Specific wars and military campaigns Books

Book SynopsisLeonidas Polk was one of the more notable, yet controversial, generals of the US Civil War. Recognising his indispensable familiarity with the Mississippi Valley, Confederate president Jefferson Davis commissioned his elevation to a high military position regardless of his lack of prior combat experience.Trade ReviewThere are those who have maintained that General Leonidas Polk did more to bring about Confederate defeat than any other single man. Certainly he stood at the center of the toxic command culture of the Army of Tennessee from 1862 until his death. We have long needed a modern biography of this contradictory man, and Hudson Horn has delivered that and more. His research is stunning in its breadth, and his treatment of Polk is reasoned, mature, and balanced. This is the best Confederate military biography of recent years."" - William C. Davis, author of Crucible of Command: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee—The War They Fought, the Peace They Forged""A long-overdue reevaluation of the Civil War's most recognizable soldier-cleric. Huston Horn's meticulous research and balanced presentation reveal the complexities, strengths, and weaknesses of Leonidas Polk: churchman, plantation farmer, Southern nationalist, and soldier. Horn's study does much to dispel the almost caricatured image of Polk that frequently appears in modern Civil War history."" - Sam Davis Elliott, author of Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West

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Book SynopsisIf you have heard of Charles A. Dana, it was probably from his classic Recollections of the Civil War (1898), which was ghostwritten by muckraker Ida Tarbell and riddled with errors. Lincoln's Informer at long last sets the record straight, giving Charles A. Dana his due in a story that rivals the best historical fiction.Trade ReviewLincoln's Informer is a genuine contribution to both Civil War studies and the history of nineteenth-century journalism. In the story of Charles A. Dana, Lincoln's Informer reclaims exciting and underreported aspects of American political, literary, and military history." - Harold Holzer, winner of the Gilder-Lehrman Lincoln Prize"This highly readable, thoroughly researched account of Charles A. Dana's role in the Civil War era is a welcome addition to the literature, for it sheds new light not only on Dana but also on such important players as Abraham Lincoln, U. S. Grant, and Horace Greeley." - Michael Burlingame, author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life"Brimming with fascinating details and drawing on an array of new sources, Lincoln's Informer provides the definitive portrait of newspaper editor Charles A. Dana's controversial career as an informant, investigator, and advisor for the War Department. Both on the field and in Washington, DC, Guarneri's cogent narrative reveals how Dana's reports on commanders, campaigns, and fraud not only earned the respect of President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton but also impacted vital military and political policy." - Joan Waugh, coauthor of The American War: A History of the Civil War Era"Charles A. Dana, though little known today, was one of the major figures of the Civil War, an informant for Secretary of War Stanton and President Lincoln. Lincoln's Informer is well written and full of insights for all Civil War scholars and buffs." - John F. Marszalek, executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University

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Book SynopsisFocusing on 1972, Darrel Whitcomb combines stories of soldiers cut off from their units, advisors trapped with allied forces, and airmen downed in enemy territory, with the narratives of the US Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, contract pilots, and special operations teams ready to conduct rescues in Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam.Trade ReviewThis book does an outstanding job in addressing the search and rescue (SAR) efforts of the US Air Force and US Navy during the last year of the war in which US forces were still engaged in combat. This was a period that has not been covered extensively in other histories of the war, and the author puts the SAR story in the larger context of what was happening on the ground, particularly during the 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive. Impressively documented, this book is strongly recommended." —James H. Willbanks, professor emeritus, US Army Command and General Staff College, Vietnam veteran, and author of Abandoning Vietnam"American combat pilots live with the possibility of being shot down over enemy territory, but this comes with the understanding that every possible attempt will be made to secure their rescue. In Moral Imperative: 1972, Combat Rescue, and the End of America's War in Vietnam, Darrel Whitcomb deftly demonstrates the ends to which rescue crews were willing to go to save a downed airman or aviator. Whitcomb shows the almost daily struggle of the men who flew the Sandys, Jolly Greens, Big Mothers, and a host of others who were willing to put it all on the line to bring their comrades out of harm's way. Whitcomb has written the definitive work on search and rescue during the Vietnam War. Moral Imperative is comprehensive and well researched but also an amazing tale of gallantry and sacrifice." —Brian Laslie, author of The Air Force Way of War: U.S. Tactics and Training after Vietnam"Only one who was there could ever have captured the epic story of rescue operations in Vietnam as Darrel Whitcomb has done. It is a story of technology and organization, but mostly a story of courage and unflinching commitment to duty. In presenting this comprehensive account of rescue operations at the height of Nixon's war, Whitcomb has added immensely to our understanding of the air war, both north and south, and of those who fought it." —Stephen P. Randolph, Rokke-Fox Chair, Center for Character and Leadership Development, US Air Force Academy"Combat rescue is combat! Darrel Whitcomb proves that in describing combat rescue during the final full year of the war in Southeast Asia, arguably the high-water mark of the one hundred years of combat rescue. If you ever wanted to know more about the exhilarations and heartbreaks of combat rescue, this is the read for you. None better." —Thomas Phillips, coauthor of Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue"A meticulously researched and eye-opening account of brothers in arms. Whitcomb unearths fascinating stories of downed airmen and the men who went after them against steep odds. An inspiring read." —Stephan Talty, author of Saving Bravo: The Greatest Rescue Mission in Navy SEAL History

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Book SynopsisTells the story of how, in Hall v. Decuir, the post-Civil War US Supreme Court took its first step toward perpetuating the subjugation of the non-White population of the United States by actively preventing a Southern state from prohibiting segregation on a riverboat in the coasting trade on the Mississippi River.Trade ReviewRacism in the United States dismantled the Civil War's legal achievements and built the world of continuing and expanding racialized segregation, deprivations, and indignities-but how did this come to pass? It took the particularly effective combination of White resentment, judicial activism, legal abstractions, and political backlash to strip free people of color of rights, wealth, and status as shown in this detailed yet vivid and accessible account by Jack Beermann. Thanks to this book, the little-remembered Supreme Court rejection of state antidiscrimination laws and the valiant but unsuccessful efforts of Josephine Decuir and her lawyers take their rightful place in the crucial reckoning with vigorous federal destruction of equal treatment in the United States. Read this book to understand how 'technicalities' of inheritance law practice, the 'dormant Commerce Clause,' and Southern transportation policies mixed with White status desires to block equal treatment laws and create the 'separate but equal' regime." - Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor and former dean of Harvard Law School and author of In Brown's Wake: Legacies of America's Constitutional Landmark"It's about time the much-neglected US Supreme Court ruling Hall v. Decuir (1878) received serious book-length attention, for this 'long-forgotten' decision is more than an ironic milestone on the road to Plessy. In Jack Beermann's telling, it is no less a poignant turning point in the decisive marginalization of nineteenth-century Louisiana's mixed-race community. We owe him a huge debt for wresting this maddeningly tragic story from history's hidden shadows." - Lawrence N. Powell, professor emeritus of history, Tulane University, and author of The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans

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Book SynopsisUnder the blazing Iraqi sun in the summer of 2007, Shannon Meehan, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, ordered a strike that would take the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians. He thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was protecting his men.Trade Review"An articulate and devastating memoir." Military Writers Society of America "The book resonates because Meehan speaks not for sympathy but for understanding, and because - sadly - his personal story is one the other service members know well."Army Times "Highly recommended ... This work serves as a reminder of some of the costs of war in modern times and leaves readers 'dazed and confused' over how to respond and what to think about the situation in Iraq."Central European Journal of International and Security Studies "An exceptional book. It takes the reader to Iraq, to feel all sides of a deployed soldiers life, from the boredom, the bullshit to the battles and the searing heat inside the tank. This is a book that every American should read in order to get a full accounting of what it means to send men and women off to war. You may finish, but you won't forget Beyond Duty. I can't recommend this one highly enough." Pundit Review "A straightforward, succint and insightful report of one man's experience at war ... The book resonates because Meehan speaks not for sympathy, but for understanding, and because - sadly - his personal story is one that other service members know well."Air Force Times "Beyond Duty is a powerful and heartbreaking account of Lieutenant Shannon Meehan's tour of duty in Iraq, and of his decision in 2007 to call in a missile strike that claimed the lives of innocent civilians. Remorse, shame, self-doubt, depression - these were among the war's emotional aftershocks for Lieutenant Meehan. This honest and painfully intense narrative is a reminder of the terrible costs of warfare, not just as measured by blood or treasure, but also in terms of damage to the human psyche. I will return to this book often." Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried and winner of the National Book Award "This memoir is a descent into war's difficult terrain, a landscape which continues on within the veteran as he or she returns home. The archetype of the classic hero is nearly completely destroyed through the personal narrative which chronicles a series of harrowing events in order to reveal a deeper sense of the heroic. Meehan's voice reminds us that the bleeding continues on after the guns have gone silent, even if we don't realize it." Brian Turner, award-winning author of Here, Bullet, and veteran of the Iraq War "Meehan explores the complicated anxieties of battle and command with precision and intelligence. He treats colossally horrific situations with admirable emotional restraint, and his strong, taut narrative has a visceral impact. This is a book that ranks among the very best writing that is being done today about events on the frontline in Iraq." James Hutchisson, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina "For better or for worse, this memoir documents what the war in Iraq has been: young soldiers doing their heartbreaking best to do the right thing amid confusion, chaos and collateral damage." Mary Russell, award-winning author of A Thread of Grace and The SparrowTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Prologue. Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine. Chapter Ten. Chapter Eleven. Chapter Twelve. Chapter Thirteen. Chapter Fourteen. Chapter Fifteen. Chapter Sixteen. Chapter Seventeen. Chapter Eighteen. Chapter Nineteen. Chapter Twenty. Chapter Twenty-One. Chapter Twenty-Two. Chapter Twenty-Three. Chapter Twenty-Four. Chapter Twenty-Five. Chapter Twenty-Six. Chapter Twenty-Seven. Epilogue.

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Book SynopsisUnder the blazing Iraqi sun in the summer of 2007, Shannon Meehan, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, ordered a strike that would take the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians. He thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was protecting his men.Trade Review"An articulate and devastating memoir." Military Writers Society of America "The book resonates because Meehan speaks not for sympathy but for understanding, and because - sadly - his personal story is one the other service members know well."Army Times "Highly recommended ... This work serves as a reminder of some of the costs of war in modern times and leaves readers 'dazed and confused' over how to respond and what to think about the situation in Iraq."Central European Journal of International and Security Studies "An exceptional book. It takes the reader to Iraq, to feel all sides of a deployed soldiers life, from the boredom, the bullshit to the battles and the searing heat inside the tank. This is a book that every American should read in order to get a full accounting of what it means to send men and women off to war. You may finish, but you won't forget Beyond Duty. I can't recommend this one highly enough." Pundit Review "A straightforward, succint and insightful report of one man's experience at war ... The book resonates because Meehan speaks not for sympathy, but for understanding, and because - sadly - his personal story is one that other service members know well."Air Force Times "Beyond Duty is a powerful and heartbreaking account of Lieutenant Shannon Meehan's tour of duty in Iraq, and of his decision in 2007 to call in a missile strike that claimed the lives of innocent civilians. Remorse, shame, self-doubt, depression - these were among the war's emotional aftershocks for Lieutenant Meehan. This honest and painfully intense narrative is a reminder of the terrible costs of warfare, not just as measured by blood or treasure, but also in terms of damage to the human psyche. I will return to this book often." Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried and winner of the National Book Award "This memoir is a descent into war's difficult terrain, a landscape which continues on within the veteran as he or she returns home. The archetype of the classic hero is nearly completely destroyed through the personal narrative which chronicles a series of harrowing events in order to reveal a deeper sense of the heroic. Meehan's voice reminds us that the bleeding continues on after the guns have gone silent, even if we don't realize it." Brian Turner, award-winning author of Here, Bullet, and veteran of the Iraq War "Meehan explores the complicated anxieties of battle and command with precision and intelligence. He treats colossally horrific situations with admirable emotional restraint, and his strong, taut narrative has a visceral impact. This is a book that ranks among the very best writing that is being done today about events on the frontline in Iraq." James Hutchisson, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina "For better or for worse, this memoir documents what the war in Iraq has been: young soldiers doing their heartbreaking best to do the right thing amid confusion, chaos and collateral damage." Mary Russell, award-winning author of A Thread of Grace and The SparrowTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Prologue. Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine. Chapter Ten. Chapter Eleven. Chapter Twelve. Chapter Thirteen. Chapter Fourteen. Chapter Fifteen. Chapter Sixteen. Chapter Seventeen. Chapter Eighteen. Chapter Nineteen. Chapter Twenty. Chapter Twenty-One. Chapter Twenty-Two. Chapter Twenty-Three. Chapter Twenty-Four. Chapter Twenty-Five. Chapter Twenty-Six. Chapter Twenty-Seven. Epilogue.

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Book SynopsisFew countries can claim to have endured such a difficult and tortuous history as that of Iraq. Its varied peoples have had to contend with externally imposed state-building at the end of the First World War, through to the rise of authoritarian military regimes, to the all-encompassing power of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Artificiality, Identity, Dictatorship, and State-Building Chapter 1: Legacies of Civilizations and Empires Chapter 2: State Formation, Monarchy, and Mandate, 1918-1932 Chapter 3: Conceptualizing Iraqi Society Chapter 4: From Authoritarian to Totalitarian State, 1933-1979 Chapter 5: Iraq at War, 1979-1989 Chapter 6: The Pariah State, 1989-2003 Chapter 7: Regime Change, 2003- Chapter 8: From the Brink, to the Brink Chapter 9: The Disintegration of Iraq Chapter 10: The Rise of the Islamic State Conclusion

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Book SynopsisMary Kaldor's New and Old Wars has fundamentally changed the way both scholars and policy-makers understand contemporary war and conflict.Trade Review"A timely and important book. Putting the so-called revolution in military affairs firmly to one side, Mary Kaldor has provided us with a window into the future of war." Martin van Creveld, Hebrew University of Jerusalem "If you don’t read Mary Kaldor’s New and Old Wars, you won’t understand the world of violence we live in. And you will miss the only way out: the perspective of a cosmopolitan realpolitik that Kaldor opens up and paints in detail in her highly sophisticated and original analysis. Now revised and updated, it is the classical book on new wars." Ulrich Beck, University of Munich "More than any other book, the third edition of Mary Kaldor's brilliantly sustained enquiry into 'new wars' helps us grasp the complex terrain of political violence since the end of the Cold War. The richness and clarity of the overall presentation greatly strengthens Kaldor's stature as one of the most consistently imaginative and conceptually creative thinkers of our time on the central issues of global affairs." Richard Falk, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsPreface to the Third Edition Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Old Wars 3. Bosnia-Herzegovina: A Case Study of a New War 4. The Politics of New Wars 5. The Globalized War Economy 6. Towards a Cosmopolitan Approach 7. The ‘New Wars' in Iraq and Afghanistan 8. Governance, Legitimacy and Security Afterword Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAs the national love feast with Oliver North reminded us, Americans have an abiding attraction to war and warriors... The Republic Reborn probes the historical roots of this attraction. William and Mary QuarterlyTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionPart I. The Birth of the Liberal Republic, 1790—1820Chapter 1. "A New Era Has Commenced in the United States"Chapter 2. John Taylor: "The Family of the Earth"Chapter 3. John Adams: "Our Country Is in Masquerade!"Chapter 4. Hugh Henry Brackenridge: Modern Chivalry and the Search for SelfChapter 5. War and the Wages of ChangePart II. Ambition and Civism: War and Social RegenerationChapter 6. Society and Self-Made Men: Dreams and DisquietudeChapter 7. Philip Freneau: "Besotted by Prosperity, Corrupted by Avarice, Abject from Luxury"Chapter 8. Henry Clay: "The Tranquil, Putrescent Pool of Ignominious Peace"Chapter 9. Charles J. Ingersoll: "Deep in the Slough of Faction"Chapter 10. War as Social Crusade: Civism and RenewalPart III. Religion and Repression: War and Early Capitalist CultureChapter 11. Con Men and Character: The Burden of Moral Free-AgencyChapter 12. Spencer Houghton Cone: "I Will Be a Living Worker in the World—I Will Play No More"Chapter 13. Benjamin Rush: "I Consider It as Possible to Convert Men into Republican Machines"Chapter 14. Mason Locke Weems: "Sacrificing Their Gold to Gamblers, Their Health to Harlots, and Their Glory to Grog"Chapter 15. War as Cultural Crusade: Self-Control and Civil ReligionPart IV. Founding Fathers and Wandering Sons: War and the Masks of PersonaeChapter 16. The Quiet Desperation of the Liberal SelfChapter 17. Charles Brockden Brown: "I am Conscious of a Double Mental Existence"Chapter 18. Alfred Brunson: "Either Rise to Distinction or Fall in the Attempt"Chapter 19. John Quincy Adams: "Two Objects the Nearest to my Heart, My Country and My Father"Chapter 20. War as Personal Quest: The Inner Healing of the Liberal IndividualPart V. Politics and Productivity: War and the Emergence of LiberalismChapter 21. The Crisis of RepublicanismChapter 22. Tensions in Political Economy: Producers and Home MarketsChapter 23. Strategies for Survival: From Enlightened to Energized RepublicanismChapter 24. The Liberal Republications: "Our New Era in our Politics"Chapter 25. The Liberal Impulse to War Part VI. The Republic Reordered, 1812—1815Chapter 26. The Crucible of WarChapter 27. The Vindication of God's RepublicChapter 28. The Triumph of Self-Made MenChapter 29. The Victory of LiberalismChapter 30. Into the FutureNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisTourists can step back in time as they travel the same roads and waterways that American and British troops did two centuries ago.Trade ReviewEshelman offers context, directions, maps and other pertinent details for those with a taste for exploring sites related to the war. Richmond Times-Dispatch An exceptional companion volume to the previous book that allows readers an unrivaled view or all the battles and campaigns... If you like your history both immediate and personal, this is the book for you! -- Blaine Taylor Sea Classics A Travel Guide to the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake is a first-rate tool for those exploring the Chesapeake Theater. -- Command Sergeant Major James H. Clifford, USA-Ret. On PointTable of ContentsList of AbbreviationOverviewPart I: Historic Route ToursBritish Invasion Tour (Maryland)Battle of Bladensburg Tour (Maryland)Saving the Declaration of Independence Tour (District of Columbia, Virginia)First Family Flight Tour (District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland)Battle of North Point Tour (Maryland)Part II: Historic City, Town, and Regional ToursMarylandAnnapolis and U.S. Naval Academy TourBaltimore TourSouthern Maryland TourMaryland Eastern Shore TourHead of the Chesapeake TourFrederick TourVirginiaAlexandria TourGreater Norfolk TourRichmond and Petersburg TourTappahannock TourCentral Virginia TourOther Tidewater Virginia SitesDistrict of ColumbiaWashington, D.C., TourAcknowledgmentsAppendixesA. Suggested WalksB. Suggested Bicycling AreasC. Canoe, Kayak, and Small Boating AreaD. Boat ExcursionsSuggested ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisTourists can step back in time as they travel the same roads and waterways that American and British troops did two centuries ago.Trade ReviewEshelman offers context, directions, maps and other pertinent details for those with a taste for exploring sites related to the war. Richmond Times-Dispatch An exceptional companion volume to the previous book that allows readers an unrivaled view or all the battles and campaigns... If you like your history both immediate and personal, this is the book for you! -- Blaine Taylor Sea Classics A Travel Guide to the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake is a first-rate tool for those exploring the Chesapeake Theater. -- Command Sergeant Major James H. Clifford, USA-Ret. On PointTable of ContentsList of AbbreviationOverviewPart I: Historic Route ToursBritish Invasion Tour (Maryland)Battle of Bladensburg Tour (Maryland)Saving the Declaration of Independence Tour (District of Columbia, Virginia)First Family Flight Tour (District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland)Battle of North Point Tour (Maryland)Part II: Historic City, Town, and Regional ToursMarylandAnnapolis and U.S. Naval Academy TourBaltimore TourSouthern Maryland TourMaryland Eastern Shore TourHead of the Chesapeake TourFrederick TourVirginiaAlexandria TourGreater Norfolk TourRichmond and Petersburg TourTappahannock TourCentral Virginia TourOther Tidewater Virginia SitesDistrict of ColumbiaWashington, D.C., TourAcknowledgmentsAppendixesA. Suggested WalksB. Suggested Bicycling AreasC. Canoe, Kayak, and Small Boating AreaD. Boat ExcursionsSuggested ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisExploring the inner workings of the Continental Army through the prism of its encampments, this book is the first to show how camp construction and administration played a crucial role in Patriot strategy during the American Revolution.

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Book SynopsisAlthough an army's success is often measured in battle outcomes, its victories depend on strengths that may be less obvious on the field. Andrew Bamford assesses the effectiveness of the British Army in sustained campaigning during the Napoleonic Wars. In the process, he offers a fresh and controversial look at Britain's military system.Trade ReviewAndrew Bamford's first-rate study provides an excellent reminder of key aspects of soldiering during the Napoleonic wars. Well grounded in the sources, this book is of importance not only for the history of the British army but also for that of other armies of the period."" - Jeremy Black, author of The War of 1812 in the Age of Napoleon and Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519-1871""An important work that will be required reading for students of the British army of the Napoleonic wars, this study provides the first account ever written of how Britain managed its limited military manpower. The book's conclusions will both surprise and impress."" - Charles J. Esdaile, author of Outpost of Empire: The Napoleonic Occupation of Andalucia, 1810-1812

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Book SynopsisOffers eight case studies that illuminate the critical roles the Union corps commanders played in shaping the US Civil War's course and outcome. The contributors examine widespread assumptions about these men while considering the array of internal and external forces that shaped their efforts on and off the battlefield.

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Book SynopsisLong after the Civil War ended, one conflict raged on: the battle to define and shape the war's legacy. Across the Bloody Chasm deftly examines Civil War veterans' commemorative efforts and the concomitant - and sometimes conflicting - movement for reconciliation.

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Book SynopsisIn the autumn of 1871, Alexis Romanov, the fourth son of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, set sail from his homeland for an extended journey through the United States and Canada. Alexis in America recounts the duke's progress through the major American cities.

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Book SynopsisExplores the role of the volunteer officer corps during the Civil War and the unique leadership challenges they faced when military necessity clashed with the antebellum democratic values of volunteer soldiers.

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Book SynopsisIn this comprehensive examination of British sympathy for the South during and after the American Civil War, Michael Turner explores the ideas and activities of A.J. Beresford Hope - one of the leaders of the pro-Confederate lobby in Britain - to provide fresh insight into that seemingly curious allegiance.

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Book SynopsisTells the little-known story of Darius Hubert, a French-born Jesuit who made his home in Louisiana in the 1840s, where he served churches and schools in Grand Coteau, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. Hubert pronounced a blessing at the Louisiana Secession Convention and became the first chaplain appointed to Confederate service in the Civil War.

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Book SynopsisDiligently transcribed and annotated by Michael Burden, Anton Reiff's diary presents an extraordinarily rare view of life with a foreign opera company as it traveled across America by river and rail.

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Book SynopsisArgues that the political ideology and racial views of American Protestants during the Civil War mirrored their religious optimism or pessimism regarding human nature, perfectibility, and the millennium.

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Book SynopsisHistorians have given a great deal of attention to the lives and experiences of Civil War soldiers, but surprisingly little is known about navy sailors who participated in the conflict. Michael J. Bennett remedies the longstanding neglect of Civil War seamen in this comprehensive assessment of the experience of common Union sailors from 1861 to 1865.

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Book SynopsisThe Vicksburg Campaign, argues Timothy B. Smith, is the showcase of Ulysses S. Grant's military genius. Showing how and why Grant became such a successful general, Smith presents a fast-paced reexamination of the commander and the campaign. His analysis of Grant's decision-making process details the process of campaigning on military, political, administrative, and personal levels.

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Book SynopsisLiberal German immigrants, having escaped the European aristocracy who undermined their revolution and the formation of a free nation, viewed slaveholders as a specter of European feudalism. By contextualizing German Americans in their European past and exploring their ideological formation in failed nationalist revolutions, Zachary Stuart Garrison adds nuance and complexity to their story.Trade ReviewZachary Stuart Garrison's dynamically researched book offers a new starting point in the discussion of German American participation in the Civil War. Living on the middle border and the border west, these men and women can be seen dealing with slavery, nativism, and America's political party system in ways that cut them free from the historical stereotypes to which students of the nineteenth century have become accustomed. To his credit, Garrison depicts the range of German-speaking immigrants and settlers as very real people who negotiated their new surroundings by finding a middle ground between their high-minded ideology and the evolving reality of life on the border between North and South"—Joseph M. Beilein Jr., author of Bushwhackers: Guerrilla Warfare, Manhood, and the Household in Civil War Missouri"Zachary Stuart Garrison offers a thorough and engaging study of the ways in which German Americans on the Midwestern border responded to the issues of slavery, sectionalism, and the Civil War. In the process, Garrison includes an original explanation of how nineteenth-century understandings of nationalism, liberalism, and abolitionism developed in a transatlantic context"—Andre M. Fleche, author of The Revolution of 1861: The American Civil War in the Age of Nationalist Conflict"I was very interested to read Zachary Stuart Garrison's book German-Americans on the Middle Border. It is a coherent and useful summary of the existing published literature on politically and militarily active German-Americans before, during, and after the Civil War. I hope it will inspire further exploration in the untranslated materials that still remain open to research"—Steven Rowan, author of Germans for a Free Missouri: Translations from the St. Louis Radical Press, 1857—1862"What did it mean for an ethnic minority to embrace free labor along slavery's western border, where the vast majority of white people felt they must maintain the institution or risk economic and social 'degradation'? Zachary Stuart Garrison's German Americans on the Middle Border grapples with such critical questions, skillfully tracing the genealogy of German American liberalism and political ideology in an understudied region"—Matthew E. Stanley, author of The Loyal West: Civil War and Reunion in the Middle America"Zachary Stuart Garrison makes a powerful case for the importance of German liberal ideology to the development of antislavery thought in the Midwest. This nuanced depiction of the evolution of that ideology during the middle of the nineteenth century demonstrates the centrality of German liberalism to explaining both why so many Germans became radical Republicans during the Civil War and why so many sought moderation during Reconstruction"—Kristen Layne Anderson, author of Abolitionizing Missouri: German Immigrants and Racial Ideology in Nineteenth-Century America

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Book SynopsisOffers a riveting and significant social history of black emancipation activism in Indiana and Illinois during the Civil War era. By enlarging the definition of emancipation to include black activism, Jennifer Harbour details the aggressive, tenacious defiance through which Midwestern African Americans made freedom tangible for themselves.Trade Review“Jennifer R. Harbour deftly teases out everyday acts of bravery in the black communities of Illinois and Indiana in their pursuit of emancipation as a conscious, concerted, collective, and ongoing action. With vivid examples she reveals men, women, and children not only surviving in a threatening environment but also defining the terms of freedom as something greater than the absence of slavery. This is an important contribution to Underground Railroad, abolitionist, and Civil War studies.”—Leigh Fought, author of Women in the World of Frederick Douglass “Harbour skillfully presents the struggle for emancipation in a new light, one that illuminates the activism of black men and women and their extraordinary effort to carve out communities and civic organizations in the midst of white supremacy.”—Stephen I. Rockenbach, author of War upon Our Border: Two Ohio Valley Communities Navigate the Civil War “This pathbreaking study achieves several important goals by broadening our definition of ‘emancipation,’ redirecting our gaze westward, forcing us to consider the important role of women, and describing in detail the crucial role of black organizational activity in the antebellum Midwest.”—Beverly C. Tomek, author of Pennsylvania Hall: A “Legal Lynching” in the Shadow of the Liberty Bell

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Book SynopsisThis sophisticated strategic and operational analysis of General Ulysses S. Grant's command decisions and actions shows how his determined leadership relieved the siege and shattered the enemy, resulting in the creation of a new strategic base of Union operations and Grant's elevation to commander of all the Federal armies.Trade Review“Faced with a crisis at Chattanooga, Abraham Lincoln turned to his most successful general, Ulysses S. Grant, to rescue the Union forces desperately holding on to the strategic little city on the Tennessee River. Employing the impressive body of research he amassed for his well-acclaimed work on the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaign, David A. Powell concisely and insightfully demonstrates how Grant, with both persistence and flexibility, led troops from three different Union armies to gain a significant victory." —Sam Davis Elliott, author of John C. Brown of Tennessee: Rebel, Redeemer, and Railroader“In this engagingly written account of the Chattanooga campaign, Powell transitions seamlessly between the tactical and strategic levels of war, recounting the mud and blood of the battlefield as well as the rancor and resentment among the commanders. Powell’s narrative reveals how Grant managed his commanders’ egos, foibles, and personalities to prevail in the struggle over the vital rail center of Chattanooga. The Impulse of Victory is a good introduction to the battles for Chattanooga and Grant’s contributions to Union victory." —Harry S. Laver, U.S. Army Command and General Staff School, author of A General Who Will Fight: The Leadership of Ulysses S. GrantTable of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Prologue 1. “Some Western General of High Rank” 2. “Wet, Dirty, and Well” 3. “They Looked upon the Garrison as Prisoners of War” 4. “Recollect That East Tennessee Is My Horror” 5. “We Went in a Zigzag” 6. “The Elements Were against Us” 7. “It Is All Poetry” 8. “We Shall Have a Battle on Mission Ridge” 9. “Inspired by the Impulse of Victory” 10. “A Most Important Position” 11. “A Very Dangerous Defile” 12.The Best-Planned Battle? Appendix: Order of Battle, Chattanooga Campaign Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisUtilizing an array of local and national archives, as well as private papers, the microhistorical approach of this book records events that often go unnoticed, such as a farmer enlisting in the middle of a crop field, a sister searching her brother's face for signs of war, and an immigrant dying in an effort to become a good American citizen.Trade Review“In this intriguing collective biography of five immigrant men, Diana L. Dretske sheds important light on immigrant soldiers in the Civil War and on the Western Theater of the war, two aspects of the Civil War that are traditionally neglected. Lincoln referred to America as ‘the last best hope of earth,’ and the stories of the five men included herein confirm that they understood that better than many of their native-born fellow soldiers. Their story is well told, making for a very rewarding and edifying read.”- Jason H. Silverman, author of Lincoln and the Immigrant and When America Welcomed Immigrants;“In addition to providing a compelling and revealing account of the hardships endured on and off the battlefield, Diana L. Dretske draws from recent scholarship on the soldier and immigrant experience to help readers understand how the stories of these men reflected larger dynamics that shaped and were shaped by America’s bloodiest war. Theirs is an important story and one that The Bonds of War tells well.”- Ethan S. Rafuse, author of McClellan’s War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union;“Immigrant and minority studies are becoming commonplace in today’s ‘New Military History,’ but rarely do we get such a provocative story as told in The Bonds of War. Dretske has done us all a service by tracing the history of a photograph of five friends who went off to war together. The result is more than a history of their regiment or even of the five men in the photograph; it is a fascinating walk through the tough years of war with men who almost become personal acquaintances.”- Timothy B. Smith, author of Shiloh: Conquer or Perish and The Real Horse Soldiers: Benjamin Grierson’s Epic 1863 Civil War Raid through Mississippi;“Dretske’s excellent collective biography of five immigrant soldiers is a valuable addition to our understanding of why recently arrived migrants fought for the Union. Though motivated in part by a sense of gratitude to their new country, this book highlights the importance of local communities, and the relationships that immigrants formed there, in encouraging them to participate in America’s bloodiest war.”- David T. Gleeson, author of The Green and the Gray: The Irish in the Confederate States of America

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Book SynopsisIn 1213, Pope Innocent III issued his letter Vineam Domini, thundering against the enemies of Christendom—the beasts of many kinds that are attempting to destroy the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth—and announcing a General Council of the Latin Church as redress. The Fourth Lateran Council, which convened in 1215, was unprecedented in its scope and impact, and it called for the Fifth Crusade as what its participants hoped would be the final defense of Christendom. For the first time, a collection of extensively annotated and translated documents illustrates the transformation of the crusade movement.Crusade and Christendom explores the way in which the crusade was used to define and extend the intellectual, religious, and political boundaries of Latin Christendom. It also illustrates how the very concept of the crusade was shaped by the urge to define and reform communities of practice and belief within Latin Christendom and by Latin Christendom''s reTrade Review"Dedicated to Powell's memory, this book is more than a fitting memorial, it is a masterpiece. . . . A monumental resource that will deservedly be consulted for decades to come." * Council for European Studies *"This is more than just a new sourcebook. It provides thorough and thoughtful introductions to sources and their contexts, useful bibliographical notes for each topic, an implicit argument about the nature of the Crusades, and as comprehensive a collection of sources on the thirteenth-century Crusades as exists on the market." * The Medieval Review *"The translations are crisp, and a scholarly introduction and up-to-date bibliographical apparatus accompany every entry. In a subject where research interests are rapidly expanding, this stands to be of enormous value." * Journal of Military History *"Far more than a sourcebook, this is an authoritative guide to the crusading movement in the crucial years between the Third Crusade and the fall of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Through its copious and clear translations, this book brings to students the voices of those who experienced the crusades and their effects. Scholars will also benefit from the expert historiographical and topical discussions as well as up-to-date bibliographies. It is a real trove of information for anyone interested in the thirteenth century." * Thomas Madden, St. Louis University *"Crusade and Christendom is a revelation, a source collection that will revolutionize the teaching of the crusades. It accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of capturing the richness and complexity of the crusade movement as it was reinvented by Pope Innocent III and further developed by his successors in the thirteenth century. Many of the documents included here are translated in this volume for the first time, and together they cast light on an astonishing variety of phenomena. From the wars against heresy in southern France to negotiations with Mongol armies on the frontiers of Asia, from highly technical papal bulls to gripping battle narratives, from the ecstatic dreams of the Children's Crusade to the mundane details of buying a ticket to the Holy Land, Crusade and Christendom opens up the legal, military, and imaginative worlds not just of the crusaders but of medieval Europe and the Middle East more broadly. An essential classroom companion." * Jay Rubenstein, University of Tennessee *Table of ContentsEditors' Note Maps 1. The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Thirteenth Century 2. Areas of the Albigensian Crusade in Southern France 3. The Fourth Crusade's Route to Constantinople 4. The Damietta Region of Egypt 5. Progress of the Reconquista in Iberia 6. The Mediterranean Region Note on Abbreviations and Translation Introduction: Crusade and Christendom, 1187-1291 1. Gregory VIII, Audita tremendi, 1187 PART I. THE POPE, CRUSADES, AND COMMUNITIES, 1198-1213 2. Innocent III, Post miserabile, 1198 3. Innocent III, Multe nobis attulit, 1199 4. The Lambrecht Rite for Taking the Cross, ca. 1200 5. Innocent III's Response to the Questions of Hubert Walter, 1200-1201 6. Facets of the Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204 7. The Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1229 8. Roman Intercessory Processions, 1212 9. The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212 10. The Children's Crusade, 1212-1213 PART II. CRUSADE AND COUNCIL, 1213-1215 11. Innocent III, Quia maior, 1213 12. Innocent III, Pium et sanctum, 1213 13. An Anonymous Crusade-Recruiting Sermon, ca. 1213-1217 14. Innocent III's Response to the Questions of Conrad of Speyer, Quod iuxta verbum, 1213 15. Roger Wendover on the Fourth Lateran Council, 1215 16. The Fourth Lateran Council, Canon 71, Ad liberandam, 1215 PART III. THE FIFTH CRUSADE, 1213-1221 17. Roger Wendover on Signs and Portents, 1217 18. Letters of Gervase of Prémontré, 1216-1217 19. James of Vitry's Sermon to Pilgrims, 1229-1240 20. The Rhineland Crusaders, 1220 21. Oliver of Paderborn, The Capture of Damietta, ca. 1217-1222 22. Roger Wendover, Three Letters from the East, 1221-1222 23. Two Recruiters in Marseilles, 1224 24. Ibn Wasil on the Frankish Surrender, ca. 1282 PART IV. THE EMPEROR'S CRUSADE, 1227-1229 25. Roger Wendover on the Crusade of Frederick II, ca. 1230 26. Philip of Novara on the Crusade of Frederick II, ca. 1230 27. Frederick II, Letter to Henry III of England, 1229 28. Ibn Wasil (ca. 1282) and Ibn al-Jauzi (ca. 1250) on the Loss of Jerusalem 29. The Letter of Gerold on Antichrist, ca. 1230 PART V. THE BARONS' CRUSADE, 1234-1245 30. Gregory IX, Rachel suum videns, 1234 31. Gregory IX to the Mendicant Orders, Pium et sanctum,1234 32. Matthew Paris on Mendicant Preaching, 1234-1236 33. Lyrics of Thibaut IV of Champagne, ca. 1234-1239 34. Gregory IX to Frederick II, Considerantes olim, 1238 35. Matthew Paris: Richard of Cornwall on Crusade, 1245 36. Matthew Paris on Crusade Financing, 1241 37. Matthew Paris: The Sack of Jerusalem, 1244 38. The First Council of Lyons, 1245 PART VI. THE MONGOL CRUSADES, 1241-1262 39. Henry of Saxony to the Duke of Brabant, 1241 40. Frederick II to the Christian Princes, 1241 41. Gregory IX to King Bela of Hungary, Vocem in excelso, 1241 42. Gregory IX to the Abbot of Heiligenkreuz, Vocem in excelso, 1241 43. Continuatio Sancrucensis, 1234-1266 44. A Thirteenth-Century English Liturgical Response to the Mongol Threat 45. Matthew Paris on Archbishop Peter and the Mongol Threat, 1244 46. The First Council of Lyons, 1245 47. The Master of the Temple to the Preceptor of Templar Houses in England, 1261 48. Alexander IV on the Tartar Threat, Clamat in auribus, 1261 49. Letter from Hülagü, Il-Khan of Persia, to Louis IX, 1262 PART VII. THE SAINT'S CRUSADES, 1248-1270 50. Jean de Joinville's Preparations for Departure on Crusade, 1248 51. John Sarrasin's Letter on the Capture of Damietta, 1249 52. Ibn Wasil (ca. 1282) and al-Makrisi (ca. 1440) on Louis's Defeat 53. Louis's Letter to the People of France, 1250 54. The Pastoureaux, 1251 55. The Register of Eudes Rigaud, 1260-1269 56. Rutebeuf, "Lament of the Holy Land," ca. 1266 PART VIII. THE ITALIAN CRUSADES, 1241-1268 57. Gregory IX to John of Civitella, Cum tibi duxerimus, 1241 58. Matthew Paris on Staufer Italy, 1245-1269 59. Urban IV to Louis IX on Manfred, Ecce fili carissime, 1264 60. Salimbene of Parma on Staufer Italy, ca. 1285 61. The Chronicle of Pedro III of Aragon (r. 1283-1288 PART IX. LIVING AND DYING ON CRUSADE 62. Ticket-Scalping on a Crusade Ship, 1248 63. Contract of Crusade Service, 1270 64. Lawsuit for Breach of Contract, 1250 65. Traveling in Style and at Risk, 1216-1217 66. The Last Will and Testament of Barzella Merxadrus, 1219 67. The Codicil of Count Henry of Rodez, 1222 68. The Archbishop of York on Ignoble Pilgrims, 1275 PART X. THE ROAD TO ACRE, 1265-1291 69. Gilbert of Tournai on Reform and Crusade, ca. 1272-1274 70. Humbert of Romans, Opusculum tripartitum, ca. 1272-1274 71. Gregory X and the Second Council of Lyons, 1274 72. The Templar of Tyre on the Fall of Acre, 1291 73. Abu l-Fida' and Abu l-Mahasin on the Fall of Acre, 1291 Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisBoth the Iraqi and the American people want the United States to withdraw from Iraq. How to Get Out of Iraq with Integrity presents an incisive and bold argument that shows how to do just that without betraying U.S. commitments to Arabs, Kurds, or democracy.Trade Review"Brendan O'Leary asks all Americans, whether they supported or opposed the Iraq war, to think very carefully about getting out. His tough-minded argument for withdrawal and his sober and wise design for an honorable exit deserve our closest attention." * Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University *"Brendan O'Leary argues that, amid all the chaos, bloodshed, and mismanagement, the outstanding achievement of post-Saddam Iraq is the 2005 constitution. Hammered out between Iraqis without dictation by the Americans, it represents the only basis for an honorable American withdrawal-as long as the United States, Iraq's neighbors, and Iraqis themselves respect it and treat it as the indispensable template for a stable future, which Professor O'Leary convincingly argues that it is. This passionate and perceptive book should be required reading for the new Administration." * Martin Woollacott, Foreign Correspondent, The Guardian *Table of ContentsPreface PART I. EVALUATING THE U.S.-LED INTERVENTION IN IRAQ Chapter 1. The Bush Administration's Formal Goals Chapter 2. Bipartisan Congressional Goals for Iraq Chapter 3. The Imputed Goals of the Bush Administration PART II. THE CASE FOR A SUBSTANTIVE WITHDRAWAL Chapter 4. Costs, Sunk Costs, and Potential Benefits Chapter 5. Securing the Iraqi Federation for All Its Peoples PART III. LEAVING WITH INTEGRITY Chapter 6. Respecting Iraq's Constitutional Integrity Chapter 7. Respecting Iraq's Territorial Integrity Chapter 8. Informing, Calming, and Working with the Neighbors. Chapter 9. Cleaning Up Without Ruling Appendices 1. On Difficulties in Counting Deaths in Iraq 2. Xenophobia, Sexism, In-Group Solidarity, Traditional Religiosity, and Democratic Dispositions in Iraq Notes Index Acknowledgments and Sources

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Book SynopsisIn Getting Out, a diverse cast of noted scholars and journalists considers how the United States might leave Iraq by examining seven historical case studies on how to and how not to withdraw from occupied territory.Trade Review"An arresting, morally serious book, of the sort that readers have come to expect from the precincts of Dissent." * Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy: Jackson to Lincoln *"From Stanley Weintraub's crisp essay on Great Britain's withdrawal from the Colonies after its defeat in the American Revolutionary War to studies of much more recent disengagements, the contributions offer a variety of useful and stimulating perspectives on the complex problems involved in orderly withdrawals." * Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs *"This admirable book makes it plain that one reason why military occupations are, in general, a bad idea, is that exit ramps get blocked and horrors ensue. It is morally evident that, for the occupying power, there is no end to responsibilities, which begin even in nightmares. This is not a book that offers simple recipes for Iraq or Afghanistan. But people of all persuasions should read it to deepen their awareness of the moral imperatives." * Todd Gitlin, Columbia University *"This collection will appeal to a broad audience. Excellent at dealing with a complicated topic both historically and in terms of the current situation in Iraq, it will appeal to anyone interested in the fate of our world today." * Library Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction —Michael Walzer LESSONS FROM THE PAST 1. No Exit but Victory: Britain and the American Colonies —Stanley Weintraub 2. America and the Philippines: The Graceful Withdrawal —Stanley Karnow 3. India and Britain: The Consequences of Leaving Too Soon —Rajeev Bhargava 4. The Surprising Success: The United States and Korea —Fred Smoler 5. France and Algeria: Claim Victory and Au Revoir —Todd Shepard 6. Vietnam and the United States: The Price of Intransigence —Frances FitzGerald 7. The Gates of Gaza and the Limits of Power: Israel and Gaza —Shlomo Avineri GETTING IN/GETTING OUT 8. 9/11 and the Road to Iraq —Nicolaus Mills 9. The Persistence of Empire —David Bromwich 10. Departing Responsibly —Brendan O'Leary 11. It Isn't Over —George Packer List of Contributors Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThis is one of the first books about the Spanish period in West Florida (1797-1805) written from the Spanish point of view. Using Spanish archival sources, Gilbert Din is able to shed new light on the machinations of William Augustus Bowles, an adventurer who sought to introduce goods, subvert the Creek Indians, and deprive the Spaniards of territory.Trade Review“Using a plethora of previously unexamined documents from a number of archives, this work provides the first clear understanding of William Augustus Bowles and his exploits along the Spanish Gulf Coast and among the Creek Indians, demonstrating unequivocally that the glory-seeking adventurer was not the tragic heroic figure that he and previous historians have claimed.” — F. Todd Smith, University of North Texas

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Book SynopsisPrevious biographies of Abraham Lincoln have typically focused on his experiences in the White House. In Becoming Lincoln, historian William Freehling instead emphasizes the prewar years, revealing how Lincoln came to be the extraordinary leader who would guide America through its most bitter chapter.

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Book SynopsisThe Lost Cause ideology that emerged after the Civil War and flourished in the early twentieth century sought to recast a struggle to perpetuate a slaveholding culture as a heroic defense of the South. As Adam Domby reveals in his new book, this was not only an insidious goal; it was founded on falsehoods.Trade ReviewA fascinating, original, and highly readable bookthat makes a meaningful contribution to understanding the Lost Cause and Civil War memory.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTakes a holistic and integrative approach to strategy, operations, and tactics during the Korean War's stalemate period and demonstrates how these matters shaped each other and influenced, or were influenced by, political and strategic policy decision-making.Trade Review“Korean Showdown links the tactical, operational, and strategic levels for the two Koreas, the US, and the People’s Republic of China. For the first time in an English language work, this book shows the Chinese side of this dynamic and how it interacted with the American side on all three levels.” —William M. Donnelly, author of Under Army Orders: The Army National Guard during the Korean War“Dr. Gibby offers one of the best US military history studies on the Korean War by successfully examining how the US Army applied total war experience and training to a new limited war and accomplished Washington’s Cold War political goal in East Asia. A milestone in US military history research of the Korean War. He focuses on the US war strategy and operations of 1952, the most forgotten year of the ‘forgotten war.’ His well-researched study provides a better understanding of the military historiography of the Korean War and essential to understanding general trends in military cultures of the United States. It is highly recommended.” —Xiaobing Li, author of A History of the Modern Chinese Army “Bryan Gibby has made a major contribution to military history with this detailed description of an often-forgotten year in an often-forgotten war. Yet this experience trying to apply coercion in a limited war 70 years ago is still very relevant to the problems of contemporary war termination. Scholars and soldiers, as well as policy makers, will profit from reading this thoughtful book.” —Conrad C. Crane, author of American Airpower Strategy in Korea, 1950-1953

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Book SynopsisRecounts the volatile period following the end of the Civil War, when Southern whites were forced to concede equal rights to former slaves, ushering in a new and ruthless brand of politics. Nowhere was this more evident than in Alabama, where the Republican Party reestablished itself with the participation of a newly freed constituency.Trade Review“I enjoyed reading this detailed, informative, and lively account of Alabama’s Reconstruction saga. Rogers’s dedication shows." —Ben H. Severance, author of A War State All Over: Alabama Politics and the Confederate Cause"William Warren Rogers Jr. has redeemed a critical period of Alabama history too long distorted by racist Bourbon mythology. Prodigiously researched, nicely paced, and evenly balanced, "Reconstruction Politics in a Deep South State" is a landmark study." —John S. Sledge, author The Mobile River, These Rugged Days: Alabama in the Civil War, and The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History

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Book SynopsisThe only Confederate ship to circumnavigate the globe. The Confederate cruiser Shenandoah was the last of a group of commerce raiders deployed to prey on Union merchant ships. Ordered to the Pacific Ocean to greatly damage and disperse the Yankee whaling fleet in those waters, the Shenandoah's successful pursuit of her quarry compared favourably with the exploits of the more celebrated Alabama and Florida but has never been as well known because it coincided with the war's end and the Confederacy's downfall. It was, however, one of the best documented naval expeditions from England to the Indian Ocean, Australia and the South Pacific, the Bering Sea, San Francisco, and finally to port in Liverpool during the Civil War. The ship's log and Captain James Waddell's notes are well preserved, and a number of the Shenandoah's officers kept detailed journals of the entire voyage. One of the most significant journals, by Lieutenant William Whittle, is presented here, with annotations fromTrade Review“The Voyage of the CSS Shenandoah is an invaluable primary source about what life was like on board a Confederate commerce raider and the kind of men who sailed on them.” Journal of Southern History“Students of the Confederate Navy will want this volume for its detailed observations of an historic, albeit strategically sterile, cruise and its insights into the personnel and operations of the service. For others, it will provide both authentic seagoing adventure and food for thought on the nature of command at sea.” Civil War Book Review“All told, The Voyage of the CSS Shenandoah is a good read, very well annotated, and a must for anyone interested in Civil War or Confederate naval history. It will no doubt take a rightful place as a cornerstone volume in the study of Confederate naval history.” International Journal of Naval History

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Book SynopsisBuilding upon the current scholarship of the Civil War and the Midwest, Michigan’s War is a history as told by the state’s residents in private letters, newspapers, and other sources. Clear annotations and thoughtful editing allow students to delve into the political, social, and military context of the war, making it ideal for classroom use.Trade Review“(M)ore than soldiers‘ stories and the usual ’greatest hits‘ of Michigan in the war…. (Michigan’s War is) an excellent collection of real, mainly contemporaneous documents…. (T)here are also heart-breaking and troubling views here that reflect Michigandlers’ ambivalence over the war and abolition, and out-and-out racism…. Any serious reader of the state’s history in the Civil War will not want to leave this book to college students.” * Civil War Book Review *

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Book SynopsisMany of the original essays in this volume began as papers presented at an international conference on Constitutional Democracy. Contributors reassess and add to historians' understanding of the full scope of the causes and consequences of what came to be known as the Missouri Crisis, on a regional and national basis.Trade Review“This book will reset the standard by which historians understand the Missouri Crisis, the politics of slavery, and the Early National era more broadly. The editors did an outstanding job of bringing together scholars who approach the topic from a variety of perspectives, and in doing so, not only re-center the Missouri Crisis historiographically, but offer compelling new lenses through which all historians will need to consider the political history of slavery and anti-slavery in the early United States.”— Ryan A. Quintana, Wellesley College, author of Making a Slave State: Political Development in Early South Carolina

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Book SynopsisJohn Potts Slough, the Union commander at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, lived a life of relentless pursuit for success that entangled him in the turbulent events of mid-nineteenth-century America. Recounting Slough's timeless story of rise and fall during America's most tumultuous decades, Richard Miller brings to life this extraordinary figure.

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Book SynopsisA masterful account of the Civil War's turning point in the tradition of James McPherson's Crossroads of Freedom.Trade Review"Slotkin has produced an absorbing revisionist history of what could be called the second American Revolution." "An absorbing account... Slotkin paints a detailed portrait of the talented but flawed general who helped Lincoln bring about his revolution, if ever so unwillingly... Slotkin's description of the battle is essential to completing his meticulous, maddening portrait of McClellan." -- John Swansburg "Slotkin does an excellent job of tracing the strategies used by both sides." "Richard Slotkin has added significantly to the literature... Slotkin evokes drama and, where appropriate, dark humor in recalling what became an extraordinary test of civilian authority over the military... Slotkin is an accomplished social historian (and novelist) with a focus on war and race, and he brings all his considerable skills to bear in this book. What makes even his unsurprising conclusions unfold at such a gripping pace is his great gift for narrative. It is as if Carl Sandburg were writing again-but with footnotes-for the author is a master at telling a story, capturing a mood, bringing characters to life, and making substantive and well-documented historical points in the bargain." -- Harold Holzer "Slotkin tells a great story and for those interested in battle narratives, I have little doubt that you will enjoy his narration of Antietam... Slotkin does a great job laying out this conflict and how Lincoln managed to rid himself of the McClellan problem, issue the Emancipation Proclamation, and turn the Civil War into a holy war that ended slavery. Notably, Slotkin notes that the alleged international reasons for the Emancipation Proclamation are vastly overrated and it had little to no effect on British or French policy toward the conflict... The Long Road to Antietam will change how I teach the first two years of the war. In my world, that's a pretty high compliment." -- Erik Loomis "A remarkable piece of work, an eye-opening double history of a battle and a war." -- Randy Dotinga "A riveting, perceptive analysis of the Civil War campaigns of 1862, of the reasoning behind the Emancipation Proclamation and of the complex power struggle between President Abraham Lincoln and the 35-year-old Union Commander of the Army of the Potomac, Gen. George B. McClellan... This is one of the most moving and incisive books on the Civil War that I have ever read." -- Chris Patsilelis "Starred review. Historian Slotkin moves from his path-breaking studies of America's cultural mythology of violence to a set piece of real-life carnage in this gripping, multifaceted history of the Civil War's bloodiest day... Grounding military operations in political calculation and personal character, Slotkin gives us perhaps the richest interpretation yet of this epic of regenerative violence." "Throughout the book, the author exhibits his vast knowledge of the numerous generals involved in both sides of the conflict. Slotkin's comprehensive descriptions of the battles of 1862 show his deep understanding of the terrain, the difficulties of communication, the impossible logistics and the characters that influenced the outcome. The author deftly exposes his egocentric, messianic tendencies as he purposely prolonged the beginning of the conflict." "This is much more than another treatise on the battle itself. Yes, the movements and countermovements on the battlefield are there, but this sprawling book has multi-faceted tentacles which Slotkin, an award winning author and former university professor, skillfully weaves into a cohesive narrative... This is a thought-provoking book which goes well beyond the standard battle narratives and places Antietam in its full context as a significant point of change in U.S. domestic policy, a shift with far-reaching ramifications for the next century." -- Scott Mingus "In this engrossing book Richard Slotkin looks beyond that blood-drenched battlefield to explore how President Abraham Lincoln linked victory at Antietam to his decision to free slaves and declare that they could join the Union Army." -- Thomas B. Allen "Slotkin thus reminds us that the social violence of civil wars always create the potential for the overthrow of civil authority by a military dictatorship... An arresting account of a particular moment in the war: of a Washington atmosphere 'thick with treason.'" -- Stephanie McCurry

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