Specific wars and military campaigns Books
The University of Chicago Press Bedrooms of the Fallen
Book SynopsisOver the years, the US has been fighting wars so far from the public eye as to risk being forgotten, the struggles and sacrifices of its volunteer soldiers almost ignored. This book features images that depict the bedrooms of forty fallen soldiers - the equivalent of a single platoon - from the US, Canada, and several European nations.Trade Review"The need to see America's twenty-first-century war dead, and to make them seen-to give their absence presence-has consumed Ashley Gilbertson for much of the past decade.... To picture death, Gilbertson decided to picture how and where the dead had lived. He set about photographing their bedrooms, many of which had been preserved by their families in much the same spirit that Gilbertson preserved them with his camera: as memorials.... But taken together, these photographs defy any effort to seek in a room's furnishings an echo of its former occupant's fate. Their power lies in reminding us of the disconnect between life and death." (Philip Gourevitch, from the foreword)"
£29.45
The University of Chicago Press The Defense of Jisr alDoreaa
Book SynopsisHelps draw the road map for counterinsurgency in the postmodern world. This book is suitable for cadets and junior military leaders - as well as general readers seeking a deeper understanding of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Trade Review"This is a terrific and illuminating piece of writing, one of the best things to come out of the Iraq war. It reads to me like a history of the conflict as it would be told by a smart American platoon leader. It should be in the rucksack of every soldier heading to Iraq, and also should be read by anyone who cares about this war. If you want to support our troops, buy it right now." - Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq"
£18.58
The University of Chicago Press The Coming of the Civil War Phoenix Books
Book SynopsisIn recent years a highly industrious school of historians has begun asking whether the war should have been fought at all and whether it was perhaps not more the fault of the North than of the South. Seeking to revise earlier judgments they have become known as the revisionists, and one of the most gifted and studious of them all is Avery Craven, whose The Coming of the Civil War . . . is one of the landmarks of revisionist literature.Bruce Catton, American Heritage. . . those who would examine the democratic process during a period of progressive breakdown, in order to understand the dangers it embodies within itself, will find The Coming of the Civil War a classic analysis.Louis D. Rubin, Jr., Sewanee ReviewThe book has always been recognized, even by its most severe critics, as a work of consummate scholarship.T. Harry Williams, Baton Rouge Morning Advocate
£38.00
The University of Chicago Press Children of the Greek Civil War
Book SynopsisAt the height of the Greek Civil War in 1948, thirty-eight thousand children were evacuated from their homes. The Greek Communist Party relocated half of them to orphanages in Eastern Europe, while their adversaries placed the rest in children's homes elsewhere in Greece. This book presents a comprehensive study of the two evacuation programs.Trade Review"This remarkable study breaks new ground in several areas: in its methodology, its style, and its topic. Balanced to an impressive degree, Children of the Greek Civil War succeeds magnificently in showing the parallels between the experiences of the two sides in a way that is moving as well as analytically compelling." (Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University)"
£85.00
The University of Chicago Press Children of the Greek Civil War
Book SynopsisAt the height of the Greek Civil War in 1948, thirty-eight thousand children were evacuated from their homes. The Greek Communist Party relocated half of them to orphanages in Eastern Europe, while their adversaries placed the rest in children's homes elsewhere in Greece. This book presents a comprehensive study of the two evacuation programs.Trade Review"This remarkable study breaks new ground in several areas: in its methodology, its style, and its topic. Balanced to an impressive degree, Children of the Greek Civil War succeeds magnificently in showing the parallels between the experiences of the two sides in a way that is moving as well as analytically compelling." (Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University)"
£28.00
The University of Chicago Press Our Latest Longest War
Book SynopsisThe first rule of warfare is to know one's enemy. The second is to know thyself. More than fifteen years and three quarters of a trillion dollars after the US invasion of Afghanistan, it's clear that the United States followed neither rule well. America's goals in Afghanistan were lofty to begin with: dismantle al-Qaeda, remove the Taliban from power, remake the country into a democracy. But not only did the mission come completely unmoored from reality, the United States wasted billions of dollars, and thousands of lives were lost. Our Latest Longest War is a chronicle of how, why, and in what ways the war in Afghanistan failed. Edited by historian and Marine lieutenant colonel Aaron B. O'Connell, the essays collected here represent nine different perspectives on the war all from veterans of the conflict, both American and Afghan. Together, they paint a picture of a war in which problems of culture and ideology derailed nearly every field of endeavor. The authors also draw troubling parallels to the Vietnam War, arguing that deep-running ideological currents in American life explain why the US Government has repeatedly used armed nation-building to try to transform failing states into modern, liberal democracies. In Afghanistan, as in Vietnam, this created a dramatic mismatch of means and ends that neither money, technology, nor the force of arms could overcome. The war in Afghanistan has been the longest in US history. We lost the war, and somehow we continue to lose it every day. These are difficult topics for any American or Afghan to consider, especially for those who fought in the war or lost friends or family in it. This sobering history written by the very people who have been fighting the war is impossible to ignore.
£26.00
The University of Chicago Press Confederate Cities The Urban South during the
Book SynopsisWhen we talk about the Civil War, we often describe it in terms of battles that took place in small towns or in the countryside: Antietam, Gettysburg, Bull Run, and, most tellingly, the Battle of the Wilderness. One reason this picture has persisted is that few urban historians have studied the war, even though cities hosted, enabled, and shaped Southern society as much as they did in the North. Confederate Cities, edited by Andrew L. Slap and Frank Towers, shifts the focus from the agrarian economy that undergirded the South to the cities that served as its political and administrative hubs. The contributors use the lens of the city to examine now-familiar Civil War-era themes, including the scope of the war, secession, gender, emancipation, and war's destruction. This more integrative approach dramatically revises our understanding of slavery's relationship to capitalist economics and cultural modernity. By enabling a more holistic reading of the South, the book speaks to contemporar
£26.00
The University of Chicago Press Imperial City Rome under Napoleon
Book SynopsisIn 1798 the armies of the French Revolution tried to transform Rome from the capital of the Papal States to a Jacobin Republic. Based on primary sources and incorporating two centuries of Italian, French, and international research, this work reveals what life was like for Romans in the age of Napoleon.Trade Review"A remarkable book that wonderfully vivifies an understudied era in the history of Rome.... This book will engage anyone interested in early modern cities, the relationship between religion and daily life, and the history of the city of Rome." - Journal of Modern History "An engaging account of Tosca's Rome.... Nicassio provides a fluent introduction to her subject." - History Today "Meticulously researched, drawing on a host of original manuscripts, memoirs, personal letters, and secondary sources, enabling Nicassio to bring her story to life." - History"
£19.00
The University of Chicago Press Our Latest Longest War
Book SynopsisA group of veterans of the war explain how we misjudged our ability, ignored Afghan culture, and set ourselves up to fail.Trade Review"A measured and clear-eyed look at the deep rooted challenges embedded in the ongoing effort to achieve a stable and successful outcome in Afghanistan--many of which are of our own making through inattention to the history and culture of this complex nation. As NATO Commander with overall strategic command of the operation, I watched four successive ISAF Commanders--loyal subordinates and brilliant Generals all--try and fail to overcome the inherent contradictions in our approach. This collection of well sourced essays illuminates our collective failures, despite the best of intentions."--Admiral James Stavridis "USN (Ret), Supreme Allied Commander at NATO 2009-2013 " "Our Latest Longest War is a unique collection of essays, written by those who actually implemented Afghanistan policy in the field, not by the senior government officials halfway around the world in Washington. The complexity and difficulty of counterinsurgency warfare are made clear in this superbly edited book. A must read for government and military leaders tempted to frame decisions as overly simplistic binary choices, and for those who are called upon to serve at 'the tip of the spear' and face realities not understood and acknowledged at the strategic level."--Karl W. Eikenberry "ambassador and Lieutenant General, retired, US Army, Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow, Stanford " "Nothing has ever been easy in the shadow of the Hindu Kush, and the essays in Our Latest Longest War convey that accurately, thoughtfully, and unblinkingly. This superb collection of essays by scholars and practitioners illuminates the innumerable challenges and harsh realities with which those of us engaged in Afghanistan contended in our collective endeavor to ensure that the country was never again a sanctuary for Al Qaeda or other transnational extremists--as it was when the 9/11 attacks were planned there."--General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret), Commander, "US Central Command 2008-10, Intnl Security Assistance Force & US Forces in Afghanistan 2010-11 "
£24.00
The University of Chicago Press Reconstruction after the Civil War Third Edition
Book SynopsisPart of the Chicago History of American Civilization series, which provides a nuanced and vibrant portrait of the United States from its inception through the twentieth century.
£21.36
Columbia University Press The Tet Offensive
Book SynopsisIn the Tet Offensive of 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launched a massive countrywide attack on South Vietnam. This work claims Hanoi won a strategic victory. It begins with a historical overview of the events leading up to the offensive, the attack itself, and the consequent battles of Saigon, Hue, and Khe Sahn.Trade ReviewAn excellent supplementary text for college and university courses. Library Journal A careful and judicious evaluation... Students especially will find this invaluable. -- Lawrence D. Freedman Foreign Affairs The Tet Offensive will be of great value to military professionals, historians, and Vietnam veterans. -- Col. Gordon W. Keiser, U.S. Marine Corps Proceedings [A] well-written, and helpful reference... The Tet Offensive is enjoyable reading and an important new addition. -- MAJ John M. Hawkins Military Review Thorough... An excellent work worthy of inclusion in collections of studies on the Vietnam War. -- Larry K. Burke The Journal of Military History Without a doubt, this work will become the initial resource that student and historians alike will pull off the shelf to comprehend this seminal military event... Highly recommended. ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Maps AbbreviationsPart I Historical OverviewChapter 1. PreludeAmerican Public Opinion Public Relations and Westmoreland's Optimism Troop Disposition The Communist Decision to Conduct the Offensive The Plan Preparing for the OffensiveChapter 2. Border Battles, Hill Fights, and Khe SanhKhe Sanh The Hill Fights Operation Niagara The Siege of Khe Sanh BeginsChapter 3. The Tet OffensiveThe Offensive Begins The Battle for Saigon The Battle at the U.S. Embasssy Attacks Around the City The Battle of Cholon TEt CountrywideChapter 4. The Battle for HueThe Battle Begins The Marines Respond Fighting in the New City The Fight for the CitadelChapter 5. The Siege of Khe SanhThe Fall of Lang Vei Resupplying the Marines Tactical Air Support A New Attack Lifting the SiegeChapter 6. The Impact of the Tet OffensivePolitical Fallout The Request for Additional Troops The New Hampshire Primary The Presidential Election of 1968Chapter 7. Assessing the Tet OffensivePart II Issues and InterpretationsChapter 8. Motivations and Objectives of the Tet OffensiveChapter 9. Military Intelligence and the Surprise at TetChapter 10. What Happened at Hue?Chapter 11. Why Khe Sanh?Chapter 12. Tet and the MediaChapter 13. Tet and the American Military StrategyNotesPart III Chronology, 1967-68Part IV The Tet Offensive A to ZPart V DocumentsPresident Johnson's "San Antonio Formula" Speech of September 29, 1967Directive on Forthcoming Offensive and Uprisings, Priovincial Party Standing Committee, 1 November 1967Capabilities of the Vietnamese Communists for Fighting in South Vietnam, November 13, 1967 (Extract)Address by Commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam, General William C. Westmoreland, November 21, 1967 (Extract)"Saigon Under Fire," CBS News Special Report, January 31, 1968Memorandum from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Earle G. Wheeler for the President, February 12, 1968 (Extract)Walter Cronkite's "We are Mired in Stalemate" CBS News Broadcast, February 27, 1968Report of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Earle G. Wheeler on the Situation in Vietnam and MACV Force Requirements, February 27. 1968 (Extract)Summary of Notes from March 26, 1968, Meeting Between President Lyndon Johnson and the Wise MenPresident Johnson's Address to the Nation Announcing His Decision Not to Seek Reelection, March 31, 1968Part VI ResourcesGeneral WorksEncyclopedias, Bibliographies, Dictionaries, Guides, and Atlases General Histories, Anthologies Biographies Memoirs Vietnamese Perspectives Oral Histories Document CollectionsLyndon Johnson and the WarThe Tet OffensiveThe Battle of HueThe Siege of Khe SanhThe Hill Fights and Border BattlesPresident Lyndon Johnson and the MediaMilitary Intelligence and TetU.S. Strategy in VietnamCombat After-action Reports and Command HistoriesMicrofilm/MicroficheDocumentary FilmsElectronic ResourcesWeb Sites CD-ROMsArchives and LibrariesIndex
£83.60
Columbia University Press The Tet Offensive
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn excellent supplementary text for college and university courses. Library Journal A careful and judicious evaluation... Students especially will find this invaluable. -- Lawrence D. Freedman Foreign Affairs The Tet Offensive will be of great value to military professionals, historians, and Vietnam veterans. -- Col. Gordon W. Keiser, U.S. Marine Corps Proceedings [A] well-written, and helpful reference... The Tet Offensive is enjoyable reading and an important new addition. -- MAJ John M. Hawkins Military Review Thorough... An excellent work worthy of inclusion in collections of studies on the Vietnam War. -- Larry K. Burke The Journal of Military History Without a doubt, this work will become the initial resource that student and historians alike will pull off the shelf to comprehend this seminal military event... Highly recommended. ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Maps AbbreviationsPart I Historical OverviewChapter 1. PreludeAmerican Public Opinion Public Relations and Westmoreland's Optimism Troop Disposition The Communist Decision to Conduct the Offensive The Plan Preparing for the OffensiveChapter 2. Border Battles, Hill Fights, and Khe SanhKhe Sanh The Hill Fights Operation Niagara The Siege of Khe Sanh BeginsChapter 3. The Tet OffensiveThe Offensive Begins The Battle for Saigon The Battle at the U.S. Embasssy Attacks Around the City The Battle of Cholon TEt CountrywideChapter 4. The Battle for HueThe Battle Begins The Marines Respond Fighting in the New City The Fight for the CitadelChapter 5. The Siege of Khe SanhThe Fall of Lang Vei Resupplying the Marines Tactical Air Support A New Attack Lifting the SiegeChapter 6. The Impact of the Tet OffensivePolitical Fallout The Request for Additional Troops The New Hampshire Primary The Presidential Election of 1968Chapter 7. Assessing the Tet OffensivePart II Issues and InterpretationsChapter 8. Motivations and Objectives of the Tet OffensiveChapter 9. Military Intelligence and the Surprise at TetChapter 10. What Happened at Hue?Chapter 11. Why Khe Sanh?Chapter 12. Tet and the MediaChapter 13. Tet and the American Military StrategyNotesPart III Chronology, 1967-68Part IV The Tet Offensive A to ZPart V DocumentsPresident Johnson's "San Antonio Formula" Speech of September 29, 1967Directive on Forthcoming Offensive and Uprisings, Priovincial Party Standing Committee, 1 November 1967Capabilities of the Vietnamese Communists for Fighting in South Vietnam, November 13, 1967 (Extract)Address by Commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam, General William C. Westmoreland, November 21, 1967 (Extract)"Saigon Under Fire," CBS News Special Report, January 31, 1968Memorandum from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Earle G. Wheeler for the President, February 12, 1968 (Extract)Walter Cronkite's "We are Mired in Stalemate" CBS News Broadcast, February 27, 1968Report of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Earle G. Wheeler on the Situation in Vietnam and MACV Force Requirements, February 27. 1968 (Extract)Summary of Notes from March 26, 1968, Meeting Between President Lyndon Johnson and the Wise MenPresident Johnson's Address to the Nation Announcing His Decision Not to Seek Reelection, March 31, 1968Part VI ResourcesGeneral WorksEncyclopedias, Bibliographies, Dictionaries, Guides, and Atlases General Histories, Anthologies Biographies Memoirs Vietnamese Perspectives Oral Histories Document CollectionsLyndon Johnson and the WarThe Tet OffensiveThe Battle of HueThe Siege of Khe SanhThe Hill Fights and Border BattlesPresident Lyndon Johnson and the MediaMilitary Intelligence and TetU.S. Strategy in VietnamCombat After-action Reports and Command HistoriesMicrofilm/MicroficheDocumentary FilmsElectronic ResourcesWeb Sites CD-ROMsArchives and LibrariesIndex
£25.20
Columbia University Press The Columbia History of the Vietnam War
Book SynopsisTrade Review[A] brilliantly edited anthology featuring a wide variety of essays by the finest experts in the field... Essential. Choice An accessible and coherent account of the war's course, from before the United States' involvement to the North's eventual victory. -- Lawrence D. Freedman Foreign Affairs Essential reading. Masterfully written by the most prominent authorities on the Vietnam War. -- Shelton Woods Journal of World History A timely book with contemporary relevance, published at a time when America's experience in Vietnam continues to figure prominently in discussions about strategy and defense... Highly recommended. -- James H. Willbanks Parameters The major attraction of this volume is its winning combination of accessibility, authority, and intellectual depth. The editor should be congratulated for assembling a collection that should appeal across a wide spectrum of readers, from advanced college students to those with more expert knowledge on the war, who are looking for fresh insight or a cogent summary of an extensive literature. -- Matthew Jones Journal of American History David Anderson and Columbia University Press have published an important addition to Vietnam War literature. It is strongly recommended for all scholars and students of the Vietnam War and should be included in all academic libraries with an interest in this area. -- Peter Bush The Journal of Military History [An] invaluable study. The Scotsman With its sterling lineup of scholars, The Columbia History provides keen insights into the history of the war in Vietnam that are accessible to a broad readership and informative we grapple with current wars. -- R.V. Lee Vietnam The invaluable Columbia History of the Vietnam War offers cautionary lessons even as our nation fights three wars and continues planning for and spending enormous amounts for our inevitable future wars. -- Murray Polner History News NetworkTable of ContentsPreface Abbreviations Introduction: The Vietnam War and Its Enduring Historical Relevance David L. Anderson Part I. Chronological Perspectives 1. Setting the Stage: Vietnamese Revolutionary Nationalism and the First Vietnam War, by Mark Philip Bradley 2. "Dealing with a Government of Madmen": Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Ngo Dinh Diem, by Richard H. Immerman 3. South Vietnam Under Siege, 1961-1965: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Question of Escalation or Disengagement, by Gary R. Hess 4. Lyndon Johnson and the Bombing of Vietnam: Politics and Military Choices, by Lloyd C. Gardner 5. Turning Point: The Vietnam War's Pivotal Year, November 1967-November 1968, by Robert J. McMahon 6. Richard M. Nixon and the Vietnam War: The Paradox of Disengagement with Escalation, by Jeffrey P. Kimball Part II. Topical Perspectives 7. American Strategy in the Vietnam War, by John Prados 8. The Village War in Vietnam, 1965-1973, by Eric Bergerud 9. Fighting for Family: Vietnamese Women and the American War, by Helen E. Anderson 10. Vietnamese Society at War, by Robert K. Brigham 11. "Hey, Hey, LBJ!": American Domestic Politics and the Vietnam War, by Melvin Small 12. Cambodia and Laos in the Vietnam War, by Kenton Clymer Part III. Postwar Perspectives 13. The Legacy of the Vietnam War, by Robert D. Schulzinger 14. The Vietnam Syndrome, by George C. Herring List of Contributors Index
£91.52
Columbia University Press The Columbia History of the Vietnam War
Book SynopsisThe Columbia History of the Vietnam War offers new perspectives on the political, historical, military, and social issues that defined the war and its effect on the U.S. and Vietnam. This collection with contributions by leading scholars is essential to understanding America's entanglement in the Vietnam War and the history of modern Vietnam.Trade Review[A] brilliantly edited anthology featuring a wide variety of essays by the finest experts in the field... Essential. Choice An accessible and coherent account of the war's course, from before the United States' involvement to the North's eventual victory. -- Lawrence D. Freedman Foreign Affairs Essential reading. Masterfully written by the most prominent authorities on the Vietnam War. -- Shelton Woods Journal of World History A timely book with contemporary relevance, published at a time when America's experience in Vietnam continues to figure prominently in discussions about strategy and defense... Highly recommended. -- James H. Willbanks ParametersTable of ContentsPreface Abbreviations Introduction: The Vietnam War and Its Enduring Historical Relevance David L. Anderson Part I. Chronological Perspectives 1. Setting the Stage: Vietnamese Revolutionary Nationalism and the First Vietnam War, by Mark Philip Bradley 2. "Dealing with a Government of Madmen": Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Ngo Dinh Diem, by Richard H. Immerman 3. South Vietnam Under Siege, 1961-1965: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Question of Escalation or Disengagement, by Gary R. Hess 4. Lyndon Johnson and the Bombing of Vietnam: Politics and Military Choices, by Lloyd C. Gardner 5. Turning Point: The Vietnam War's Pivotal Year, November 1967-November 1968, by Robert J. McMahon 6. Richard M. Nixon and the Vietnam War: The Paradox of Disengagement with Escalation, by Jeffrey P. Kimball Part II. Topical Perspectives 7. American Strategy in the Vietnam War, by John Prados 8. The Village War in Vietnam, 1965-1973, by Eric Bergerud 9. Fighting for Family: Vietnamese Women and the American War, by Helen E. Anderson 10. Vietnamese Society at War, by Robert K. Brigham 11. "Hey, Hey, LBJ!": American Domestic Politics and the Vietnam War, by Melvin Small 12. Cambodia and Laos in the Vietnam War, by Kenton Clymer Part III. Postwar Perspectives 13. The Legacy of the Vietnam War, by Robert D. Schulzinger 14. The Vietnam Syndrome, by George C. Herring List of Contributors Index
£999.99
Columbia University Press Women as Weapons of War
Book SynopsisEver since Eve tempted Adam with her apple, women have been regarded as a corrupting and destructive force. This book reveals how the media and the administration frequently use metaphors of weaponry to describe women and female sexuality and forge a deliberate link between notions of vulnerability and images of violence.Trade ReviewStraightforward and provocative... Recommended. CHOICE Women as Weapons of War is rich and fascinating and stands as an example of how philosophical analysis can enrich our political self-understanding. -- Serene J. Khader philoSOPHIATable of ContentsTable of Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll 1 Women-The Secret Weapon of Modern Warfare? 19 Sexual Freedom as Global Freedom? 47 Perpetual War, Real Live Coverage! 67 Innocence, Vulnerability, and Violence 109 Conclusion: Witnessing Ethics Again 151 Notes 167 Texts Cited 185 Index 195
£63.00
Columbia University Press Women as Weapons of War
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewStraightforward and provocative... Recommended. CHOICE Women as Weapons of War is rich and fascinating and stands as an example of how philosophical analysis can enrich our political self-understanding. -- Serene J. Khader philoSOPHIATable of ContentsTable of Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll 1 Women-The Secret Weapon of Modern Warfare? 19 Sexual Freedom as Global Freedom? 47 Perpetual War, Real Live Coverage! 67 Innocence, Vulnerability, and Violence 109 Conclusion: Witnessing Ethics Again 151 Notes 167 Texts Cited 185 Index 195
£19.80
Columbia University Press Voices from Iraq A Peoples History 20032009
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOral history is a difficult genre to master, and by taking the works of Studs Terkel as his example, Mark Kukis has set the bar even higher. Yet he succeeds brilliantly, not only by the aptness and vividness of these accounts but also by his selection of the interviewees. -- Ali A. Allawi, former Minister of Finance, Defense, and Trade of Iraq, and senior visiting fellow at Princeton University Amid the looting and the blood-letting in Baghdad, Mark Kukis salvages some treasures. Voices from Iraq is like nothing we've seen yet in the writing on the war--the stories of everyday survival weave a tapestry both illuminating and haunting. No serious study of the invasion and occupation can do without this book. -- Quil Lawrence, former NPR Baghdad Bureau chief and author of Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East An eloquent, well-selected narrative of the Iraqi invasion and devastating aftermath.Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews A moving account of the impact of war and occupation on ordinary people. -- Glenn C. Altschuler Minneapolis Star Tribune This book is necessary reading for any serious practitioner or student of small wars. -- Michael Few Small Wars JournalTable of ContentsIntroduction A Note on Civilian Casualties Part One The Sanctity of Guns and Shrines Ra'ad Obaeid Hussein Ahmed Abu Ali An Army in Defeat Gassan Abdul Wahed Ined Baha'a Nouri Yasseen Hussein al-Awadie Mohammed Khalil Hamed The Roads of Falling Cities Rahma Abdul Kareem Abbas Mohammed Abbas Abdul al-Hur Farid Hadi Abdul Zahra Ali al-Shaheen Tahseen al-Shaikhli A Guest for Mr. Axe Ali Abdul Majid Home No More Abdul Hadi Isma'il Hitting Back Omar Yousef Hussein Part Two An End to Exile Ayad Allawi Mithal al-Alusi The Coming of a War Within Abu Mustapha Azhar Abdul-Karim Abdul-Wahab Ahmed Ibrahim Abdul Wahab Ka'ab Zuhir Ahmed Saman Dlawer Hussein Old Foes Mohammed Ra'ad Ahmed The Edge of Battles Hayder Hamid Jawad Luay Ali Hussein Adel Rasheed Majeed A Saying About Luck Abdul Wahab Fuad Abdul Wahab Part Three A New Order Ali Jawad Kadhem Saddam Hatif Hatim al-Jabouri Sami Hilali Hayfa Kareem Sabi'a Rasim Hassan Haikel Moving Days Khail Ibrahim al-Nasir Um Omar Ibrahim Ishmael Khalil Yousef Aboud Ahmed and Anham Muhana Hasoon Ali Ibrahim Baher Khalid Adnan Khalid The Price of Sons Zaid Allwan Jafar Salim Kamel Shawal Questions and Answers Moustafa Ahmed al-Ta'ee Part Four The Mouths of Soldiers Sajad al-Hakim Wissam al-Rashied Saif Majeed al-Ta'ee A Visit to the Temple Hussein Radhi Zuboon House to House Captain Emad Zahra Ech'daf Sangur and Fackria Zugai'er Khata Paths to Safety Maysoon Mahdi Usra J'bara Hadi The Face of a Savior Ali Mohammed Hial Waking Up Sheik Hamid al-Hais Sheik Ahmed Buzai Abu Risha and Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha Sheik Mustafa Kamil Hamad Shabeeb al-Jabouri Ahmed Basim Mohammed al-Abaje Laughing to Bucca Ra'ad Jamal Habib Part Five Keeping to the Neighborhood Ali Fahed Mahmood Less Than Whole Ali'a Anwer Majid Rana Abdul Mahdi Beloveds Lost and Found Maysoon Jahil Obeid Shiek Jamal Jassim Sudani Rajiha Jihad Jassim Entasar Abud Tahan Salma Hamid The Makings of Another Life Hamida Rahdi Salah Hassan Risn Badr al-Ruba'i Ala'a Alzobeidi Hayder Mohammed Jodah Salah Hamid Jasim Hassan Ali Acknowledgments
£19.00
Columbia University Press Under Siege
Book SynopsisUnder Siege is Rashid Khalidi’s firsthand account of the 1982 Lebanon War and the complex negotiations for the evacuation of the P.L.O. from Beirut.Trade ReviewA gold-mine of empirical evidence and insights for students of decision-making under crisis. Khalidi is first and foremost an involved historian... [his] work is a much needed and welcome contribution to the modern literature on Middle Eastern history and politics. -- Fawaz A. Gerges Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies) Khalidi presents an objective and closely reasoned analysis of the defeat of the P.L.O. and its allies. The study reveals the effect of battlefield events on the complex quadrilateral diplomacy between the P.L.O., the Lebanese government, the U.S. and Israel. Publishers Weekly A unique perspective on PLO decisionmaking not available in materials previously published by Israeli and Western writers. Middle East Journal A first-rate study. Foreign Affairs Khalidi is eloquent and judicious... The reader is rewarded with many insights into guerilla warfare... equally valuable and compelling are his sketches of how military peace-keeping failed because of American diplomatic naivete. Under Siege is painful to read. It is also essential. Military Affairs Khalidi's very thorough analysis will provide vital material for historians of this most futile and destructive of all wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors. International Affairs An extremely valuable analysis of how and why the P.L.O. made the decisions it did during that fateful summer of 1982. For students of the Middle East, his generally objective, lucid and incisive account of P.L.O. decisionmaking fills a critical void in the literature about the Israeli invasion. -- Thomas L. Friedman The New York Times [An] important study. -- Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Journal of Palestine StudiesTable of ContentsPreface to the 2014 Reissue Preface Introduction 1. The P.L.O. and the Lebanese Before the 1982 War 2. The Fall of South Lebanon and the Siege of Beirut: A Military Overview 3. P.L.O. Decisions: The Military Inputs 4. June 1982: The Decision to Leave Beirut 5. July 1982: The Decision to Accept the Habib Plan 6. Wartime Decisions and Their Consequences Appendix List of Abbreviations Cast of Characters Notes Bibliography Supplementary Bibliography Index
£999.99
Indiana University Press Presidents Battles and MustSee Civil War
Book Synopsis1) Civil War destinations are popular tourist sites throughout Kentucky. 2) This great guidebook goes beyond the battlefields that are typically featured to fill out sites related to Civil War presidents and monuments to help readers plan a fun and informative trip back in time. 3) Authors are promotion pros and will set up events and local publicity.Trade ReviewReading Presidents, Battles, and Must-See Civil War Destinations should be a useful initial step for those planning their first family trip through Kentucky's Civil War backroads. * Civil War Books and Authors *Table of ContentsPart I: The PresidentsA Road Trip to Hodgenville to Visit the LincolnsSidebar: Presidents at the Lincoln BirthplaceOther Monuments to Abe in KentuckyA Road Trip to Lexington to Visit the ToddsA Road Trip to Fairview, Birthplace of the Other First PresidentPart II: The BattlesRules for ReenactmentsA Road Trip to Western Kentucky's BattlefieldsThe Battle of ColumbusThe Battle of Sacramento-Green RiverThe Battle of MunfordvilleA Road Trip to Eastern Kentucky's BattlefieldsThe Battles of Camp Wildcat and Mill SpringsThe Big Sandy Expedition and the Battle Ivy MountainSidebar: "Bull" NelsonThe Battle of Middle CreekA Road Trip to Perryville, The Largest Civil War Battle in KentuckySidebarJohn Hunt Morgan's Road Trip (By Horse)SidebarPart III: Kentucky War StoriesKentucky's Confederate CapitalKentucky's Civil War GovernorsSimon Bolivar BucknerA Road Trip to the Other Fort BoonesboroAfrican American Soldiers in Kentucky During the WarThe Words of WarWilliam Wells BrownA 'True American'
£12.34
Indiana University Press Presidents Battles and MustSee Civil War
Book Synopsis1) Civil War destinations are popular tourist sites throughout Kentucky. 2) This great guidebook goes beyond the battlefields that are typically featured to fill out sites related to Civil War presidents and monuments to help readers plan a fun and informative trip back in time. 3) Authors are promotion pros and will set up events and local publicity.Trade ReviewReading Presidents, Battles, and Must-See Civil War Destinations should be a useful initial step for those planning their first family trip through Kentucky's Civil War backroads. * Civil War Books and Authors *Table of ContentsPart I: The PresidentsA Road Trip to Hodgenville to Visit the LincolnsSidebar: Presidents at the Lincoln BirthplaceOther Monuments to Abe in KentuckyA Road Trip to Lexington to Visit the ToddsA Road Trip to Fairview, Birthplace of the Other First PresidentPart II: The BattlesRules for ReenactmentsA Road Trip to Western Kentucky's BattlefieldsThe Battle of ColumbusThe Battle of Sacramento-Green RiverThe Battle of MunfordvilleA Road Trip to Eastern Kentucky's BattlefieldsThe Battles of Camp Wildcat and Mill SpringsThe Big Sandy Expedition and the Battle Ivy MountainSidebar: "Bull" NelsonThe Battle of Middle CreekA Road Trip to Perryville, The Largest Civil War Battle in KentuckySidebarJohn Hunt Morgan's Road Trip (By Horse)SidebarPart III: Kentucky War StoriesKentucky's Confederate CapitalKentucky's Civil War GovernorsSimon Bolivar BucknerA Road Trip to the Other Fort BoonesboroAfrican American Soldiers in Kentucky During the WarThe Words of WarWilliam Wells BrownA 'True American'
£48.60
Indiana University Press Civil War Medicine
Book SynopsisIn this never before published diary, 29-year-old surgeon James Fulton transports readers into the harsh and deadly conditions of the Civil War, as he struggles to save the lives of the wounded and diseased under his care.Trade Review"This is not only a fascinating firsthand look at the experiences of a Civil War Surgeon who participated in some of the most notable actions of the war, it is also a deep and unique meditation on the meaning of Dr. Fulton's work and the broader medical, military, and cultural significance of his Civil War experience."—Daryl Black, Executive Director of Seminary Ridge Museum"Civil War Medicine tells the story of Assistant Surgeon James Fulton of the 143rd Penn. Inf. Well written and detailed, this book is a must for any Civil War medical enthusiast."—Peter J. D'Onofrio, President of the Society of Civil War Surgeons, Inc."In Civil War Medicine: A Surgeon's Diary, Robert D. Hicks has produced an imminently useful book that includes the transcribed and annotated diary of Dr. James Fulton, who served as assistant surgeon with the Pennsylvania's Bucktail Brigade; an introduction that clearly and concisely situates Fulton, who hailed from Chester County, Pennsylvania, in his social, political, and medical milieu; and a collection of essays by prominent experts in the field who find in the diary all sorts of opportunities to look at Civil War through Fulton's eyes—and his hands."—Judith Giesberg, author of Sex and the Civil War"This book is an incredible resource for anyone interested in the human experience of the Civil War—as recorded by a medical professional tasked with saving lives in America's bloodiest conflict. Dr. Fulton's diary and the essays by preeminent experts in the field of Civil War Medicine reveal the story of the birth of our modern health care system. Thankfully this diary landed in the able hands of Robert D. Hicks, an equally great storyteller, scholar, and historian."—David Price, Executive Director of the National Museum of Civil War MedicineTable of ContentsAcknowledgementIntroduction: Becoming a DoctorPart IChapter 1: To Virginia, Measles and Typhoid (Diary, August 18, 1862 to February 19, 1863)Chapter 2: Chancellorsville and "a Spiteful Morose Scamp" (Diary, February 22, 1863 to June 28, 1863)Chapter 3: Searching for Flour at Gettysburg (Diary, June 29, 1863 to July 4, 1863)Chapter 4: Return to Virginia and Christmas with Secesh (Diary, July 5, 1863 to December 25, 1863)Chapter 5: "To bring man in communion with his God" (Diary, December 26, 1863 to January 29, 1864)Chapter 6: Dr. Fulton after 1864Chapter 7: CommentaryPart IIChapter 8: "Examined at the University of Pennsylvania": Dr. Fulton, his Professional Milieu, and Military Medicine 1862-64, by Shauna DevineChapter 9: "We Got Up and Began to Pack our Medicines": What Dr. Fulton Prescribed, by Guy R. Hasegawa Chapter 10: "We Soon Concluded to Operate": Dr. Fulton's Tools and Methods, by James M. EdmonsonChapter 11: "The Christian Commission also Brought in a Wagon Today": Dr. Fulton, Voluntary Relief Associations, and Women in Hospitals, by Barbra Mann WallChapter 12: "We Made Up Soup as Fast as Possible": Nutrition and the 19th Century Male Body, by Margaret HumphreysChapter 13: "Such is the Character of Many Men": Dr. Fulton's Politics and the Moral and Political Consciousness of Soldiers, by Randall M. MillerAppendicesBibliography ContributorsIndex
£28.80
Indiana University Press Tatar Empire
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a rich study that makes important contributions to the historiography of the Russian Empire, sharpening our picture of an empire in which lines between colonizer and colonized were far from clear. * The Middle Ground Journal *Ross offers a fascinating, well-researched narrative that fills an important lacuna in our understanding of Russia's engagement with Islam. As her clearly clearly shows, Ross engages not only with topics related to the study of Islam but also with some of the key themes of Russian history: Empire and Nation, Islam and Modernity, and the way empire worked by mutual relations and not by a unidirectional vector of power and control. Her study of the Machkaran network of scholars provides an important corrective to an image of Islamic reform dominated by Central Asian and Crimean Jadidism; it is bound tostimulate further research. -- Orel Beilinson * Euraian Geography and Economics *Danielle Ross' monograph, Tatar Empire: Kazan's Muslims and the Making of Imperial Russia, offers a substantive and thought-provoking addition to the historiography of both the Russian Empire in general and its relationship with its subject Muslim peoples in particular. . . . Tatar Empire is a fascinating and well-written contribution to the field. It is recommended not only to scholars interested in the history of Russian-Muslim relations, but also to a wider audience of experts interested in questions of empire, religion, and the emergence of nationalism. -- John M. Romero * Canadian-American Slavic Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Empire that Tatars Built1. The Age of the Settler Ulamā2. The Art of Accruing Scholarly Prestige3. Colonial Trade and Religious Revival4. A Shaykhly Rural Gentry5. Knowledge, History-Writing, and Becoming Colonial6. Muslim Cultural Reform and Kazan Tatar Cultural Imperialism7. Fundamentalism, Nationalism, and Social Conflict8. At War with the Tatar Kingdom9. An Empire without RussiansConclusionGlossaryBibliographyIndex
£52.20
Indiana University Press Polish Encounters Russian Identity
Book SynopsisDavid L. Ransel is Robert F. Byrnes Professor of History and Director of the Russian and East European Institute at Indiana University.Bozena Shallcross is Associate Professor of Polish Literature at the University of Chicago.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Russian Identity in Its Encounter with Poland David L. Ransel and Bożena Shallcross1. The Irreparable Church Schism: Russian Orthodox Identity and Its Historical Encounter with Catholicism Barbara Skinner2. Imitation of Life: A Russian Guest in the Polish Regimental Family Beth Holmgren3. Repositioning Pushkin and the Poems of the Polish Uprising Megan Dixon4. Appropriating Poland: Glinka, Polish Dance, and Russian National Identity Halina Goldberg5. The Slavophile Thinkers and the Polish Question in 1863 Andrzej Walicki6. Dostoevsky and His Polish Fellow Prisoners from the House of the Dead Nina Perlina7. Vladimir Solov'ëv's Views on the Polish Question: Poland and Reunion of the Eastern and Western Churches Manon de Courten8. The Geopolitical Dimension of Russian-Polish Confrontation in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Leonid Gorizontov9. Tsar Vasilii Shuiskii, the Staszic Palace, and Nineteenth-Century Russian Politics in Warsaw Robert L. Przygrodzki10. At Home with Pani Eliza: Isaac Babel and His Polish Encounters Judith Deutsch Kornblatt11. Soviet Polonophobia and the Formulation of Nationalities Policy in the Ukrainian SSR, 1927-1934 Matthew D. Pauly12. Under the Influence? Joseph Brodsky and Poland Irena Grudziska GrossSelected ReadingsContributorsIndex
£17.09
University of Notre Dame Press Soldiers of the Cross the Authoritative Text
Book SynopsisShortly after the Civil War ended, David Power Conyngham, an Irish Catholic journalist and war veteran, began compiling the stories of Catholic chaplains and nuns who served during the war. His manuscript, Soldiers of the Cross, is the fullest record written during the nineteenth century of the Catholic Church''s involvement in the war, as it documents the service of fourteen chaplains and six female religious communities, representing both North and South. Many of Coyngham''s chapters contain new insights into the clergy during the war that are unavailable elsewhere, either during his time or ours, making the work invaluable to Catholic and Civil War historians. The introduction contains over a dozen letters written between 1868 and 1870 from high-ranking Confederate and Union officials, such as Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Union Surgeon General William Hammond, and Union General George B. McClellan, who praise the church''s services during the war. Chapters on FathersTrade Review"The most important contribution of Soldiers of the Cross is that it democratizes access to a very important document on the Civil War experience of Catholic chaplains and sister nurses. The book will appeal to lay readers, especially those who research particular regiments or have ancestors associated with particular units." —James M. Schmidt, author of Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War"Conyngham's work, its subject, its language, and its tone, reveal much about what the editors call 'the state of the church and its uneasy place in American society at the time.' . . . There is much new here, and by comprehensively bringing together information about both priests and nuns, it suggests the direction and provides some of the facts for a full history of Catholics in the Civil War." —Lawrence Kohl, editor of David Power Conyngham's The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns“Edited by Dr. Kruz and Fr. David Endres of the U.S. Catholic Historian, this book promises to be a major contribution to the growing historiography on Catholics and the Civil War.” —Patheos"To have David Power Conyngham’s invaluable Soldiers of the Cross available in a well-edited edition with be of great benefit to students and scholars alike. The fine introduction by David J. Endres and William B. Kurtz offers a perceptive assessment of the entire work. Anyone interested in the wartime story of the Catholic Church and the religious life of soldiers will learn a great deal from Conyngham’s book. A valuable addition to the growing literature on religion during the Civil War era." —George C. Rable, author of God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War"Students of the Civil War, Catholic history, and women’s history, among others, will welcome the publication of David Power Conyngham’s Soldiers of the Cross. Brilliantly edited, this 'authoritative text' speaks to the uses of remembrance, hagiography, and memorialization in creating an 'American' Catholic identity and ascribing a religious meaning to the war." —Randall M. Miller, co-editor of Religion and the American Civil War"This edited work of David Power Conyngham’s unpublished manuscript is a tour-de-force—a much needed history of the significant work of Catholic chaplains and sister nurses during the American Civil War. With clarity and historical sophistication, it is a great addition to scholarship on the Civil War, gender and religious history, and the history of American health care and society. The editors bring alive the many stories of well-known and more 'hidden' chaplains and sister nurses from both the North and South who helped change larger societal perceptions of Catholics, all for the positive." —Barbra Mann Wall, Thomas A. Saunders III Professor of Nursing, University of Virginia"It’s telling that the sisters left little in testimony about themselves. What we know comes almost exclusively from the men they helped, and the book’s collection of primary documents shows soldiers offering high praise to the sisters. It’s unusual, considering the prevalent anti-Catholicism of antebellum America. But their service to American men of all faiths was living proof that these Catholics did not only take orders from the pope in Rome." —The Wall Street Journal"Conyngham observed many chaplains at work, interviewed them, and recorded their experiences, making his work an important historical artifact. Hopefully, the publication of Soldiers of the Cross can lead to more research on the subject and provide broader understanding of religion during the Civil War." —The Civil War Monitor“The fullest record written during the 19th century of the Catholic Church’s involvement in the war, his manuscript documents the service of 14 chaplains and six female religious communities, representing both North and South.” —South Bend Tribune"Conyngham’s text gives journalistic descriptions of battles (Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg) and graphic accounts of the horrors of war." —First Things“Soldiers of the Cross is the long-delayed publication of a remarkable unfinished manuscript. . . . The editors are to be congratulated for rescuing Conyngham’s research from relative obscurity.” —American Catholic StudiesTable of ContentsIntroduction 1.By Rev. J. F. Trecy 2.By Rev. J. F. Trecy 3.By Rev. J. F. Trecy 4.By Rev. Joseph C. Carrier, C.S.C 5.By Rev. Joseph C. Carrier 6.By Rev. Joseph C. Carrier 7.By Rev. Joseph C. Carrier 8.By Rev. R.C. Christy 9.By Rev. Thomas Scully 10.By Rev. Thomas Scully 11.By Rev. Peter Tissot, S.J. 12.By Rev Thomas Willet, S.J. 13.By Rev. C. L. Egan, O.P. 14.By Rev. Paul E. Gillen, C.S.C. 15.By Rev. Innocent A. Bergrath 16.By Rev. Peter P. Cooney, C.S.C 17.By Rev. Thomas Brady 18.By Rev. William Corby, C.S.C. 19.By Rev. Henry Gache, S.J. 20.By Rev. Charles P. Heuze 21.By Rev. James Sheeran 22.By Rev. James Sheeran 23.By Rev. James Sheeran 24.By Rev. James Sheeran 25.By Rev. James Sheeran 26.The Sisters in the Army 27.The Sisters of Mercy, Charleston 28.The Sisters of Mount St. Vincent, Cincinnati 29.Mount St. Vincent 30.The Sisters of Mercy, St. Louis 31.The Sisters of Mercy, New York 32.The Sisters of Mercy, New York 33.The Sisters of the Holy Cross 34.Sisters of the Holy Cross
£25.19
University of Washington Press The White Lotus War
Book SynopsisTrade Review"The White Lotus War: Rebellion and Suppression in Late Imperial China is a seminal work of outstanding scholarship and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Chinese History collections and supplemental studies lists." * Midwest Book Review *"Yingcong Dai provides the definitive history of a key juncture in the trajectory of the Qing dynasty...[D]etails with clarity the complicated interface of moving parts, from emperors and metropolitan officials to impe‐rial kinsmen and Mongols in the banner armies, Green Standard Army fighters, and locally raised troops deployed outside their own region, down to the provincial and county officials charged with provisioning the soldiers." * H-Net *"In her impressive new book, Dai Yingcong sets out to entirely change our understanding of the 1796 White Lotus rebellion." * Journal of Asian Studies *"Yingcong Dai is an expert on the nexus between military, economy, and soci-ety in the high Qing period...While the large wars of conquest of the Qing Dynasty in Central Asia and Tibet are the subject of numerous studies by now, and the turmoil of the nineteenth century is understood quite well as seen from multiple aspects, the watershed between the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries remained hitherto a blank area. Yingcong Dai filled this gap with her book on the White Lotus Rebellion (1796–1804)." * Journal of Military History *"[T]he first in-depth, comprehensive study of the White Lotus War...Integrating rigorous research with vivid storytelling, this book is an indispensable addition to the studies of Qing history and the military history of China." * Choice *
£63.31
Yale University Press West from Appomattox
Book SynopsisA sweeping story of how Northerners, Southerners, and Westerners together created modern America in the years from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt.Trade ReviewIncluded in the Washington Post Book World's Holiday Guide (2007)Selected as a 2008 AAUP University Press Book for Public and Secondary School Libraries.“Richardson tells a different story about the United States as a whole during a reconceptualized period of ‘Reconstruction’ after the Civil War.”—Sheldon Hackney, University of Pennsylvania “Highly original, deeply researched, and important, West from Appomattox has the added advantage of being extremely well written: Heather Cox Richardson’s prose is clear, accessible, and compelling.”—Eric Arnesen, University of Illinois at Chicago"With a marvelous sense of scope, narrative lucidity, and thorough research, Heather Richardson makes the convincing case that Americans still live in the world that Reconstruction built—or left partly unbuilt. A skilled historian of political economy, Richardson has here written a new and important synthesis of late-nineteenth-century American society enmeshed in a great struggle to determine just what kind of country the Civil War had wrought. This book is deeply informed and a good read; it spurs our effort to help Americans realize that their reading must not stop with Appomattox."—David W. Blight, Yale University, author of Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory"A truly fresh reconsideration—and a smart and wonderfully written one—of Reconstruction. Richardson pulls back to a genuinely national perspective, and in doing so gives us a strikingly original view of this vitally important time in the national story."—Elliott West, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
£25.00
Yale University Press Edward Bancroft
Book SynopsisThe first complete biography of a little-known but fascinating figure in the history of espionage and the American RevolutionTrade ReviewSelected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 in the North America category.Won Honorable Mention in the 2012 New York Book Festival Biography/Autobiography category, sponsored by the New York Book Festival "This is the first full-length treatment of the life of Edward Bancroft. It corrects a great many mistakes and misinterpretations, and for that reason is a valuable contribution to the historical record. In particular, the account of Bancroft's work as a spy in Paris is terrific; I enjoyed it a great deal."—Alan Houston, author of Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement"Schaeper in the first scholar to explore Bancroft's life in detail and to treat his activities as a spy in a sober, intelligent fashion. He explodes the myths and conspiracy theories of many modern authors who have traduced Bancroft's reputation and with it the reputations of all those associated with him."—Harry Dickinson, University of Edinburgh“A wonderful book which fills a major gap in the history of the American Revolution. Through exhaustive research, Schaeper has uncovered much information about the widely misunderstood master spy Bancroft. His book is as entertaining as it is scholarly. Highly recommended not only to academics but also to general readers.”—Jonathan R. Dull, author of A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution “Thomas Schaeper presents an intriguing, full biography of one of the eighteenth century’s most brilliant and multifaceted figures: scientist, author, speculator, entrepreneur, and double agent Edward Bancroft. He offers a thoroughly researched, fair and balanced reappraisal of both Bancroft and British espionage in Europe during the American Revolution, and in doing so rescues Bancroft from melodramatic OSS and Cold War-infused spy narratives.”— Elizabeth M. Nuxoll, Editor, The Papers of John Jay, Columbia University“[E]ngaging . . . By providing a wealth of detail about the life and times of this much-execrated man, Schaeper balances and softens what has conventionally been seen as Bancroft’s harsh character.”—Edmund S. Morgan, The New York Review of Books -- Edmund Morgan * The New York Review of Books *"A must for any lover of American Colonial history."—M.A. Byron, Choice -- M.A. Byron * Choice *"Well researched and well paced. Recommended to undergraduates and general readers with an interest in espionage or American history."—Library Journal * Library Journal *"This is the first full-length treatment of the life of Edward Bancroft. It corrects a great many mistakes and misinterpretations, and for that reason is a valuable contribution to the historical record. In particular, the account of Bancroft's work as a spy in Paris is terrific; I enjoyed it a great deal."—Alan Houston, author of Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement -- Alan Houston"Schaeper in the first scholar to explore Bancroft's life in detail and to treat his activities as a spy in a sober, intelligent fashion. He explodes the myths and conspiracy theories of many modern authors who have traduced Bancroft's reputation and with it the reputations of all those associated with him."—Harry Dickinson, University of Edinburgh -- Harry Dickinson“A wonderful book which fills a major gap in the history of the American Revolution. Through exhaustive research, Schaeper has uncovered much information about the widely misunderstood master spy Bancroft. His book is as entertaining as it is scholarly. Highly recommended not only to academics but also to general readers.”—Jonathan R. Dull, author of A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution -- Jonathan R. Dull“Thomas Schaeper presents an intriguing, full biography of one of the eighteenth century’s most brilliant and multifaceted figures: scientist, author, speculator, entrepreneur, and double agent Edward Bancroft. He offers a thoroughly researched, fair and balanced reappraisal of both Bancroft and British espionage in Europe during the American Revolution, and in doing so rescues Bancroft from melodramatic OSS and Cold War-infused spy narratives.”— Elizabeth M. Nuxoll, Editor, The Papers of John Jay, Columbia University -- Elizabeth M. NuxollSelected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 in the North America category. -- Choice Outstanding Academic Title * Choice *Won Honorable Mention in the 2012 New York Book Festival Biography/Autobiography category, sponsored by the New York Book Festival -- Biography/Autobiography Honorable Mention * New York Book Festival *
£30.00
WW Norton & Co REVOLUTION MAPPING THE ROAD TO
Book SynopsisThe American Revolution's progress shown in 60 spectacular contemporary maps.Trade Review"This glorious collection-ravishingly beautiful, exquisitely curated, brilliantly annotated-is one of the most graphic and illuminating treatments of the American Revolution ever brought to press. Here is the road to revolution and the war itself, from the opening of the French and Indian War in 1755 to the surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and the Treaty of Paris two years later. Combining the virtues of an historical atlas, a luscious exhibition, and a detailed but concise history of the wars, it is a GPS to the American Revolution." -- Ric Burns, documentary filmmaker, Steeplechase Films "Revolution is a dazzling achievement that casts new light on the imperial wars of the late eighteenth century. These maps-many of them rare manuscripts, reproduced here for the first time-remind us that the battle for (and against) American independence unfolded in space as well as in time. Here the long road to revolution becomes visible as a hard-fought contest over territory as well as clash of ideals. A feast for the eye, Revolution also invites fresh thinking about the founding of the United States and Britain's American War." -- Jane Kamensky, Mary Ann Lippitt Professor of American History, Brown University "This beautiful book, with its superbly reproduced images, brings to life the decades leading to the birth of the U.S.A. The authors have given a highly skilled analysis of the background, contents and significance of the images. The readable style and brilliant use of little-known cartographical works has created a book that anyone with an interest in the interplay between maps and history should buy-and read." -- Peter Barber, head of Map Collections, the British Library
£53.99
WW Norton & Co Revolution Song
Book SynopsisFrom the author of the acclaimed history The Island at the Center of the World, an intimate new epic of the American Revolution that reinforces its meaning for today.Trade Review"Shorto’s achievement is a remarkable one. The intertwined stories of Revolution Song give a sense of how far-reaching a phenomenon the War of Independence was. It leaves to readers the pleasure of judging what each of the figures in the book—or perhaps the combination of them all—contributed to an event that changed the world." -- New York Times Book Review"An engaging piece of historical detective work and narrative craft." -- Chicago Tribune"Russell Shorto’s engaging new book appears at a moment when basic concepts of rights and equality are routinely disparaged. As if in response to our troubled political culture, he invites readers to return to the American Revolution to understand better how an 18th-century commitment to freedom took root and became a fundamental, unifying value in our nation’s history. . . . [Shorto has] produced a compelling work that reads almost like a good detective story. . . . Shorto deserves praise for reminding us of the complexity of freedom’s claims." -- Brian Greer - American Scholar"How did the teenaged daughter of a British officer view the American Revolution, from behind enemy lines in New York? What did that contest mean to a shrewd, contemplative Iroquois warrior? Russell Shorto has emerged from the archives with a bold, largely neglected cast. He has set them free in a rich, prismatic narrative, as intensely vivid as it is seamlessly constructed." -- Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Witches: Salem, 1692"Brilliant, captivating and fast-paced, Revolution Song is a wonderfully original take on the American Revolution that reads like a thriller. I couldn’t put this book down." -- Amy Chua, Yale Law School professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother"With symphonic sweep, cinematic detail and compelling, superbly researched real-life characters, Shorto shows how our struggle for freedom began and why it remains so sadly unfinished. If Spielberg wrote history, this is how it would read." -- Howard Fineman, NBC News analyst and author of The Thirteen American Arguments"Amazing: Russell Shorto shows us what a diverse, fascinating, cosmopolitan place this country has been since its founding." -- Charles C. Mann, author of 1491"An engaging, readable and surprisingly complete account of the American Revolution. A tour de force." -- Gordon S. Wood, author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution"Russell Shorto has long had an astonishing talent for adjusting the focus in ways that make familiar swaths of history seem intriguingly foreign and fresh. With Revolution Song, he’s worked his magic again. Through his vigorous language, his mastery of archival sources and the pleasing interweave of his six carefully chosen characters, Shorto has composed a powerful polyphonic story, simultaneously grand and intimate, that makes us hear (and see and feel) the tumult of our nation’s founding as never before." -- Hampton Sides, New York Times best-selling author of In the Kingdom of Ice
£21.84
University of California Press To Know Where He Lies
Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, the discovery of unmarked mass graves revealed Europe's worst atrocity since World War II: the genocide in the UN safe area of Srebrenica. This title provides an account of the genetic technology developed to identify the eight thousand Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys found in those graves.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Note on Pronunciation Map of Bosnia and Herzegovina Introduction 1. The Fall of Srebrenica 2. The People and Place of Postwar Srebrenica 3. A Technological Innovation 4. Memory at Work 5. Where Memory and Imagination Meet 6. Return to Potocari 7. "That you see, that you know, that you remember" 8. Technology of Repair Epilogue Notes References Index
£27.00
University of California Press War Comes to Long An Updated and Expanded
Book SynopsisA study of the Vietnamese conflict, examined through the lens of the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary movements in the rural province of Long An up until American intervention in the area.Trade Review"Timeless." Asia Times "The work's success in bringing clarity to its analysis of that attack owes much to its long neglected social science, to Jeffrey Race." New Mandala; Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Group "I've gotten more out of re-reading War Comes to Long An ... than just about anything other than Robert Warburton's classic memoir, Eighteen Years in the Khyber, 1879-98 (1900)." The American Interest
£27.00
University of California Press Breaking Ranks
Book SynopsisOffers a personal perspective to the war in Iraq by looking into the lives of six veterans who turned against the war they helped to fight. Based on interviews with each of the six, this book relates why they enlisted, their experiences in training and in early missions, their tours of combat, and what has happened to them since returning home.Trade Review"The book is noteworthy for capturing the multifaceted nature of veterans' experiences and performs a valuable service by providing a vehicle for the circulation of dissenting voices within the military." -- JoonHyun Michael Choi * American Anthropologist *Table of ContentsContents Introduction A Different Kind of War Story Part I Innocence 1 Recruiting Volunteers 2 Training 3 First Missions Part II War's Crucible 4 Inside Iraq, on the Outskirts of Reality 5 Face to Face with Iraqi Civilians 6 Awakenings Part III Aftermath and Activism 7 Homecoming Traumas 8 Speaking Out Conclusion Six Soldiers Acknowledgments Notes Glossary
£27.00
University of California Press Hanois Road to the Vietnam War 19541965
Book SynopsisIn agreeing to the accords, Ho Chi Minh and other leaders of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam anticipated a new period of peace leading to national reunification under their rule; they never imagined that within a decade they would be engaged in an even bigger feud with the United States. This title explores the communist path to war.Trade Review"Highly recommended." CHOICE "Excellent new [work] on the Vietnam War." -- Geoffrey C. Stewart Cross-Currents "Outstanding... Illuminating." Proceedings "A valuable contribution to any discussion of North Vietnam's road to war, and the origins of the American stage in the Vietnam War." -- Tal Tovy H-Net "Asselin's excellent study ... will remain an indispensible source for students of Vietnam, the Cold War, and twentieth-century world history for many years to come." -- Jessica Elkind The Journal of American History "This authoritative and compelling book fills a long-felt need for a scholarly treatment of policy making in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. Pierre Asselin has conducted careful and exhaustive research into available Vietnamese and Western archival sources and consulted widely secondary writings on his topic. The result is a meticulously researched, lucidly written, and highly revealing volume on a previously obscure aspect of the Indochina conflict... Asselin pushes the frontier of our knowledge about Hanoi's strategic thinking and diplomatic maneuver during the Indochina conflict further than anyone else." Journal of American-East Asian RelationsTable of ContentsForeword by the series editors Acknowledgments Glossary of Terms and Acronyms Introduction 1. Choosing Peace, 1954--1956 2. Changing Course, 1957--1959 3. Treading Cautiously, 1960 4. Buying Time, 1961 5. Exploring Neutralization, 1962 6. Choosing War, 1963 7. Waging War, 1964 Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index
£39.10
University of California Press Empire and Liberty The Civil War and the West
Book SynopsisBrings together two subjects in American history: the story of the struggle to end slavery that reached a violent climax in the Civil War, and the story of the westward expansion of the US. This work embraces East and West, as well as North and South, as the US observes the 2015 sesquicentennial commemoration of the end of the Civil War.Trade Review"A wide-ranging, valuable addition to the literature on the American West that reveals the truly continental nature of one of America's most defining struggles." Publishers Weekly "A signal contribution to the understanding of some central themes in US history ... An important model for a new, broader use of material objects in understanding the country's past." -- D. Steeples CHOICETable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction - Virginia Scharff 1. The Price of Slavery across Empire: Family, Community, and Loss in Texas - Brenda E. Stevenson 2. The Fremonts: Agents of Empire, Legends of Liberty - John Mack Faragher 3. Beecher's Bibles and Broadswords: Paving the Way for the Civil War in the West, 1854--1859 - Jonathan Earle 4. Liberty, Empire, and Civil War in the American West - Durwood Ball 5. When the Stars Fell from the Sky: The Cherokee Nation and Autonomy in the Civil War - Kent Blansett 6. On the Edge of Empires, Republics, and Identities: De la Guerra's Sword of the War and the California Native Cavalry - Daniel Lynch 7. John Gast's American Progress: Using Manifest Destiny to Forget the Civil War and Reconstruction - Adam Arenson 8. Empire and Liberty in the Middle of Nowhere - Virginia Scharff 9. The Not-So-Free Labor in the American Southwest - Maria E. Montoya 10. After Antietam: Memory and Memorabilia in the Far West - William Deverell 11. "You Brought History Alive for Us": Reflections on the Lives of Nineteenth-Century Dine Women - Jennifer Denetdale List of Contributors Index
£27.00
University of California Press Civil War Wests
Book SynopsisPresents an integrated view of the Civil War and Reconstruction and the history of the western United States. This book includes essays on lives, choices, and legacies in the American West, discussing the consequences for American Indian nations, the link between reconstruction and suffrage movements, and cross-border interactions with Canada.Trade Review"Excellent in every respect, from superbly qualified writers." -- D. Steeples CHOICE "Timely ... Civil War Wests very effectively extends Reconstruction into the West... The volume makes clear the value of dramatically reframing our understanding of both the Civil War and the American West," The Journal of American History "This excellent collection expands our understanding of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era... This is that rare collection of essays that engage one another; are of uniformly high quality and accessibility; add a new dimension to two related, though disparate, histories and historiographies; and offer scholars multiple points of departure for integrating western history in this period into a larger national and international context." -- Michael A. Morrison Western Historical QuarterlyTable of ContentsIntroduction (Adam Arenson) Part One: Borderlands in Conflict 1. Thwarting Southern Schemes and British Bluster in the Pacific Northwest (James Robbins Jewell) 2. Death in the Distance: Confederate Manifest Destiny and the Campaign for New Mexico, 1861--1862 (Megan Kate Nelson) 3. Kit Carson and the War for the Southwest: Separation and Survival along the Rio Grande, 1862--1868 (Lance R. Blyth) 4.Scattered People: The Long History of Forced Eviction in the Kansas-Missouri Borderlands (Diane Mutti Burke) Part Two: The Civil War Is Not Over 5. "The Future Empire of Our Freedmen": Republican Colonization Schemes in Texas and Mexico, 1861-1865 (Nicholas Guyatt) 6. Three Faces of Sovereignty: Governing Confederate, Mexican, and Indian Texas in the Civil War Era (Gregory P. Downs) 7. Redemption Falls Short: Soldier and Surgeon in the Post--Civil War Far West (William Deverell) 8. Still Picture, Moving Stories: Reconstruction Comes to Indian Country (Martha A. Sandweiss) Part Three: Borders of Citizenship 9. Race, Religion, and Naturalization: How the West Shaped Citizenship Debates in the Reconstruction Congress (Joshua Paddison) 10. Broadening the Battlefield: Conflict, Contingency, and the Mystery of Woman Suffrage in Wyoming, 1869 (Virginia Scharff) 11. "Dis Land Which Jines Dat of Ole Master's": The Meaning of Citizenship for the Choctaw Freedpeople (Fay A. Yarbrough) 12. "Citizen's Clothing": Reconstruction, Ho-Chunk Persistence, and the Politics of Dress (Stephen Kantrowitz) Epilogue (Steven Hahn) Acknowledgments Bibliography Index
£64.00
University of California Press Civil War Wests
Book SynopsisPresents an integrated view of the Civil War and Reconstruction and the history of the western United States. This book includes, essays on lives, choices, and legacies in the American West, discussing the consequences for American Indian nations, the link between Reconstruction and suffrage movements, and cross-border interactions with Canada.Trade Review"Excellent in every respect, from superbly qualified writers." -- D. Steeples CHOICE "Timely ... Civil War Wests very effectively extends Reconstruction into the West... The volume makes clear the value of dramatically reframing our understanding of both the Civil War and the American West," The Journal of American History "This excellent collection expands our understanding of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era... This is that rare collection of essays that engage one another; are of uniformly high quality and accessibility; add a new dimension to two related, though disparate, histories and historiographies; and offer scholars multiple points of departure for integrating western history in this period into a larger national and international context." -- Michael A. Morrison Western Historical QuarterlyTable of ContentsIntroduction (Adam Arenson) Part One: Borderlands in Conflict 1. Thwarting Southern Schemes and British Bluster in the Pacific Northwest (James Robbins Jewell) 2. Death in the Distance: Confederate Manifest Destiny and the Campaign for New Mexico, 1861--1862 (Megan Kate Nelson) 3. Kit Carson and the War for the Southwest: Separation and Survival along the Rio Grande, 1862--1868 (Lance R. Blyth) 4.Scattered People: The Long History of Forced Eviction in the Kansas-Missouri Borderlands (Diane Mutti Burke) Part Two: The Civil War Is Not Over 5. "The Future Empire of Our Freedmen": Republican Colonization Schemes in Texas and Mexico, 1861-1865 (Nicholas Guyatt) 6. Three Faces of Sovereignty: Governing Confederate, Mexican, and Indian Texas in the Civil War Era (Gregory P. Downs) 7. Redemption Falls Short: Soldier and Surgeon in the Post--Civil War Far West (William Deverell) 8. Still Picture, Moving Stories: Reconstruction Comes to Indian Country (Martha A. Sandweiss) Part Three: Borders of Citizenship 9. Race, Religion, and Naturalization: How the West Shaped Citizenship Debates in the Reconstruction Congress (Joshua Paddison) 10. Broadening the Battlefield: Conflict, Contingency, and the Mystery of Woman Suffrage in Wyoming, 1869 (Virginia Scharff) 11. "Dis Land Which Jines Dat of Ole Master's": The Meaning of Citizenship for the Choctaw Freedpeople (Fay A. Yarbrough) 12. "Citizen's Clothing": Reconstruction, Ho-Chunk Persistence, and the Politics of Dress (Stephen Kantrowitz) Epilogue (Steven Hahn) Acknowledgments Bibliography Index
£22.50
University of California Press Contesting Indochina
Book SynopsisFor the French in Indochina, the stunning defeat at Dien Bien Phu ushered in the violent process of decolonization and a fraught reckoning with a colonial past. This is an in-depth study of the competing and intertwined narratives of the Indochina War.Trade Review"There is little to criticize in this well-researched and carefully worded monograph... an insightful and important addition to the growing field of history and memory." H Net
£27.00
Harvard University Press American Tragedy Kennedy Johnson the Origins of
Book SynopsisIn what will become the classic account, based on newly opened archival sources, David Kaiser rewrites what we know about the Vietnam War. Reviving and expanding a venerable tradition of political, diplomatic, and military history, he shows not only why we entered the war, but also why our efforts were doomed to fail.Trade ReviewKaiser has worked his way through the archives and emerged with an impressive account of what he terms 'the greatest policy miscalculation in the history of American foreign relations.' The book is a detailed narrative of the war-related decisions of the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations, tracing American involvement from the late 1950's to the dispatch of ground troops in 1965. All the familiar elements of the story are here--the early crisis in Laos , the hapless military advisory mission, the choices of 1964-65 that Americanized the war--along with some new tidbits as well, like a transcript of John F. Kennedy's private post-mortem on the 1963 coup against the president of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem. -- Gideon Rose * New York Times Book Review *American Tragedy is a superb analysis of the debate within the United States government thirty-five years ago over what we should do about South Vietnam. David Kaiser shows in impressive and meticulous detail how we stumbled into an unnecessary war. -- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.It's been a long time since we had a 'big' book on the war in Vietnam. American Tragedy is that book. -- Shimshon Arad * Jerusalem Post *As revisionists continue their hallucinatory attempts to re-write Vietnam as another WWII--if only we had had the will to win--careful scholarship is deepening our understanding of very different, painful story, from which wisdom to shape a better future still might come, giving belated meaning and significance to the lives of those who died there for other men's folly. American Tragedy is a landmark of such scholarship, and of the struggle to redeem something of value from the most wantonly destructive episode of our history in the past 50 years. -- Paul Rosenberg * Denver Post *Kaiser's grasp of the broader sweep of the flow of history enables him to analyse how the lessons of the history of the 1930s were misapplied by the G. I. Generation to Vietnam in the 1960s. Moreover, Kaiser's military background leads him to discuss in more detail and with greater authority than in most accounts the military aspects of the conflict. -- Peter Boyle * Times Higher Education Supplement *[Kaiser's] Vietnam book is strongest on the Kennedy period...[He] persuasively argues that Kennedy would have avoided a major American war in Vietnam had he lived. * Foreign Affairs *[Kaiser] presents an excellent, comprehensive chronological accounting of Vietnam War policymaking in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. The book's strongest point is Kaiser's extensive use of newly released primary materials. Along with his narrative, the author also offers an opinionated analysis of what he calls 'the greatest policy miscalculation in the history of American foreign relations.' -- Marc Leepson * Dallas Morning News *David Kaiser has written a remarkably thorough, detached, yet sensitive book about the U.S. war in Vietnam. His previous scholarship has ranted over the whole history of modern warfare, and he sets the Vietnam War in that context. -- Ernest R. May, co-author of The Kennedy Tapes (Harvard)With newly declassified cables and high-level memoranda and policy instructions, good supporting research and clear prose, David Kaiser has written a very important book on Vietnam and the movement to disaster. Not before has there been such a compelling account of the pressures to which Presidents Kennedy and Johnson were subject from the military and its civilian acolytes, whose terrifying irresponsibility extended on to the proposed use of nuclear weapons. To repeat: a most important book, still relevant as to warriors advising on war. -- John Kenneth GalbraithIn the vast literature on American intervention in Vietnam, David Kaiser has added an indispensable and revelatory new book. Based on exhaustive research and profound scholarly insight, Kaiser makes clear that the nation's tragic involvement in Vietnam was neither arbitrary nor inevitable. No other study presents a fuller or more persuasive picture of this critical moment in our nation's history. -- Alan Brinkley, author of Liberalism and Its Discontents (Harvard)American Tragedy is a splendid reinterpretation of U. S. Involvement in Vietnam. David Kaiser has unearthed fascinating new archival material which helps us better understand why this remote Asian peninsula was such a contested Cold War prize. You cannot properly comprehend the Vietnam War without reading this first-rate book. -- Douglas Brinkley, Director of the Eisenhower Center, University of New OrleansDavid Kaiser's book on the origins of the American tragedy in Vietnam is now the finest study on this much discussed subject. Kaiser's prodigious research and keen analysis gives us persuasive answers to the many questions journalists and historians have been asking for years about the roots of our involvement in the conflict. Kaiser's book will stand as the principal work on this compelling subject for years to come. Every one interested in the recent history of the United States will want to read this book. -- Robert Dallek, author of Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His TimesIn American Tragedy, David Kaiser examines the origins of the war and the fateful decisions that resulted in issues that haunted the country in subsequent decades. With new evidence from the State and Defense Departments, Kaiser documents Kennedy's wariness of intervention Kaiser writes very good history; he deserves a wide serious audience. -- Stanley I. Kutler * Chicago Tribune *His historiographical argument is sure to antagonize the military establishment, the CIA, surviving key policymakers like William Bundy and McNamara, anti-war critics on the left, defenders of the American commitment to fight Asian communism--and even some of his fellow historians...Kaiser is spectacularly persuasive in placing nuclear weapons at the pregnant center of the Joint Chiefs' assumptions in Vietnam. There were indeed 'wild men waiting in the wings,' as McGeorge Bundy later put it, ready to invade North Vietnam with tactical nuclear weapons. And that would have even been an even greater disaster than what happened. It is in this light that Kaiser's book is an invaluable contribution to the on-going task of peeling back further layers of the history. -- Kai Bird * Washington Post Book World *What Professor Kaiser exposes fully is the early American preparation for nuclear war in Southeast Asia and, if necessary, with China. Skeptics may dismiss this as mere contingency planning, but the Joint Chiefs went beyond preparing for a contingency to advocacy; and Kaiser shows how superiors were willing to go along with them...Kaiser's theme throughout his fascinating but depressing study is that the main actors, defying expert knowledge, could not see that their project was doomed and never defined their ultimate objectives apart from keeping Hanoi from winning. -- Jonathan Mirsky * New York Review of Books *Kaiser, a professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College, bases his account of Vietnam policy-making not on the abstractions of international relations theory but on an exhaustive examination of the documentary record. The portrait he paints of Cold War liberalism is a frightening one. -- Bill Boisvert * In These Times *The Vietnam war has been studied exhaustively but never, in many minds, satisfactorily...That makes American Tragedy a valuable, even indispensable, addition to the long, groaning shelf of books examining the path the United States took when it stumbled into its most disastrous foreign war. David Kaiser has done prodigious documentary research, studying material that had not been previously available, and has arrived at a thesis that is sure to be controversial and to open, once again, the old and painful wounds. -- Geoffrey Norman * American Way *This masterpiece of governmental history locates the roots of the Vietnam War not in the Johnson era or even Kennedy administration, but back in the military policies of the Eisenhower era...Drawing on a host of documents from recently opened government archives and tape recordings of White House meetings, Kaiser offers voluminous and meticulous evidence that Kennedy repeatedly rejected, deferred or at least modified recommendations for military actions--most notably in Laos...President Johnson, less skilled than Kennedy in foreign affairs, readily reverted to Eisenhower's narrow policy framework, despite the emergence of critics among his advisers whose thinking echoed Kennedy's. Kaiser repeatedly says they ignored problems they couldn't solve and failed to heed clear evidence that their assumptions were flawed, making defeat a foregone conclusion. This is a commanding work that sheds bright light on questions of responsibility for the Vietnam debacle. * Publishers Weekly *An important addition to the sad--and growing--library devoted to the Vietnam war. Kaiser is a longtime professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College--an important qualification, given the provocative news he brings in his heavily documented tome...Highly useful to scholars, and certain to excite discussion and even controversy, Kaiser's book is a valuable contribution. * Kirkus Reviews *[An] excellent investigation of the roots of the Vietnam War...Having spent nine years researching recently declassified documents, the author describes in exacting detail the evolution of Vietnam policies from 1961 to 1965, the year that Johnson committed the United States to a war it couldn't win...The first-rate research is complemented by an intriguing model of intergenerational policy-making, whereby Kaiser attributes much of the failure to the heavy-handed actions of the 'GI generation,' the successful leaders of World War II. Highly recommended. -- Karl Helicher * Library Journal *Kaiser [attempts] to shift a significant share of the responsibility [for the Vietnam War] to those military and foreign-policy specialists in the Eisenhower administration who believed that Communist 'aggression' has to be resisted everywhere at all times. In Kaiser's scenario, a cautious President Kennedy consistently resisted the entreaties of State and Defense Department professionals (many of them Eisenhower holdovers) to dramatically expand our commitment in Vietnam. Unfortunately, Kaiser asserts, President Johnson was far more willing to accept the advice of those same men. Kaiser, utilizing substantial and newly available source material, deftly organizes a vast amount of data into a provocative and important contribution to the controversy. -- Jay Freeman * Booklist *The question of the [Vietnam] war's nobility will be debated for years, but Kaiser's deeply researched, thoughtful and fresh look at the origin of America's stumble into war sets the standard for all future books. Kaiser invokes 'tragedy' in its classical sense: good men, devoted to a worthy cause, putting in motion actions that would bring unplanned, dreadful consequences. -- Bruce Clayton * Plain Dealer [Cleveland, Ohio *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Eisenhower Administration and Indochina: 1954-1960 2. No War in Laos: January-June 1961 3. A New Effort in Vietnam: January-August 1961 4. War or Peace? September-November 1961 5. Limiting the Commitment: November 1961-November 1962 6. The War in Vietnam: 1962 7. A Gathering Storm: January-July 1963 8. The Buddhist Crisis and the Cable of August 24: 1963 9. The Coup: August-November 1963 10. A Decision for War: November 1963-April 1964 11. To the Tonkin Gulf: April-August 1964 12. Planning for War: September-December 1964 13. Over the Edge: December 1964-March 1965 14. War in Secret: March-June 1965 15. War in Public: June-July 1965 16. Bad History, Wrong War Epilogue: Tragedy and History Dedication Abbreviations Notes Acknowledgments Illustration Credits Index
£28.76
Harvard University Press Stealing Lincolns Body
Book SynopsisOn the night of the 1876 presidential election, a gang of counterfeiters attempted to steal the entombed embalmed body of Abraham Lincoln and hold it for ransom. This rousing story of hapless con men, intrepid federal agents, and ordinary Springfield citizens offers an unusual glimpse into late-nineteenth-century America.Trade ReviewWith charm and authority, Thomas Craughwell offers an illuminating portrait of nineteenth-century America as he writes of the origins of the Secret Service, counterfeiting in America, the rambunctious growth of Chicago, and the assassination of the beloved president. At the heart of this book is the attempt to steal Old Abe's bones, a surprising story of ludicrous crooks, determined government agents, and loyal guardians devoted to the memory of their native son. -- R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., founder and editor-in-chief, American SpectatorThomas Craughwell has written a definitive and fascinating book about the hapless gang of counterfeiters who attempted to snatch Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom. This is history writing at its best. -- Wayne C. Temple, author of Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to ProphetWhile the field of Lincoln studies appears to have been exhaustively mined, Thomas Craughwell has found a gold nugget in the bizarre story of Stealing Lincoln's Body. In a well-researched and beautifully written book, he takes readers through the intriguing Irish underworld of counterfeiting that led to the plot to hold Lincoln's body for ransom. -- Edward Steers, Jr., author of Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham LincolnThomas Craughwell offers the first full-length account of the aborted attempt to steal the body of the nation's icon. Ian Fleming could not have done better than this fast-paced, well-written thriller. The story demonstrates yet again how good intelligence and police work can be so effective in preventing a national catastrophe. -- Frank J. Williams, Chief Justice, Rhode Island Supreme Court, and chairman of The Lincoln ForumPropelled by its true-crime format, Craughwell's history of Lincoln's several reburials and their strange-but-true details is irresistible. -- Gilbert Taylor * Booklist *Craughwell provides an intriguing glimpse at a macabre but interesting footnote to the story of Abraham Lincoln: the tale of how, on election night of 1876, several Chicago counterfeiters attempted to abduct and hold for ransom the 16th president's corpse...In telling this story, Craughwell also provides something of a biography of Lincoln's cadaver, chronicling its long voyage to final rest...Craughwell offers an entertaining account of one of the stranger incidents in American history. * Publishers Weekly *Thomas J. Craughwell has given us a richly detailed, highly entertaining, and broad slice of our history. -- John Corry * American Spectator *Stealing Lincoln's Body is worth reading for its account of the president's funeral cortege alone...[A] quirky, diverting book. -- Philip Hoare * Sunday Telegraph *[A] spirited narrative...Craughwell brings off the entire enterprise by making readers feel, hear and smell the atmosphere of the fetid Chicago taverns where the crooks hatched their demonic plot--not to mention the creepy interior of the shoddy Lincoln tomb, crumbling all around the family corpses as an aging guard of honor struggles both to conceal Lincoln's body in the dank cellar and to rescue the cheaply made temple for posterity...Summoning the raw spirit of crime novels and horror stories, as well as the forensic detail of a coroner's inquest, Thomas J. Craughwell has turned the eerie final chapter of the Lincoln story into a guilty pleasure. -- Harold Holzer * Washington Post Book World *Thomas J. Craughwell has rescued this bizarre episode from the dustbin of history...It does more than simply retell a forgotten story; it sheds new light on the incident, thanks to the long-neglected original handwritten reports of Patrick Tyrrell, the Secret Service agent who handled the case...Thomas Craughwell tells the story in a work that is sometimes morbid and creepy, but never less than fascinating. -- Eric Fettmann * New York Post *Stealing Lincoln's Body tracks an unlikely series of events, reminiscent of a silent, black-and-white, cops-and-robbers movie, with passion and erudition. -- John McBratney * Irish Times *The plot that gives Stealing Lincoln's Body its title, hatched by a crew of hapless Irish publicans and counterfeiters in Chicago, unfolds with equal doses of Martin Scorsese and the Three Stooges, the fecklessness of the robbers nearly trumped by that of the cops, on election night 1876, more than a decade after the President's assassination...It is a marvelous look into Gilded Age America and the wellsprings of many of our modern vexations. Immigrant and urban culture, robber barons and financial hoodlums, the bread-and-circuses numbing of the electorate, political scandal and presidential intrigues, the war between the ridiculous and the sublime that seems to infect our nations are all subtexts to this readable book. -- Thomas Lynch * The Times *A fascinating [tale] that is well told. -- James Srodes * Washington Times *Stealing Lincoln's Body is a fascinating thriller, and it provides a macabre footnote to American history, but the real strength lies in the way the context--the dynamic but turbulent society of America in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War--is so skillfully described. -- A. W. Purdue * Times Higher Education Supplement *Thomas Craughwell's Stealing Lincoln's Body abounds with information about the amazingly goof-ball plot and about such things as the transformation of the Secret Service into being the presidential body guard. * Frontpage Online *There is no end of fascinating context and detail in this engrossing, often zany, yet poignant tale. -- Michael Kammen * Chicago Tribune *Craughwell brings together counterfeiters, lawyers, corpse-stealers, Lincoln’s Guard of Honor, and Abraham Lincoln himself in this intriguing novel that brings to light a little-known historical incident. -- Kathy Ward * Juneauempire.com *This is a terrific read. -- Owen Richardson * The Age *By turns macabre and gruesome, dumbfounding and farcical, the extraordinary true story of the Chicago gang who attempted to kidnap Lincoln's corpse is a fascinating episode in 19th-century crime. Craughwell constructs a sweeping picture of the characters from every walk of life who were embroiled in this bizarre "horrible history." -- Richard Hand * Times Higher Education *Table of Contents* Prologue: "Lay My Remains in Some Quiet Place" * The World of the Counter feiters * Big Jim's Kennally's Big Idea * The Boss Body Snatchers of Chicago *"The Devils Are Up Here" * The Body in the Basement *"The Tools of Smarter Men" * The Lincoln Guard of Honor * A Pullman-Style Burial * Epilogue: Safe and Secure at Last * Notes * Bibliography
£18.86
Harvard University Press John Browns Trial
Book SynopsisSupported by a “provisional army” of 21 men, Brown hoped to rouse the slaves in Virginia to rebellion. But he was quickly captured and, after a short but stormy trial, hanged on December 2, 1859. McGinty provides the first comprehensive account of the trial, which raised important questions about jurisdiction, judicial fairness, and treason.Trade ReviewJohn Brown's Trial is an important book on an important subject. Brian McGinty's impressive research sheds much new light on a crucial--and previously underappreciated--event in American legal history. -- Steven Lubet, author of Murder in Tombstone: The Forgotten Trial of Wyatt EarpThere have been many books about John Brown, but none provides as comprehensive an account of the famous trial as does McGinty's. His well-written narrative is compelling and lucid. I especially appreciated his analysis of whether Brown received a fair trial. Here is another winner from the author of Lincoln and the Court. -- Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and founding chair of The Lincoln ForumMcGinty casts the spotlight on one of the great courtroom dramas of the nineteenth century, the trial of John Brown. This is Brown as we have never seen him before--not the martyr, nor the fanatic, but a man in complete control, who manages to transform his treason trial into a searing indictment of slavery in America. -- Thomas J. Craughwell, author of Stealing Lincoln's BodyYou'd think little new could be said about one of the most famous trials in American history. But McGinty comes to his work as attorney as well as historian. The result is a fresh perspective on the trial of John Brown, a work that adds appreciably to our understanding of the coming of the Civil War. Brown's trial, after his 1859 attack on the federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Va., caused a sensation for its bold challenge to slavery...The author's legal knowledge illuminates the proceedings' intricacies and shortcomings, and reveals how Brown's brief closing statement, considered among the most eloquent words in the nation's history, had a more lasting impact than his armed raid. * Publishers Weekly *McGinty has written an important account emphasizing Brown's trial rather than the raid itself as a significant turning point in the struggle between North and South prior to the Civil War. Recommended for all readers interested in the Civil War. -- Stephen L. Hupp * Library Journal *[McGinty] so judiciously arrays the facts and law of the four-day trial in a Western Virginia courtroom, we are given a fresh perspective on the meaning of John Brown...McGinty's narrative is not confined to the trial and the legal issues of his argument. All the fascinating details are here, from Brown's background to the poetic legacy...Worth reading. -- Doug Cumming * Roanoke Times *Table of Contents* Introduction * To Free the Slaves * Carrying the War into Africa * Framing the Charges * The Indictment * The Jury Is Summoned * The Testimony Begins * The Name and the Shadow of a Fair Trial * The Quiet Was Deceptive * The Verdict * The Sentence * The Execution * Marching On * Notes * Bibliography * Index
£32.36
Harvard University Press Near Andersonville
Book SynopsisThe admired American painter Winslow Homer rose to national attention during the Civil War. But one of his most important early images remained unknown for a century. Near Andersonville (1865-66) is the earliest and least known of these impressive images. This title reveals the long-hidden story of this remarkable Civil War painting.Trade ReviewIn Near Andersonville, Wood tells the captivating story of an abandoned painting with the meticulousness of a historian and the panache of a novelist. More than just an enigmatic painting, Near Andersonville is a testament to the passions of white abolitionists, and the halting confusion of the freed slaves they cared for. This short book is a quick, learned, and touching read. -- Leah Triplett * Art New England *In his engrossing book by the same name, Wood argues that [Winslow Homer’s] Near Andersonville ‘explores the question’ of ‘What happens…if any part of the Civil War drama is viewed explicitly from the vantage point of the enslaved.’ Wood offers an illuminating, if at times speculative, reading of the image… His careful reconstruction of the painting’s provenance, and his account of the discovery of the painting’s title, are every bit as rewarding as his careful analysis of the visual symbolism of the painting itself. -- Lauren Winner * Books & Culture *[A] jewel of a book… This study began as a series of Nathan Huggins Lectures at Harvard, and it reads just like a really good lecture: engaging, informative, easy to listen to, and fully thought provoking. Wood, no stranger to Homer, having coauthored a study of the painter’s images of African Americans in 1988, accomplishes the deceptively difficult task of making a subject about which he knows a great deal entirely accessible to anyone who wants to pick up this book. -- Steven Conn * New England Quarterly *What a wonderful book Peter Wood has written. He has taken one of Winslow Homer’s most rarely studied paintings and, literally and metaphorically, given it back its story. In the process Near Andersonville becomes both a window opening onto the past and a mirror reflecting our own time. -- Marc Simpson, Associate Director, Graduate Program in the History of Art, Williams CollegeAn enormously creative and insightful new perspective on one of the most important and tragic episodes in American history. Wood’s sensitive and intelligent reading of Homer’s works shows that there are indeed many ways to illuminate the past. -- Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard UniversityWood has unraveled the deep and subtle meanings expressed in Near Andersonville. The ambiguities of slavery and freedom, of the past and future framed by war, are brilliantly analyzed in this powerful and compelling book. -- James M. McPherson, Princeton UniversityA magnificently focused meditation that arrives at a completely fresh perspective on the painting and its precise Civil War background. Readers will see Homer’s Near Andersonville anew after engaging with Peter Wood’s literally eye-opening work. -- Werner Sollors, Harvard UniversityWood’s detective work and his interpretive conclusions persuade us that Homer understood and was affected by the moral ramifications of the Civil War and that he felt deep empathy toward the African Americans caught up in the conflict. -- Patricia Hills, Boston UniversityPeter Wood is one of the most curious, original, and rewarding historians of our time and in Near Andersonville all his talents are on full display. Part detective story, part history, and part art criticism, this book is a masterpiece. -- John Stauffer, Harvard University
£20.66
Harvard University Press The Abolitionist Imagination
Book SynopsisAbolitionists have been painted in extremes—vilified as reckless zealots who provoked the bloodletting of the Civil War, or praised as daring reformers who hastened the end of slavery. Delbanco sees them as the embodiment of a driving force in American history: the recurrent impulse of an adamant minority to rid the world of outrageous evil.Trade ReviewA brilliant, risky, provocative account of the changing historical reputation of abolitionists in America. Delbanco offers a timely take on just why this prototypical American reform movement never goes away as a template, as a useable past, as a story that can be appropriated by all ends of the political spectrum. -- David Blight, author of American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights EraWith his characteristic eloquence, Andrew Delbanco provides an interpretation of abolitionism, in history and literature, which challenges the received wisdom--and his four critics are up to the challenge. This splendid book demonstrates that the most successful radical movement in American history still retains its power to provoke and enlighten. -- Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a NationThe lucidity of the prose and the relevance of the topic to today's cultural divides may attract broader audiences. -- Brendan Driscoll * Booklist *
£32.36
Harvard University Press Word by Word
Book SynopsisConsigned to illiteracy, American slaves left little record of their thoughts and feelings—or so we have believed. But a few learned to use pen and paper to make sense of their experiences, despite prohibitions. These authors’ perspectives rewrite the history of emancipation and force us to rethink the relationship between literacy and freedom.Trade ReviewThrough a series of bold, imaginative and insightful case studies, Christopher Hager uncovers the intellectual world of U.S. slavery and charts the hopes, expectations and fears of enslaved writers… By understanding emancipation as a slow process rather than a rapid transformation, Word by Word shows how literacy was an incomplete and sometimes flawed instrument of black self-determination. The idea of emancipation as an unfinished revolution is not new, nor is the attention to subterranean networks of enslaved information and exchange particularly novel in slavery studies. By rendering legible and audible the writings of the literate minority, however, Hager reveals the desperate and creative measures taken by former slaves to assert their communal and individual voices. Most of course continued unlettered, but the striking improvement in black literacy during the two decades after emancipation (from 10 to 30 per cent) is testimony to the enduring importance attached to the written word and the empowering potential of African-American writing. -- Richard Follett * Times Higher Education *Christopher Hager does a fascinating job of sifting through these letters [written by slaves], fleshing out as much as possible the stories of their authors, and casting it all as black America’s first attempts at forging a voice in this strange land, in Word by Word: Emancipation and the Act of Writing. -- Mark Reynolds * PopMatters *While Frederick Douglass invigorated abolitionists with his eloquent prose, many of his contemporaries, still enslaved or recently freed, scrawled barely legible letters to friends and family sold to distant masters. In this revelatory hybrid of history and textual analysis, Hager argues that the act of writing—often in defiance of states’ antiliteracy laws—was an exceedingly potent form of self-empowerment for these oppressed men and women, never mind their poor spelling and unorthodox methods (one potter carved poetry into his work, another ‘composed at the handle of the plough’ and kept the lines memorized till he learned to write). Primary documents, intensely scrutinized, reveal powerful emotions and common hardships, bear witness to racial struggles across the country, and provide unalloyed insight into the stark yet hopeful reality after the Emancipation Proclamation. Particularly fascinating is the evolution of writing as a form of power: a former slave protests, via letter, to a Union general about Union soldiers attacking his neighbor’s wife, while another journals his integration into the U.S. Navy with perfunctory but increasingly assured entries. This thoughtful examination of the artifacts of a too-long-silenced population is made all the more eloquent by accompanying facsimiles of the arduously penned missives. * Publishers Weekly *Hager provides an informed and informative view of writings produced by formerly enslaved African Americans, often overlooked as an illiterate group. Hager reminds readers to attend to those texts that have the power to give scholars a broader perspective of particular moments… By paying attention to these authors, Hager aims to develop new models for the interpretation of historical sources and give voice to both the unknown and the underappreciated. -- T. T. Green * Choice *[An] always engaging account of how the path to freedom was paved, in part, with written words. * Kirkus Reviews *Hager seeks to craft an intellectual history of a people too often dismissed as illiterate and lacking a culture of letters. His focus is not on stars who are well known from fugitive slave narratives, but on a handful of more or less literate blacks whose previously unpublished letters provide pieces of a complex and rich narrative of liberation. Hager discusses the mental process of writing, exploring the inner lives, secrecy, and subversion shown in black initiatives to learn how to write and how to use writing to end enslavement and to embrace emancipation. -- Thomas J. Davis * Library Journal *From its first pages, where a stumbling black writer in Civil War New Orleans picks up the U.S. Constitution, Word by Word focuses on the initial tremors of freedom for ordinary people amid wartime turmoil and the process of emancipation. This is original work of the highest order. -- Kathleen Diffley, editor of To Live and Die: Collected Stories of the Civil War, 1861–1876Hager brilliantly imagines scenes of writing among freed people in the decades immediately following emancipation, showing how former slaves turned to writing as a way of taking control of their world. Word by Word is a major and revelatory act of historical recovery done with imaginative sympathy and critical verve. -- Robert S. Levine, author of Dislocating Race and Nation: Episodes in Nineteenth-Century American Literary NationalismA penetrating and revealing portrait of people in the process of defining freedom, Word by Word is a stirring, important work that reshapes our understanding of slavery and emancipation. -- Louis P. Masur, author of Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union
£24.26
Harvard University Press Routes of War
Book SynopsisThe Civil War thrust millions of men and women—rich and poor, soldiers and civilians, enslaved and free—onto the roads of the South. During four years of war, Southerners lived on the move. In the hands of Sternhell, movement becomes a radically new means to perceive the full trajectory of the Confederacy’s rise, struggle, and ultimate defeat.Trade ReviewThe author’s incisive analysis leads to a number of fresh and fascinating ways to understand the history of the Civil War and its discontents… Routes of War is a grand achievement because it raises…important questions that have not been examined in the many thousands of books and articles published on the Civil War. Sternhell deserves accolades not only for this, but also for demonstrating quite efficaciously how motion constitutes a fundamental aspect of war in general. The most brilliant aspect of the book is her willingness to analyze motion both as a physical act and as a symbol of meaning. -- Jim Downs * American Historical Review *It’s not easy to say something fresh about the American Civil War; truly pioneering studies are few and far between. But Sternhell provides a decidedly new vantage point from which to view the war and to understand what it meant to Southerners—soldiers, slaves, and civilians. -- James L. Roark * Civil War Book Review *Sternhell writes beautifully and convincingly, arguing that the road can be a place of liberty, of opportunity—but also of failure and fear. -- Megan Kate Nelson * Civil War Monitor *
£24.26
Harvard University Press The Confederate War
Book SynopsisGallagher argues that we should not ask why the Confederacy collapsed so soon but rather how it lasted so long. He examines the Confederate experience through the actions and words of the people who lived it to show how the home front responded to the war, endured its hardships, and assembled armies that fought with great spirit and determination.Trade Review[Gallagher's] perceptive and engaging new book maintains that historians have got off track in recent years by attributing Confederate defeat to weakness on the home front rather than to performance on the battlefield. War-weariness, lack of will and ambivalence toward the cause of independence, they say, doomed the South… Gallagher addresses the right issues, asks probing questions and suggests intriguing alternatives. -- Daniel E. Sutherland * New York Times Book Review *Gallagher's work, a perceptive, well-written, and strongly argued series of essays concerning Confederate morale, nationalism, and military strategy, raises serious questions about the prevalent interpretation of why the South lost the Civil War. * Virginia Quarterly Review *The Confederate War is a significant and thought-provoking addition to the current body of Civil War literature. Gallagher has returned the focus of the war to the theater in which it was decided—military operations. In doing do, he demonstrates the enormous human, financial and material investment that white Southerners put into the struggle for independence. Solidly researched and sharply argued, The Confederate War cannot easily be dismissed by the 'internal causes' historians. Consequently, it is likely to rekindle debate among both academics and popularizers, which is all to the good, particularly in the current stifling climate of political. -- Richard F. Welch * America's Civil War *One of the most attractive and ennobling portrayals of the white Confederacy in recent memory. The lavish illustrations (numbering a full forty) and coffee-table 'feel' assures that this beautifully produced and competitively priced volume will have a wide readership outside of the historical profession. Gallagher's own swift prose, clear argument, and richly documented account of white southerners at war can only bolster sales further… It is also safe to say that it will have a major impact on how historians will hereafter frame research on the slaveholding South's suicidal effort to establish its independence… In a growing corpus of work on the wartime South, Gallagher has explored the interactions of war and society and given new legitimacy to a field of military history that will always need to be a part of any general understanding of the 1860s. This work has achieved a substantial measure of authority. -- Robert E. Bonner * Reviews in American History *Everyone involved in the continuing debate over the factors behind the South's defeat must read Gallagher's book, and anyone wanting a helpful introduction to it should as well. -- Gaines M. Foster * Louisiana History *An important book… The Confederate War is certain to cause controversy. For Gallagher dares to suggest that, despite, 'moral disapprobation' prevalent in many histories about the conflict over the past half-century, the stark fact remains that 'a majority of white southerners steadfastly supported their nascent republic, and that Confederate arms more than once almost persuaded the North that the price of subduing the rebellious states would be too high'… Using published evidence from Confederate diarists, soldiers, statesmen, and newspapers—evidence which by omission or intent seldom seems to find its way into recent Civil War histories—Gallagher makes a compelling case for Confederate unity. The Confederacy did not fall to pieces after Gettysburg; a 'mass of testimony' suggests that Southerners thought the war winnable until virtually the end… Thorough reassessments of the Confederacy and of the interpretations of it have long been overdue, and Gary W. Gallagher succeeds in his initial attempt to rebalance historical portrayals of the Civil War South. -- B. Anthony Gannon * Register of the Kentucky Historical Society *The Confederate War is an impressive volume. The arguments which Gallagher employs to support his central thesis are well constructed and quite persuasive. Gallagher also relies on a wide array of Confederate voices from the past to substantiate his case and this makes for an interesting study. Moreover, Gallagher's extensive review of the literature is incisive and most informative. The Confederate War should provide good reading for all students of Confederate nationalism and will generate lively debate among historians of the American Civil War for years to come. -- Bruce Cauthen * Nation and Nationalism *Gallagher's book challenges the non-military historians to come out from behind the barricades once again. -- Russell Duncan * American Studies in Europe *The author makes a fine case for a new look at an old argument. * Library Journal *Gallagher's effort will have serious students rejoicing in its persuasive argumentation for believing that battles and armies who indeed have some bearing on the outcomes of war. * Booklist *The best interpretive study of the Civil War, or at least of the Confederacy, to have appeared in a good many years. Gallagher has an almost unparalleled command of sources, both primary and secondary. His sound common sense, incisive analysis, and forceful and lucid literary style have produced a superb book. -- James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of FreedomThe Confederate War is vintage Gary Gallagher. Drawing on vast research, careful reasoning, and a perceptive understanding of the use of evidence, Gallagher deftly slays some of the Civil War's most lasting interpretations. It is one of the best books on the Confederacy in this decade and is a must read for anyone interested in the Civil War. -- Joseph T. Glatthaar, author of Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White OfficersIn this bold, high spirited, well argued—and indispensable—book, Gary Gallagher does justice to the extraordinary courage and tenacity with which the white people of the South fought to establish their claims to national self-determination. And in so doing, he respectfully refutes prevalent but wrong-headed judgments. -- Eugene Genovese, author of The Southern TraditionStarting with meticulous research and proceeding with careful analysis, Gallagher presents a convincing argument that Confederate fortunes collapsed primarily from military defeats rather than an internal loss of will. This is must reading for anyone seeking a basic explanation of the causes and outcome of the Civil War. -- James I. Robertson, Jr., author of Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend
£20.66
Harvard University Press After Appomattox Military Occupation and the Ends
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewDowns persuasively argues that a long and persistent ‘occupation’ occurred for at least three years, and perhaps as long as six years, after the end of actual hostilities in spring, 1865. Downs also demonstrates that, although a massive demobilization of Union troops occurred in 1865–66, the United States Army has been far too neglected as a player—a force—in the history of Reconstruction… Downs wants his work to speak to the present, and indeed it should. -- David W. Blight * The Atlantic *[Downs] makes a persuasive…case that virtually none of the achievements of Reconstruction—there were more than is generally supposed—could have taken place without the use or at least the threat of military force. He challenges the view that defeated Confederates in 1865 were ready to acquiesce in whatever reorganization the federal government imposed on them, including the bestowal of civil rights on blacks… Downs rightly regards the appalling white-on-black violence of the late 1860s and early 1870s as systemic terrorism… In Downs’s telling, Reconstruction was also one of the finest hours of the U.S. Army. -- Fergus M. Bordewich * Wall Street Journal *In After Appomattox, Downs makes the case that the final end to slavery, and the establishment of basic civil and voting rights for all Americans, was ‘born in the face of bayonets.’ Put simply, the military occupation created democracy as we know it. Downs’ book couldn’t come at a more opportune time, as American forces once again face the difficult question of how long, and to what ends, an occupying army must stay in conquered territory. After more than a decade of fighting abroad, we may be too war-weary to see that military occupations are sometimes a good, even necessary thing… The brilliance of Downs’ argument is that he steals the central complaint of the apologists, yet reverses the conclusion: The federal government was overzealous—and that was a good thing. Congress had to impose martial law in order for blacks to gain basic freedoms. If military officers sometimes vacated racist local laws, if they removed ruthless sheriffs and judges, if they tried white supremacists in unfair military tribunals—all of which they did—they did so for necessary ends. Equality would come to the South no other way… Downs has produced a remarkable, necessary book. -- Eric Herschthal * Slate *In a striking new book, After Appomattox, historian Gregory Downs chronicles the years of military occupation that followed Lee’s surrender to Grant in 1865—a military occupation that was indispensable to the uprooting of slavery and the political empowerment of freed slaves. In the face of Southern white supremacist hostility, it was only the continuing presence of federal troops in the South that could break up remaining pockets of rebellion, establish the right of blacks to vote and seek election, void discriminatory laws, and unilaterally remove disloyal or racist sheriffs and judges from office. -- Jeff Jacoby * Boston Globe *Downs resets our sights on the military occupation that did occur, and he argues for its centrality in helping to fashion whatever gains African-Americans managed to achieve. In talking about military occupation, numbers matter, and his research has fixed them with a precision previously lacking… After Appomattox is a timely, important book that casts new light on the meaning of occupation during Reconstruction, and raises challenging questions about the relationship between military power and civil rights in today’s climate of never-ending war. -- Louis P. Masur * Chronicle of Higher Education *Downs has written an important book challenging assumptions about the post–Civil War era and the ways in which historians define ‘wartime’ and ‘peacetime.’ He contends that Lee’s surrender at Appomattox did not bring peace, but rather a second phase of war—an insurgency and war of occupation that did not ‘end’ until 1871. Downs problematizes the idea of ‘reconstruction.’ Whatever accomplishments came in that era—civil rights, a national definition of citizenship—came as a result of military force rather than deliberative politics. Challenging scholars who argue that too few Union troops for a meaningful occupation remained in the postwar South, Downs demonstrates through impressive research that there was actually a significant military presence, both numerically and geographically. But even this presence had its limits, and outside the pale, terrorists and violence plagued the South. By framing the period as an occupation and insurgency, the author has done much to reveal the violent, contested, and contingent nature of the post–Civil War US. Required reading for scholars of the Civil War era. -- K. M. Gannon * Choice *Downs examines Reconstruction as primarily a military operation. In order to secure civil rights for freed slaves, Northern republicans had to rely on additional constitutional war powers. From a legal standpoint, the Civil War did not end with the surrender of Confederate armies but lasted until 1871 when Georgia’s senator was seated. While many opponents of Reconstruction were motivated by racism, others were compelled by a fear of unchecked military power. How to approach Reconstruction even divided radical Republicans. Downs convincingly argues that the U.S. government should have expanded and extended the use of war powers in the South in order to secure justice and freedom for freed slaves… This work will appeal to general readers as well as specialists interested in a fresh understanding of Reconstruction. -- Michael Farrell * Library Journal *After Appomattox demonstrates how a long and ambitious military occupation aimed to secure freedom for the newly emancipated in the violent, lawless, and chaotic South. Original and revelatory, it has tremendous potential to change our understanding of American Reconstruction. -- David W. Blight, author of American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights EraMoving brilliantly between the lived experience of the Civil War’s forgotten final six years and the fierce legal debates in Washington, After Appomattox is the definitive work on a great paradox of American democracy: the post–Civil War expansion of rights arose out of and depended upon the awesome powers of the wartime state. Downs masterfully reveals how controversies over war powers shaped the course of American freedom. A fundamental rethinking of what we can now call America’s Ten Years’ War. -- John Fabian Witt, author of Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American HistoryDowns demonstrates that the end of the Civil War marked the beginning of another war: the violent struggle for the rights of African Americans that resulted from military occupation of the South and political battles in Washington. After Appomattox is a landmark account of the death throes of slavery and the stormy rise of Reconstruction. -- David S. Reynolds, author of John Brown, Abolitionist and Walt Whitman’s America
£17.06
Harvard University Press Womens War
Book SynopsisWinner of the PEN OaklandJosephine Miles AwardA stunning portrayal of a tragedy endured and survived by women.David W. Blight, author of Frederick DouglassReaders expecting hoop-skirted ladies soothing fevered soldiers' brows will not find them hereExplodes the fiction that men fight wars while women idle on the sidelines.Washington PostThe idea that women are outside of war is a powerful myth, one that shaped the Civil War and still determines how we write about it today. Through three dramatic stories that span the war, Stephanie McCurry invites us to see America's bloodiest conflict for what it was: not just a brothers' war but a women's war. When Union soldiers faced the unexpected threat of female partisans, saboteurs, and spies, long held assumptions about the innocence of enemy women were suddenly thrown into question. McCurry shows how the case of Clara Judd, imprisoned for treason, transformed the writing of Lieber's Code, leading to lasting changes in the laws of war. Black women's fight for freedom had no place in the Union military's emancipation plans. Facing a massive problem of governance as former slaves fled to their ranks, officers reclassified black women as soldiers' wivesplacing new obstacles on their path to freedom. Finally, McCurry offers a new perspective on the epic human drama of Reconstruction through the story of one slaveholding woman, whose losses went well beyond the material to intimate matters of family, love, and belonging, mixing grief with rage and recasting white supremacy in new, still relevant terms. As McCurry points out in this gem of a book, many historians who view the American Civil War as a people's war' nevertheless neglect the actions of half the people.James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of FreedomIn this brilliant exposition of the politics of the seemingly personal, McCurry illuminates previously unrecognized dimensions of the war's elemental impact.Drew Gilpin Faust, author of This Republic of SufferingTrade ReviewReaders expecting hoop-skirted ladies soothing fevered soldiers’ brows will not find them here…It explodes the fiction that men fight wars while women idle on the sidelines. * Washington Post *Traces three narratives to argue that ‘there is no Civil War history without women in it.’ Women waged grassroots campaigns that informed the new concept of ‘Civilian as Enemy’—the trial of the Confederate spy Cara Judd altered martial law—and shaped the Union’s refugee policy and the terms of the peace. McCurry scrutinizes legal archives compiled by men, seeking glimpses of women they overlooked, whose voices enliven the book. * New Yorker *Correcting histories that erase women’s share in wartime work, McCurry reminds us that ‘Women are never just witnesses to war.’ * Wall Street Journal *As [McCurry] argues, women don’t just watch history from the sidelines; they make it, they act in it, they are very much part of it. To see women as innocent wallflowers in need of protection could prove a deadly mistake when women were serving as smugglers, scouts, decoys, insurgents, and combatants; ignore them at your peril. * New Republic *Identifies a durable commitment to patriarchy that outlasted slavery and sustained white supremacy through the Civil War and beyond…McCurry sets out to view the South’s ordeal in the Civil War ‘through women’s eyes,’ a perspective too often ignored in histories of warfare. * Times Literary Supplement *Stephanie McCurry challenges us once again to look at the Civil War through a different lens. She demonstrates how women’s participation changed not only their lives but the very understanding of war itself—its laws, its mechanisms of violence, its legacies and aftermath. In this brilliant exposition of the politics of the seemingly personal, McCurry illuminates previously unrecognized dimensions of the war’s elemental impact. -- Drew Gilpin Faust, author of This Republic of SufferingAs Stephanie McCurry points out in this gem of a book, many historians who view the American Civil War as a ‘people’s war’ nevertheless neglect the actions of half the people. Her account of Southern white women’s participation in rebel resistance, black women’s roles in their own emancipation, and the prostrated condition of the women as well as men of the planter class after the war paves the way to a better integration of women into the story of this era. -- James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of FreedomWith uncommon comparative sizzle and a deep grounding in gender, legal, and racial history, McCurry has written a stunning portrayal of a tragedy endured and survived by women. Horror and hardship in this case have inspirited beautiful writing. Women’s War gives the legions of Civil War era readers a unique, unsettling, and enriching understanding of the conflict. Women were not mere witnesses to war; McCurry is our witness to how they died and lived through this cataclysm. -- David W. Blight, author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of FreedomEloquently refutes the idea that ‘women are outside of war.’ Building on a generation of scholarship, she reminds us that women’s stories both shaped and were shaped by the American Civil War. -- Brian Neumann * North Carolina Historical Review *
£16.16
Harvard University Press Redeeming the Great Emancipator
Book SynopsisAbraham Lincoln projects a larger-than-life image across American history owing to his role as the Great Emancipator. Yet this noble aspect of Lincoln’s identity is the dimension that some historians have cast into doubt. The award-winning historian and Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo offers a vigorous defense of America’s sixteenth president.Trade Review[A] brief, hard-hitting, and clear-eyed book. -- John Wilson * Christianity Today *Lincoln scholar Guelzo explores race in America as an element of African‐American history as affected by Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Declaration… A clear, concise look at one aspect of Lincoln, the man and the president. * Kirkus Reviews *Guelzo’s exploration of Lincoln’s reputation is both accessible and thought provoking. * Publishers Weekly *Guelzo delivers original and tautly argued insights into Lincoln’s antislavery thought and the feral persistence of American racism. No one who reads this superb, provocative book will be tempted to dismiss the depth or sincerity of Lincoln’s personal commitment to emancipation. -- Fergus M. Bordewich, author of America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the UnionIn this penetrating work, Guelzo recovers Lincoln’s reputation as the Great Emancipator and invites us to think anew about the legacies of slavery and freedom in America. The result is an important, timely meditation on issues that continue to haunt the nation. -- Louis P. Masur, author of Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for Union
£32.36
