fuel for his army. Two New York Times reporters, fierce rivals, covered the war from opposite sides, with opposite sympathies. There are Britons in Hochschild's cast of characters as well: one, a London sculptor, fought with the American battalion; another, who had just gone down from Cambridge, joined Franco's army and found himself fighting against the Americans; and a third is someone whose experience of combat in Spain had a profound effect on his life, George Orwell.Trade ReviewHochschild’s contribution lies in the storytelling, his sure command of military history, and his beautiful sense of private hurt, which together yield original insight. An astute observer of contrasts, he navigates the hairpin turns between intimacy and barbarism, euphoria and despair, naivety and cynicism. The book effortlessly hopscotches from global history to individual – and emotional – experience. -- Rich Benjamin * Guardian *While Hochschild focuses on volunteers such as Berg, he doesn't ignore the war's local dynamic and global dimensions. What makes the book so effective, however, is his decision to explore these complexities through a set of interwoven biographies . . . Hochschild tells nuanced tales of political awakenings and disillusionment, but also steadfast ethical commitment. He never descends into easy moralising. * BBC History Magazine *Beautifully written with a hawk-eye for the telling anecdote, Spain in Our Hearts constitutes an endlessly fascinating and utterly unputdownable survey of the war to defend democracy in Spain that was not only the first act of the Second World War but also, for many across the world, the last great cause. -- Paul Preston, author of The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and RevengeSpain in Our Hearts is narrative non-fiction at its very best. Hochschild's achievement is to make this trial-by-combat story come alive, as if it were happening now. It is impossible for a reader not to identify and feel compassion for those sons and daughters of America who risked and often gave their lives for a cause that could not ultimately prevail against the darker forces of Franco, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin - and Texaco. A seamlessly-woven, unputdownable tapestry of war in Europe; intensely, unforgettably moving. -- Nigel Hamilton, author of The Mantle of CommandAdam Hochschild weaves a brilliant tapestry of colorful characters into a story that includes the young Ernest Hemmingway, the charismatic Robert Merriman, the scotch-drinking Milly Bennett, the glamorous reporter Virginia Cowles, and dozens of other Americans whose lives were dramatically altered by the Spanish Civil War. Hochschild's poignant narrative evokes E.L. Doctorow's great historical novel Ragtime-but Spain in Our Hearts is no novel but a tragic true story about a critical tipping point in the 20th century's slide into total warfare. Passionate, evocative, and gracefully written -- Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good SpyGeorge Orwell once explained that going to Spain, in 1936, 'seemed the only conceivable thing to do.' As soon as he got there, the right thing to do got a lot less clear. And how to write about it was immediately difficult, too. The twenty-eight hundred Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War felt the same way, as Adam Hochschild recounts in this rich and fascinating book. Few writers grapple so powerfully with the painful moral and ethical choices of past actors as does Hochschild, who brings to Spain in Our Hearts his exceptional talents - and his moral seriousness - as a reporter, as a historian, and as a writer. -- Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder WomanIn this beautifully written portrait of Americans caught up in the Spanish Civil War, Adam Hochschild brings to brilliant life the heroism and horror of that fratricidal conflict. His account of the David-and-Goliath fight between the ragtag army of idealistic, pro-democracy volunteers and the mechanized, murderous forces of Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini is one of the most powerful narratives I have ever read. -- Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London[An] excellent portrait of the war and of the men and women drawn to Spain ... It is Hochschild's vivid account of what these people witnessed that gives his book its edge. Many other writers have described the Americans who went to Spain, but few have brought to their accounts such an enjoyable and balanced mixture of history and personal narrative ... Hochschild is good at conveying the barbarity on both sides without letting it swamp the story ... fascinating. -- Caroline Moorehead * Literary Review *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Maps Section - ii: Author's Note Introduction - iii: Prologue: Far from Home Chapter - 1: Chasing Moneychangers from the Temple Chapter - 2: Promised Land, Black Wings Chapter - 3: "Those Who Do Not Think as We Do" Chapter - 4: A New Heaven and Earth Chapter - 5: "I Will Destroy Madrid" Chapter - 6: "Don't Try to Catch Me" Chapter - 7: Rifles from the 1860s Chapter - 8: Over the Mountains Chapter - 9: Civil War at the Times Chapter - 10: The Man Who Loved Dictators Chapter - 11: Devil's Bargain Chapter - 12: "I Don't Think I Would Write about That If I Were You" Chapter - 13: "As Good a Method of Getting Married as Any Other" Chapter - 14: Texaco Goes to War Chapter - 15: "In My Book You'll Be an American" Chapter - 16: "A Letter to My Novia" Chapter - 17: "Only a Few Grains of Sand Left in the Hourglass" Chapter - 18: At the River's Edge Chapter - 19: A Change of Heart? Chapter - 20: Gambling for Time Chapter - 21: The Taste of Tears Chapter - 22: Kaddish Acknowledgements - iv: Acknowledgements Section - iv: Notes Section - v: Bibliography Section - vi: Photo Credits Index - vii: Index Acknowledgements - viii: Permissions Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisA Times Literary Supplement Book of the YearA riveting account of a forgotten holocaust: the slaughter of over one hundred thousand Ukrainian Jews in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. In the Midst of Civilized Europe repositions the pogroms as a defining moment of the twentieth century.‘Exhaustive, clearly written, deeply researched’ - The Times‘A meticulous, original and deeply affecting historical account’ - Philippe Sands, author of East West StreetBetween 1918 and 1921, over a hundred thousand Jews were murdered in Ukraine by peasants, townsmen, and soldiers who blamed the Jews for the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. In hundreds of separate incidents, ordinary people robbed their Jewish neighbours with impunity, burned down their houses, ripped apart their Torah scrolls, sexually assaulted them, and killed them. Largely forgotten today, these pogroms – ethnic riots – dominated headlines and international affairs in their time. Aid workers warned that six million Jews were in danger of complete extermination. Twenty years later, these dire predictions would come true.Drawing upon long-neglected archival materials, including thousands of newly discovered witness testimonies, trial records, and official orders, acclaimed historian Jeffrey Veidlinger shows for the first time how this wave of genocidal violence created the conditions for the Holocaust. Through stories of survivors, perpetrators, aid workers, and governmental officials, he explains how so many different groups of people came to the same conclusion: that killing Jews was an acceptable response to their various problems.Trade ReviewVeidlinger’s book ranks alongside Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands in forcing our eyes eastwards. It is deeply researched and masterfully written, with a cool restraint that only intensifies its power. It reminded me of Faulkner’s line that “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” -- Patrick Bishop * The Sunday Telegraph *[An] exhaustive, clearly written, deeply researched story of events in a time and place most of us know nearly nothing about - the pogroms of 1918-21 in Ukraine and Poland . . . [an] imortant and scholalry book. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *We now know much more about the pogroms of 1918–21 because of Veidlinger’s painstaking research . . . he has succeeded in shining a bright scholarly light on a much less well-known attempt to exterminate European Jews two decades before the Holocaust. In its thoroughness and controlled passion, In the Midst of Civilized Europe is descriptive history at its best. -- David N Myers * Literary Review *Superbly researched . . . Jeffrey Veidlinger askes big historical questions that will change our understanding of the relation between pogroms immediately after the First World War and the Holocaust, barely twenty years later. -- David Herman * TLS *Revelatory . . . Veidlinger’s crisp prose and extensive research makes the scale of the tragedy immediate and devastating. This is a vital addition to understanding how the Holocaust happened. * Publishers Weekly *Chilling . . . unequivocal . . . A vital history that draws a direct line from Eastern European antisemitic violence to the Holocaust. * Kirkus Reviews *No history of that Jewish catastrophe comes close to the virtuosity of research, clarity of prose, and power of analysis of this extraordinary book. -- Timothy Snyder, author of BloodlandsThis brilliant account of the bloody pogroms, which were perpetrated in Ukraine during the Russian Revolution, represents an important advance on a neglected subject. -- Norman Davies, author of God's Playground, Europe: A History and Vanished KingdomsA work of singular importance: a meticulous, original and deeply affecting historical account, one that provides new insights into the conditions that catalyzed mass-murder on an industrial scale. -- Philippe Sands, author of East West StreetCompelling and well-written, the book will find a broad audience. This is a story that needs to be told. -- Ronald Grigor Suny, author of Stalin: Passage to RevolutionIn this deeply learned but highly readable book, Veidlinger demonstrates how the all-but-forgotten pogroms in the collapsing Russian Empire in 1918–21 set precedents for the horrors that were to follow just two decades later. -- Zvi Gitelman, author of A Century of Ambivalence

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Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of the First World War, a political revolution took place in what was then the United Kingdom. Such upheavals were common in postwar Europe, as new states came into being and new borders were forged. What made the revolution in the UK distinctive is that it took place within one of the victor powers, rather than any of their defeated enemies. In the years after the Easter Rising of 1916 in Ireland, a new independence movement had emerged, and in 1918-19 the political party Sinn F in and its paramilitary partner, the Irish Republican Army, began a political struggle and an armed uprising against British rule. By 1922 the United Kingdom has lost a very substantial portion of its territory, as the Irish Free State came into being amidst a brutal Civil War. At the same time Ireland was partitioned and a new, unionist government was established in what was now Northern Ireland. These were outcomes that nobody could have predicted before 1914\. In _The Irish War of Independence and Civil War_, experts on the subject explore the experience and consequences of the latter phases of the Irish revolution from a wide range of perspectives.

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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 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 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 diminutive Union XII Corps found significant success on the field at Antietam. Its soldiers swept through the East Woods and the Miller Cornfield, permanently clearing both of Confederates, repelled multiple Southern assaults against the Dunker Church plateau, and eventually secured a foothold beyond the Dunker Church in the West Woods. This important piece of high ground had been the Union objective all morning, and its occupation threatened the center and rear of Gen. Robert E. Lee's embattled Army of Northern Virginia. Federal leadership largely ignored this signal achievement and the opportunity it presented. The XII Corps' achievement is especially notable given its string of disappointments and hardships in the months leading up to Antietam. Cedar Mountain to Antietam: A Civil War Campaign History of the Union XII Corps, July – September 1862 by M. Chris Bryan is the story of the formation of this often luckless command as the II Corps in Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia on June 26, 1862. Bryan explains in meticulous detail how the corps came within a whisker of inflicting a crushing defeating against Maj. Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson at Cedar Mountain on August 9, suffered through the hardships of Pope's campaign before and after the Battle of Second Manassas, and its resurgence after entering Maryland and joining the reorganized Army of the Potomac. The men of this small corps, who would later wear a five-pointed star as their insignia, went on to earn a solid reputation in the Army of the Potomac at Antietam that would only grow during the battles of 1863.Bryan's study, a hybrid unit history and leadership and character assessment, puts the XII Corps' actions in proper context by providing significant and substantive treatment to its Confederate opponents. His unique study, based on extensive archival research, newspapers, and other important resources, is a compelling story of a little-studied yet consequential corps and fills a gaping historiographical gap that has longed needed to be filled.

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Book SynopsisIt was front-page news throughout the country - the largest gathering of Union and Confederate veterans ever held. “[It] will be talked about and written about as long as the American people boast of the dauntless courage of Gettysburg,” declared a woman who accompanied her father to the reunion. But as the years passed, the memorable event was all but forgotten. John Hopkins’s The World Will Never See the Like: The Gettysburg Reunion of 1913 goes a long way toward making sure the world will remember.The 1913 Gettysburg reunion is a story of 53,000 old comrades and former foes reunited, and of the tension, even half a century later, between competing narratives of reconciliation and remembrance. For seven days the old soldiers lived under canvas in the stifling heat on a 280-acre encampment run by the U.S. Army. They swapped stories, debated still-simmering controversies about the battle, and fed tall tales to gullible reporters. On July 3, the aging survivors of Pickett’s Division and the Philadelphia Brigade shook hands across the wall on Cemetery Ridge, in the reunion’s climactic photo op.Some of the battle’s leading personalities were in attendance including Union III Corps commander Dan Sickles, who at 92 was still eager to explain to anyone who would listen the indispensable role he had played in the Union victory. Also present was Helen Dortch Longstreet, the widow of Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, who devoted her life and considerable energies to defending the reputation of her general. Both wrote articles from the reunion that were syndicated in newspapers across the country. There was even a cameo appearance by a young and as yet unknown cavalry officer named George S. Patton Jr.Hopkins fills his marvelous account with detail from the letters, diaries, and published accounts of Union and Confederate veterans, the extensive archival records of the reunion’s organizers, and the daily stories filed by the scores of reporters who covered it.The World Will Never See the Like offers the first full story of this extraordinary event’s genesis and planning, the obstacles overcome on the way to making it a reality, its place in the larger narrative of sectional reunion and reconciliation, and the individual stories of the veterans who attended. Every reader interested in Gettysburg will find this a welcome addition to their library.

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Book SynopsisIn the fall of 1863, Knoxville came under Union occupation, and troops went immediately to work to strengthen existing defenses and construct new ones. The most important of these was the earthwork atop a hill west of the city that came to be known as Fort Sanders. The fort would be the site of a critical battle on November 29, in which General James Longstreet’s Southern forces mounted a bold but ill-conceived assault that lasted only twenty minutes yet resulted in over eight hundred Rebel casualties. The completion of the fort under General Davis Tilson would safeguard Knoxville from further attack for the rest of the war.Rediscovering Fort Sanders is a unique book that combines a narrative history of pre-Civil War Knoxville, the war years and continuing construction of Fort Sanders, the failed attempts to preserve the postwar fort, and the events which led to its almost total destruction. Research by Terry and Charles Faulkner resulted in two major discoveries: the fort was actually located a block farther to the west then previously recognized, and there are still identifiable remnants of the fortification where none were believed to exist.More than just a chronicle of a significant chapter in Civil War and postwar history, this book will inspire others to continue the effort to ensure that the site and remains of Fort Sanders are preserved and properly commemorated for future generations.

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Book SynopsisCitizen-soldier Strong Vincent was many things: Harvard graduate, lawyer, political speaker, descendent of pilgrims and religious refugees, husband, father, brother. But his greatest contribution to history is as the saviour of the Federal left on the second day at Gettysburg, when he and his men held Little Round Top against overwhelming Confederate numbers. Forgotten by history in favour of his subordinate, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Vincent faded into relative obscurity in the decades following his death. This book restores Vincent to his rightful place among the heroes of the battle of Gettysburg: presenting his life story using new, never-before-published sources and archival material to bring the story of one of the most forgotten officers of the American Civil War back to the attention of readers and historians.Trade ReviewFor an unknown Union officer, Myers has done well to provide the facts of his life and a cogent argument that Vincent deserves much more credit, not only for a short life lived but for a decision which ultimately affected a battle’s outcome and possibly the fate of a nation. * Journal of America’s Military Past 02/11/2022 *Well researched and readable, The Lion of Round Top provides insight into the making of a brigade commander that excelled at Gettysburg. * The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society 02/11/2022 *In what is his first book Myers, a promising young historian, has written a first rate treatment of the life of this largely forgotten general, which will help the both scholars and buffs better understand who was the actual “Lion of Little Round Top". * NYMAS Review 02/11/2022 *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Vanishing of Vincent The Strongs and The Vincents: Early Life, Education, and Courtship January to August 1861: Lieutenant Vincent of "The Erie Regiment" August 1861 to March 1862: The Eighty-Third Pennsylvania Late March to September 1862: The Swamps of the Chickahominy October 1862 to January 1863: Colonel Vincent January to April 1863: "I enlisted to fight" May to June 1863: "I wish he were a brigadier-general" July 1, 1863: March to Mortality July 2, 1863: The Lion of Round Top July 3 to July 7, 1863: The Road to Immortality The Path to Being Forgotten: The Legacy of Strong Vincent

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Book SynopsisGeneral John Bell Hood’s tenure commanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee stood in marked contrast to that of his predecessor Joseph E. Johnston. Where Johnston was forced to conduct a war of maneuver, parrying William T. Sherman’s repeated flanking attempts, he rarely risked offensive blows. The initiative remained almost entirely with the Federals. When Johnston did stand to accept battle, with only a few exceptions, he received enemy assaults behind fortified lines. However, weeks of retreating undermined morale.With Hood in charge, offense became the order of the day. Hood fought the two largest and bloodiest battles of the entire campaign within the space of two days: attacking at Peachtree Creek on July 20, and again at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22. A third attack at Ezra Church on July 28 was launched by Stephen D. Lee, on his own initiative. The results of all three battles, however, were the same—bloody failures for the Confederates. Thereafter, Hood adopted a more defensive strategy, choosing to preserve what combat power his army retained.The second volume on the Atlanta campaign portrays the final months of the struggle for Atlanta, from mid-July to September, including what remains to be seen of the battles around the city: Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Decatur, and Ezra Church. The siege will cover historic views of Atlanta, operations east of the city, and the city’s capture. The cavalry chapter focuses on the Union cavalry raids south of Atlanta which ended in disaster. Finally, the fighting at Jonesboro will bring the series to a close.Table of ContentsChapter 1 — Hood Takes Command Chapter 2 — The Battle of Peachtree Creek Chapter 3 — The Battle of Atlanta Chapter 4 — Engagement at Decatur Chapter 5 — Lee Attacks at Ezra Church Chapter 6 — Defending the Lifeline Chapter 7 — Cavalry. Stoneman’s Movements Chapter 8 — Cavalry. McCook’s Movements Chapter 9 — Strangling Atlanta Chapter 10 — Jonesboro Chapter 11 — The fall of Atlanta

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Book SynopsisA propulsive account of our history's most surprising, most consequential political club: the Wide Awake anti-slavery youth movement that marched America from the 1860 election to civil war.At the start of the 1860 presidential campaign, a handful of fired-up young Northerners appeared as bodyguards to defend anti-slavery stump speakers from frequent attacks. The group called themselves the Wide Awakes. Soon, hundreds of thousands of young White and Black men, and a number of women, were organizing boisterous, uniformed, torch-bearing brigades of their own. These Wide Awakesmostly working-class Americans in their twentiesbecame one of the largest, most spectacular, and most influential political movements in our history. To some, it demonstrated the power of a rising majority to push back against slavery. To others, it looked like a paramilitary force training to invade the South. Within a year, the nation would be at war with itself, and many on both sides would point to the Wide Awakes as the mechanism that got them there.In this gripping narrative, Smithsonian historian Jon Grinspan examines how exactly our nation crossed the threshold from a political campaign into a war. Perfect for readers of Lincoln on the Verge and The Field of Blood, Wide Awake bears witness to the power of protest, the fight for majority rule, and the defense of free speech. At its core, Wide Awake illuminates a question American democracy keeps posing, about the precarious relationship between violent rhetoric and violent actions.

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Book SynopsisJames Maley, George Watters, Donald Renton and Archibald Williams were members of Machine Gun Company No. 2 of the XV International Brigade. This is the first book to focus on a small group of men from different starting-points, ended up in the same battleground at Jarama, and then in the same prisons after capture byFranco’s forces.Their remarkable story is told both in their own words and in the recollections of their sons and daughters, through a prison notebook, newspaper reports, stills cut from newsreels, interviews, anecdotes and memories, with a foreword by Daniel Gray.Our Fathers Fought Franco is a collective biography that promises to add significantly to the understanding of the motives of those who ‘went because their open eyes could see no other way’.Trade ReviewThis wonderful and moving book adds something completely original to the Spanish Civil War narrative. - DANIEL GRAY, from the forewordAn extraordinary example, and an unforgettable, essential book. - ANGUS REID, The Morning StarSuch openness connects us readers to the vulnerabilities of a family, life in all its complexity and difficulty. This is a virtue of all four accounts in Our Fathers Fought Franco… What comes through persistently in ‘Our Fathers Fought Franco’ is a sense of how much we have to learn from the past. - ALAN RIACH, The NationalPart first-person history, part war memoir, part working-class polemic, it is a valuable addition to the canon. - RB, The Scottish FieldToo often their experiences went unrecorded. - THE PENNILESS PRESSEach of the authors calls us to read the signs for our own times in the legacy of these men of the IB. This book is a fine tribute to them and their comrades. - LESLEY ORR, Bella Caledonia

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Book SynopsisLord Derby, Lancashire's highest-ranked nobleman and its principal royalist, once offered the opinion that the English civil wars had been a 'general plague of madness'. Complex and bedevilling, the earl defied anyone to tell the complete story of 'so foolish, so wicked, so lasting a war'. Yet attempting to chronicle and to explain the events is both fascinating and hugely important. Nationally and at the county level the impact and significance of the wars can hardly be over-stated: the conflict involved our ancestors fighting one another, on and off, for a period of nine years; almost every part of Lancashire witnessed warfare of some kind at one time or another, and several towns in particular saw bloody sieges and at least one episode characterised as a massacre.Nationally the wars resulted in the execution of the king; in 1651 the Earl of Derby himself was executed in Bolton in large measure because he had taken a leading part in the so-called massacre in that town in 1644. In the early months of the civil wars many could barely distinguish what it was that divided people in 'this war without an enemy', as the royalist William Waller famously wrote; yet by the end of it parliament had abolished monarchy itself and created the only republic in over a millennium of England's history. Over the ensuing centuries this period has been described variously as a rebellion, as a series of civil wars, even as a revolution.Lancashire's role in these momentous events was quite distinctive, and relative to the size of its population particularly important. Lancashire lay right at the centre of the wars, for the conflict did not just encompass England but Ireland and Scotland too, and Lancashire's position on the coast facing Catholic, Royalist Ireland was seen as critical from the very first months. And being on the main route south from Scotland meant that the county witnessed a good deal of marching and marauding armies from the north. In this, the first full history of the Lancashire civil wars for almost a century, Stephen Bull makes extensive use of new discoveries to narrate and explain the exciting, terrible events which our ancestors witnessed in the cause either of king or parliament. From Furness to Liverpool, and from the Wyre estuary to Manchester and Warrington...civil war actions, battles, sieges and skirmishes took place in virtually every corner of Lancashire.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1Measurements and spellings 5 1 Lancashire in the seventeenth century: people, county, military 7The hundreds of old Lancashire 7Religion and society 17The county as 'Armye' 25 2 'The fittest subject for a King's quarrel': the causes of civil war 35God's war?: Catholic and Protestant 42'A horid, cursed, and barbarous Rebellion': the Irish question 55Gentlemen and townsmen 59The willing and the unwilling 64 3 To arms, and the siege of Manchester, 1642 68Militias and magazines 69The parliamentarian stand at Manchester 71The siege of Manchester, September 1642 77 4 'All barbarous crueltie': the struggle for Lancashire, 1642-43 87Campaigns in east Lancashire, October 1642 88Chowbent, November 1642 93Sir Gilbert Hoghton and Blackburn 95War in the balance, spring 1643 100Preston falls to parliament, February 1643 101Tragedy at Hoghton Tower 103A 'verrey hot skirmish' as Bolton holds out 104Lancaster and the Fylde 107The Santa Anna 108The burning and capture of Lancaster, March 1643 113Preston and Lancaster change hands 115A second royalist attack on Bolton, March 1643 120Parliamentarians attack Wigan, March 1643 122Warrington and the battle of Stockton Heath, April 1643 124 5 The war turns for Parliament 127The battle of Read Bridge, Whalley, April 1643 127South Lancashire and the Fylde, April-May 1643 132Royalist retreat and Warrington attacked, May 1643 135The battle of Adwalton Moor, June 1643 137Hornby, Thurland and the battle of Lindale Close 138Autumn and winter 1643: parliamentarian adventures outside the county 144 6 Lady Derby and the first siege of Lathom House, 1644 149The location and layout of Lathom House 153Desultory siege and negotiations, spring 1644 157Problems facing the besiegers 164Lady Derby takes the initiative 168 7 'Prince Robber' in Lancashire, 1644 173Through Stockport and into Lancashire 175The sack and 'massacre of Bolton, May 1644 176The storming of Liverpool, June 1644 182Rupert aims to relieve the siege of York, June 1644 189 8 'A fatal blow': the aftermath of Marston Moor 191The royalists in Lancashire, summer 1644 195The battle for control of Lancashire, late summer, 1644 197The battle of Ormskirk, August 1644 203 9 The end of the first civil war, 1645 209Liverpool falls to parliament 209Greenhalgh castle 216The end at Lathom and Lancashire troops at Chester 217Final royalist defeat in Lancashire, December 1645 226Reform of the Lancashire committee 229 10 War without conclusion and the 'Province' of Lancashire 238Presbyterianism in Lancashire 244 11 The second civil war, 1648 250An 'Engagement' between king and Scottish royalists 252The Engager army prepares to invade, summer 1648 259'Bloody Preston', 17 August, 1648 267The royalists retreat southwards 278The battle of Winwick, 19 August 1648 281The long road to Uttoxeter 283Preston's legacy: regicide 286 12 The search for peace and the third civil war, 1649-1651 288An accommodation with Lord Derby? 291Political, military and religious reform 293Charles Stuart and the third civil war 298A Scottish royalist army in Lancashire again 301A skirmish at Warrington bridge 303Lord Derby campaigning again in Lancashire 306The battle of Wigan Lane, August 1651 311The earl of Derby captured and tried for treason 316 13 Aftermath 322The true cost of civil war 323The Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1651-1660 331The civil wars in perspective 341Notes and references 354Appendices 368Further reading 388Index 400

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Book SynopsisSheds new light on the political motivations of homefront clergymen during wartime, revealing how and why the Civil War stands as the US's first concerted campaign to check the ministry's freedom of religious expression.Trade ReviewTimothy L. Wesley contributes to what is becoming a deep and diverse literature on religion in the Civil War era. . . . Wesley adds nuance to this important discussion with a keen sense of change over time and regional variation." - Journal of Southern History"Timothy L. Wesley's useful new study examines the ways in which the clergy, laity, denominational bodies, and national authorities, responded when a minister addressed civil and political issues from behind the sacred desk. This narrow focus represents a welcome addition to a field in which it would be easy to conclude that religion was simply in the Civil War era ether—everywhere and nowhere at the same time...a fine contribution to our understanding of religion and the Civil War, and to our understanding of the clergy's place in that struggle." - The Journal of Southern Religion"The strongest element of the book analytically is Wesley's effort to create a taxonomy of preacher politics. . . . The Politics of Faith during the Civil War is a noteworthy contribution for relentlessly returning the religious class to its rightful place at the political center of everything that brought the war on and fought it through." - Civil War History"[A] thought-provoking and ambitious volume. . . . This book uncovers a previously overlooked chapter in the history of civil liberties in wartime." - Reviews in American History"[Wesley's] wide-ranging scope, extensive research, and at times downright contrarianism make his book not only an intriguing read, but also an important contribution to the ever-expanding scholarship on the American Civil War's religious history." - Fides et Historia"[A] fine volume….Anyone interested in nineteenth-century American religion should read Wesley's work." - Church History"Wesley's book is an important contribution to our understanding of religion's significant influence on the home front during the war." - Civil War Book Review"In taking up this topic, Wesley has offered one of the most helpful studies to date for why religion mattered in the lively and often rough-and-tumble political world of the Civil War." - Civil War Monitor"The Politics of Faith During the Civil War is an excellent book about the influence of home-front ministers during the Civil War era, every bit as interesting a subject as the oft-covered role of ministers as chaplains to the opposing armies...Highly recommended." - Civil War Medicine and Writing"Wesley has...made an original contribution to our understanding of the war years through his study of ministers on all sides of the conflict." - American Catholic Studies

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Book SynopsisIn 1941, the Franco regime established the Spanish Division of Volunteers to take part in the Russian campaign as a unit integrated into the German Wehrmacht. Recruited by both the Fascist Party (Falange) and the Spanish army, around 47,000 Spanish volunteers joined what would become known as the Blue Division. The Spanish Blue Division on the Eastern Front, 19411945 explores an intimate history of the Blue Division from below, using personal war diaries, letters, and memoirs, as well as official documents from military archives in Spain, Germany, Britain, and Russia. In addition to describing the Spanish experience on the Eastern Front, Xosé M. Núñez Seixas takes on controversial topics including the Blue Division’s proximity to the Holocaust and how members of the Blue Division have been remembered and commemorated. Addressing issues such as the behaviour of the Spaniards as occupiers, their perception by the Russians, their witnessing of the Holocaust,Trade Review“The Spanish Blue Division on the Eastern Front makes for compelling reading…This accessible book should be read by anyone interested in modern Spain, the Eastern Front, Axis allies, or soldier motivation.” -- Grant T. Harward, US Army Center of Military History * Michigan War Studies Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction: The Blue Division, the Franco Regime, and the Second World War 1. Russia Is Guilty! 2. A Long March: From Central Europe to the Volkhov Front 3. The Blue Division On the Front 4. Occupation Practices of the Blue Division in Northwest Russia 5. The Last Crusaders of the Nazi New Order, 1944–1945 6. War Veterans and Memories from the Eastern Front in Franco’s Spain Conclusion: A Spanish Exception in the War of Extermination? Sources Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe English reformers of the 1530s, with Thomas Cromwell at their head, continued to have a strong belief in kingly rule and authority, in contrast to their radical approach to the power of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Resisting the king was tantamount to resisting God in their eyes, and even on a matter of conscience the will of the king should prevail. Yet just over 100 years later, Charles I was called the ''man of blood'', and Oliver Cromwell famously declared that ''we will cut off his head with the crown on it''. But how did we get from the one to the other? How did the deferential Reformation become a regicidal revolution? Following on from his biography of Thomas Cromwell, John Schofield examines how the English character and the way it perceived royal rule changed between the time of Thomas Cromwell and that of his great-great-grandnephew Oliver.

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