Specific wars and military campaigns Books
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Turtle: David Bushnell's Revolutionary Vessel
Book SynopsisAt the onset of the American Revolution, the British expected to quell the rebellion quickly with a show of overwhelming force. In an experiment in asymmetric warfare, David Bushnell created the first submarine vessel designed specifically "for the destruction of vessels of war." On a quiet September night in 1776, sergeant Ezra Lee maneuvered Bushnell's strange little craft out from Manhattan and into the midst of the greatest naval fleet ever assembled in the Americas. Lee's goal was to sink the British flagship HMS Eagle by attaching a powerful explosive to its hull. Although the mission was unsuccessful, Bushnell's concept of submarine warfare was considered by George Washington to have been "an effort of genius."David Bushnell was raised in the town of Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River. More than two centuries later, another Turtle would be launched into the same river within sight of Bushnell's first forays with his vesselduring the summer of 1775. Under the direction of technical arts teacher Frederic J. Frese, students at Old Saybrook High School created a working replica of Bushnell's submarine, facilitated through an education partnershipwith the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, Rhode Island, where Roy R. Manstan was a mechanical engineer and Navy trained diver. With twenty-first century submariners at the helm, the Turtle replica was subjected to a series of operational tests at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. In Turtle: David Bushnell's Revolutionary Vessel, the authors provide new insight into Bushnell's "engine of devastation," tracing the history of undersea warfare before Bushnell and the origin of the many innovations Bushnell understood would be necessary for conducting a covert submarine attack. The knowledge gained from testing the Turtle replica enabled the authors to speculate as to what America's first submariner Ezra Lee experienced that September night and what may have caused the attack to fail. Roy R. Manstan and Frederic J. Frese
£19.99
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Invisible Ink: Spycraft of the American
Book SynopsisDuring the American Revolution, espionage was critical to both Continental and British efforts, and those employed in cloak-and-dagger operations risked death. While the most notorious episode of spying during the war, the Benedict Arnold affair, was a failure, most intelligence operations succeeded. Spycraft was no more wholly embraced than by George Washington who relied on a vast spy network and personally designed deceptions and counterintelligence efforts. In Invisible Ink: Spycraft of the American Revolution, John A. Nagy discusses the techniques used by spies during the war. Throughout, he provides examples of the codes and ciphers employed, many of which have not been previously described. In addition, the author analyzes some of the key spy rings. Based on primary research, Invisible Ink is an important contribution to the history of conflict and technology.
£21.04
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Civil War Torpedoes: A History of Improvised
Book SynopsisOne of the best-known quotes of the American Civil War is Admiral David Farragut's defiant order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" Farragut was not referring to a self-propelled underwater missile. By the time of the Civil War, the term torpedo was used for any unusual explosive device, including what today we call naval mines, land mines, booby-traps, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This war saw the invention, proliferation, and application of a remarkable variety of these weapons, with land- and water-based mines and other exploding devices used for sabotage and terror--notably against railroad bridges--all coming of age during the conflict. Confederate engineers and individual citizens were responsible for many innovations and applications of torpedoes since they were ideal for defence. The Union developed a range of countermeasures, from mounting "rakes" on vessels to driving livestock across mined fields, but to no avail as more Union ships were lost to torpedoes than all other means combined. Civil War Torpedoes: A History of Improvised Explosive Devices in the War Between the States identifies and categorizes, for the first time, the many and varied improvised explosive devices used during the war by both sides, providing a single source for the identification of these devices, their construction, their function, and the manner oftheir use. During the course of their research, the authors uncovered previously unknown torpedoes as well as critical primary sources of information. This major reference is an outstanding contribution to our understanding of how the Civil War was fought."This book provides a valuable contribution to a sparsely documented but critically important aspect of land and sea warfare...[The authors] illuminate many of the practical details of Confederate and Union experiences that bring this subject alive in a way that should be of interest to students of military history."--from the Introduction byWilliam Schneck, Colonel (USAR), US Army Corps of Engineers
£26.25
Westholme Publishing, U.S. John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail
Book SynopsisJohn Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail is the first comprehensive biography of this legendary officer in over seventy years. Son of a hardscrabble Irish farmer from County Wexford, Barry was sent to sea as a child and arrived in Philadelphia during the restless decade before the American Revolution. Volunteering to fight for the Continental cause, Captain Barry captured the first enemy warship taken by a Continental vessel and fought the last battle of the American Revolution, a successful engagement off Florida. With peace came a historic voyage to China, where Barry helped open trade with that reclusive empire. President George Washington named Barry as the first commissioned officer in the new United States Navy In 1794. Drawn from primary source documents from around the world, John Barry by Tim McGrath is an exciting and masterful biography of one of America's most distinguished heroes.
£24.29
Westholme Publishing, U.S. The Burning of His Majesty's Schooner Gaspee: An
Book SynopsisBetween the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773-a period historians refer to as "the lull"-a group of prominent Rhode Islanders rowed out to His Majesty's schooner Gaspee,which had run aground six miles south of Providence while on an anti-smuggling patrol. After threatening and shooting its commanding officer, the raiders looted the vessel and burned it to the waterline. Despite colony-wide sympathy for the June 1772 raid, neither the government in Providence nor authorities in London could let this pass without a response. As a result, a Royal Commission of Inquiry headed by Rhode Island governor Joseph Wanton zealously investigated the incident. In The Burning of His Majesty's Schooner Gaspee: An Attack on Crown Rule Before the American Revolution, historian Steven Park reveals that what started out as a customs battle over the seizure of a prominent citizen's rum was soon transformed into the spark that re-ignited Patriot fervor. The significance of the raid was underscored by a fiery Thanksgiving Day sermon given by a little-known Baptist minister in Boston.His inflammatory message was reprinted in several colonies and was one of the most successful pamphlets of the pre-Independence period. The commission turned out to be essentially a sham and made the administration in London look weak and ineffective. In the wake of the Gaspee affair, Committees of Correspondence soon formed in all but one of the original thirteen colonies, and later East India Company tea would be defiantly dumped into Boston Harbor.
£26.92
Westholme Publishing, U.S. From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island
Book SynopsisIn December 1777, the Continental army was encamped at Valley Forge and faced weeks of cold and hunger, as well as the prospect of many troops leaving as their terms expired in the coming months. If the winter were especially cruel, large numbers of soldiers would face death or contemplate desertion. Plans were made to enlist more men, but as the states struggled to fill quotas for enlistment, Rhode Island general James Mitchell Varnum proposed the historic plan that a regiment of slaves might be recruited from his own state, the smallest in the union, but holding the largest population of slaves in New England. The commander in chief 's approval of the plan would set in motion the forming of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. The "black regiment," as it came to be known, was composed of indentured servants, Narragansett Indians, and former slaves. This was not without controversy.While some in the Rhode Island Assembly and in other states railed that enlisting slaves would give the enemy the impression that not enough white men could be raised to fight the British, owners of large estates gladly offered their slaves and servants, both black and white, in lieu of a son or family member enlisting. The regiment fought with distinction at the battle of Rhode Island, and once joined with the 2nd Rhode Island before the siege of Yorktown in 1781, it became the first integrated battalion in the nation's history. In From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution, historian Robert A. Geake tells the important story of the "black regiment" from the causes that led to its formation, its acts of heroism and misfortune, as well as the legacy left by those men who enlisted to earn their freedom.
£19.99
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Journal of the American Revolution: 2017
Book SynopsisThe Journal of the American Revolution, Annual Volume 2017, presents the journal s best historical research and writing over the past calendar year. The volume is designed for institutions, scholars, and enthusiasts to provide a convenient overview of the latest research and scholarship in American Revolution studies. The forty-six articles in the 2017 edition include: Why the British Lost the Battle of Sullivan s Island - C. L. Bragg The Tiger Aids the Eaglet: How India Secured America s Independence - Richard Sambasivam How Yorktown Almost Couldn t Afford to Happen - John Smith Was Richard Stockton a Hero? - Christian M. McBurney The Southern Expedition of 1776: The American Revolution s Best Kept Secret - Roger Smith Religious Liberty and Its Virginia Roots - Alex Colvin Mount Vernon During the American Revolution - Mary V. Thompson Why God Is in the Declaration but not the Constitution - Anthony J. Minna Colonel Tench Tilghman: George Washington s Eyes and Ears - Jeff Dacus The Stockbridge-Mohican Community, 1775 1783 - Bryan Rindfleisch Two Years Aboard the Welcome: The American Revolution on Lake Huron - Tyler Rudd Putman
£28.45
Westholme Publishing, U.S. The Invasion of Virginia 1781
Book SynopsisThe American War for Independence was fought in nearly every colony, but some colonies witnessed far more conflict than others. In the first half of the war, the bulk of military operations were concentrated in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. A shift in British strategy southward after the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 triggered numerous military engagements in 1779 and 1780 in Georgia and the Carolinas. Surprisingly, Virginia, the largest of the original thirteen colonies, saw relatively little fighting for the first six years of the Revolutionary War. This changed in 1781 when British and American forces converged on Virginia. The war s arrival did not result from one particular decision or event, but rather, a series of incidents and battles beginning in the fall of 1780 at Kings Mountain. Benedict Arnold s sudden appearance in Virginia in early 1781 with 1,600 seasoned British troops and his successful raid up the James River to Richmond and subsequent occupation of Portsmouth, demonstrated Virginia s vulnerability to attack and the possibility that the colonies could be divided and subdued piecemeal, a strategy Britain had attempted to deploy several times earlier in the war. British General Henry Clinton s decision to reinforce Arnold in Virginia expanded Britain s hold on the colony while events in North Carolina, including the battle of Guilford Court House, led British General Charles Cornwallis to conclude that Virginia was the key to subduing the entire South. As a result, Cornwallis marched his army north in May 1781 to assume command of what was now a very powerful British force of over 7,000 troops. The war had returned to Virginia with a vengeance, and how it did so and what happened as a result is the focus of the lat- est volume in the Journal of the American Revolution Books series, The Invasion of Virginia 1781.
£18.99
Westholme Publishing, U.S. The Hardest Journey Home: A True Story of Loss
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£20.00
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Washington's War 1779
Book SynopsisA Journal of the American Revolution Book: While attacking the British and their allies at Stony Point, Paulus Hook, and upstate New York, George Washington prepared a bold plan to end the war in New York City Despite great limits of money and manpower, George Washington sought to wage an aggressive war in 1779. He launched the Sullivan-Clinton campaign against Britain's Iroquois allies in upstate New York, and in response to British attacks up the Hudson River and against coastal Connecticut, he authorized raids on British outposts at Stony Point and Paulus Hook. But given power by Congress to plan and execute operations with the French on a continental scale, Washington planned his boldest campaign. When it appeared that the French would bring a fleet and an army to America, and supported by intelligence from his famed Culper spy network, the American commander proposed a joint Franco-American attack on the bastion of British power in North America New York City to capture its garrison. Such a blow, he hoped, would end the war in 1779. Based on extensive primary source material, Washington's War 1779, by historian Benjamin Lee Huggins, describes Washington's highly detailed plans and extensive prepara- tions for his potentially decisive Franco-American cam- paign to defeat the British at New York in the fall of 1779. With an emphasis on Washington's generalship in that year from strategic and operational planning to logistics to diplomacy and how it had evolved since the early years of the war, the book also details the other offensive opera- tions in 1779, including the attacks in upstate New York, Stony Point, and Paulus Hook. Although the American and French defeat at Savannah, Georgia, prevented Washington from carrying out his New York offensive, Washington gained valuable experience in planning for joint operations that would help him win at Yorktown two years later.
£18.99
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Journal of the American Revolution: Annual Volume
Book SynopsisThe Journal of the American Revolution, Annual Volume 2018, presents the journal’s best historical research and writing over the past calendar year. The volume is designed for institutions, scholars, and enthusiasts to provide a con- venient overview of the latest research and scholarship in American Revolution studies. The forty-one articles in the 2018 edition include: Anti-Indian Radicalization in the Early American West, 1774–1795 by Darren R. Reid The Setauket Raid, December 1777 by Phillip R. Giffin The 3rd New Jersey Regiment's Plundering of Johnson Hall by Philip D. Weaver A Proposed Alliance of the Knights of Malta and the United States of America by Bruce Ware Allen Country Crowds in Revolutionary Massachusetts: Mobs and Militia by Ray Raphael Lafayette: An Acerbic Tongue or an Incisive Judge of Character? by Gene Procknow Admiral Rodney Ousts the Jews from St. Eustatius by Louis Arthur Norton Preventing Slave Insurrection in South Carolina & Georgia, 1775–1776 by Jim Piecuch The “P” is for Profit: Revolutionary War Privateers and the Slave Trade by Michael Thomin The Remarkable Spanish Pilgrimage of John Adams by John L. Smith, Jr. Thomas Paine, Deism, and the Masonic Fraternity by Shai Afsai A Fresh Look at Major Patrick Ferguson by Wayne Lynch Displaced: The Donation People of 1775 by Katie Turner GettyTrade ReviewPraise for the Journal of the American Revolution Annual Volumes: "An excellent overview of recent scholarly findings and historical understanding of America's founding. . . . A welcome contribution to public and college library history collections, highly recommended."--Library Bookwatch
£26.96
Westholme Publishing The War of 1812 in the West: From Fort Detroit to
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£24.00
Westholme Publishing, U.S. The Agony of Heroes: Medical Care for America's
Book SynopsisThe author, a veteran, is professor and chief of general surgery for the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Details the struggles at five iconic American battles: Bataan, Anzio, Bastogne (World War II); Chosin (Korea); Khe Sanh (Vietnam). Most readers do not think about what happens to wounded soldiers; this book is as gripping and moving as any great military history, yet it revolves around the immediate care of soldiers who have suffered in combat. All of the medical personnel discussed are often within in yards of the fighting. In many ways, this book provides a much better sense of actual combat than any fighting soldier's memoir. Here, often in little to no light, often crawling on the ground, doctors try to assess who can be saved amidst the carnage. In some cases, they must attempt to provide medical care with no supplies. Nurses, doctors, and corpsmen are all discussed in each battle and how they worked together, living and dying alongside the soldiers they were charged with healing. As technology advanced, soldiers who would have died in previous wars were now saved, but as the author reveals through the recollection of doctors, the medical staff were as scarred as the men they had kept alive were they really doing the soldiers a service? Soldiers who would have to carry on with a disfigured face, without an arm, leg, pissing in a bag, or more? This is a very powerful book, well written, passionate, and provides the balance what the actual sacrifices are to traditional military histories.
£23.75
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Journal of the American Revolution: Annual Volume
Book Synopsis� The fifth annual edition of the�best articles published over the�past year in the Journal of the�American Revolution. � Articles include, the first countries�to diplomatically recognize�the United States (Yes, you�guessed it, Sweden is number�four on the list�the first neutral,�non-warring country to recognize�the United States the king loved Ben Franklin!); Benedict Arnold's master plan for a�British victory (and had they carried it out, it probably would have worked); slavery through�the eyes of Revolutionary generals (some thought it was OK; others thought it was an abomination�that would be sorted out in about 90 years); China and the American Revolution�(trade was a major element in all diplomacy during this period and following the war, American�ships gained access to China's wares); the death and resurrection of Major Andr� (an absolutely�fascinating look at how an obscure British officer became the lasting martyr of the�British cause in America); a �most extraordinary murder,� about a woman who hired two�British deserters to kill her estranged husband (an intrigue from more than two centuries�ago).�
£26.96
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Cabal!: The Plot Against George Washington
Book SynopsisThis will be the definitive history of the Conway Cabal by a distinguished historian. The Conway Cabal, named for the chief conspirator, Thomas Conway, was an attempt by a group of senior Continental officers to remove George Washington from command beginning in late 1777\. The primary evidence has been letters written by Conway criticizing Washington and suggesting there were other officers who would bring better results to the war effort. These letters were disclosed to the Second Continental Congress which then unraveled the plot. Among those implicated was Horatio Gates whose own adjutant, James Wilkinson a duplicitous character himself had alerted Washington to the plot providing incriminating correspondence by Gates. Gates was forced to publicly apologize and, ironically, the man who thought he could do a better job than Washington, soon lost his entire army to Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden, in addition to fleeing the battlefield! The author provides the complete background to the plot as well as its aftermath (including the Newburgh Conspiracy), and presents the Conway Cabal as it is generally known by historians in order to set up his achievement, which has been to carefully scour existing correspondence to reveal that the plot was much larger and much closer to achieving success than has been recognized.
£22.50
Westholme Publishing, U.S. To the End of the World: Nathanael Greene,
Book Synopsis“In the most barren inhospitable unhealthy part of North America, opposed by the most savage, inveterate perfidious cruel Enemy, with zeal and with Bayonets only, it was resolv'd to follow Green's Army, to the end of the World.” So wrote British general Charles O'Hara about the epic confrontation between Nathanael Greene and Charles Cornwallis during the winter of 1780-81\. Only Greene's starving, threadbare Continentals stood between Cornwallis and control of the South—and a possible end to the American rebellion. Burning their baggage train so that they could travel more quickly, the British doggedly pursued Greene's bedraggled soldiers, yet the rebels remained elusive. Daniel Morgan's stunning victory at Cowpens over a superior British force set in motion the “Race to the Dan,” Greene's month-long strategic retreat across the Carolinas. In constant rain and occasional snow, Greene's soldiers— tracking the ground with their bloody feet—bound toward a secret stash of boats on the Dan River. Just before Cornwallis could close his trap, the Continentals crossed into Virginia and safety. Greene's path featured three nearmiss river escapes, the little-known Battle of Cowan's Ford, and a final chase so close that the fate of the American South—and the American effort—rested on one wrong British move. With a background section on the Southern theater in 1780, and a summary outlining the lives and careers of its important officers, To the End of the World: Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan is a carefully documented and beautifully written account of this extraordinary chapter of American history. The book not only showcases the incredible dramatics of the American Revolution's “Great Escape,” but also provides a compelling look at the psychological and intellectual distinctions between its two great generals, Greene and Cornwallis.
£23.75
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought
Book SynopsisRedcoats. For Americans, the word brings to mind a occupying army that attempted to crush a revolution against king and country. For centuries these soldiers have remained hidden despite their major role in one of the greatest events in world history. There was more to these men than their red uniforms, but the individuals who formed the ranks are seldom described in any detail in historical literature, leaving unanswered questions. Who were they? Why did they join the army? Where did they go when the war was over? In Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution, Don N. Hagist brings life to these soldiers, describing the training, experiences, and outcomes of British soldiers who fought during the Revolution. Drawing on thousands of military records and other primary sources in British, American, and Canadian archives, and the writings of dozens of officers and soldiers, Noble Volunteers shows how a peacetime army responded to the onset of war, how professional soldiers adapted quickly and effectively to become tactically dominant, and what became of the thousands of career soldiers once the war was over. In this historical tour de force, introduced by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson, Hagist dispels long-held myths, revealing how remarkably diverse British soldiers were. They represented a variety of ages, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and many had joined the army as a peacetime career, only to find themselves fighting a war on another continent in often brutal conditions. Against the sweeping backdrop of the war, Hagist directs his focus on the small picture, illuminating the moments in an individual soldier's life—those hours spent nursing a fever while standing sentry in the bitter cold, or writing a letter to a wife back home. What emerges from these vignettes is the understanding that while these were “common” soldiers, each soldier was completely unique, for, as Hagist writes, “There was no ‘typical' British soldier.”
£26.96
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Anatomy of a Massacre: The Destruction of
Book SynopsisOn March 8, 1782, a group of western settlers killed nearly one hundred unarmed and peaceful Indians who had converted to Christianity under the tutelage of missionaries from the Church of the United Brethren. The murders were cold-blooded and heartless; roughly two-thirds of those executed were women and children. Its brutality stunned Benjamin Franklin in far-away France. He wrote: “the abominable Murders committed by some of the frontier People on the poor Moravian Indians, has given me infinite Pain and Vexation. The Dispensations of Providence in this World puzzle my weak Reason. I cannot comprehend why cruel Men should have been permitted thus to destroy their Fellow Creatures.” Since that maelstrom of violence struck the small Indian village of Gnadenhutten, history has treated the episode as a simple morality tale. While there were ample incidents of good and evil on March 8, that summation does not explain what brought murderers and victims together on the banks of the Muskingum River in today's Ohio. It was actually the culmination of a series of events among different Indian tribes, the British, Congressional authorities at Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania militia, and key individuals, all of which are lost in contemporary explanations of the massacre. Anatomy of a Massacre: The Destruction of Gnadenhutten, 1782 fills that void by examining the political maneuvering among white settlers, Continental officials, British officers, western Indian tribes, missionaries, and the Indians practicing Christianity that culminated in the massacre. Uniquely, it follows the developing story from each perspective, using first-person accounts from each group to understand how they saw and experienced the changes on the American frontier. Along the way it profiles some of the key individuals responsible for the way the war unfolded. It is a fresh look at an often mentioned, but seldom understood, episode in the American Revolution.
£19.95
Westholme Publishing To Raise Up a Nation: John Brown, Frederick
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£28.90
Westholme Publishing Tecumseh's War: The Epic Conflict for the Heart
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£27.96
Westholme Publishing Journal of the American Revolution 2025
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£36.12
Trinity University Press,U.S. No Cause of Offence: A Virginia Family of Union
Book SynopsisDespite the image of a "Solid South," many southerners stayed loyal to the Union during the Civil War and coexisted uneasily with their Confederate neighbors. In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, the Lewises gave "no cause of offense" but did not hide their beliefs, made clear to Stonewall Jackson as he made their home his headquarters. One family member, a delegate who refused to sign the Secession Ordinance, ran an iron furnace that kept dozens of Loyalists out of the Confederate Army.
£17.09
Thomas Nelson Publishers Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping,
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£18.04
Skyhorse Publishing The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding
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£17.09
Regnery Publishing Inc Founding Rivals
Book SynopsisThe Amazing True Story of the Election That Saved the Constitution In 1789, James Madison and James Monroe ran against each other for Congress--the only time that two future presidents have contested a congressional seat. But what was at stake, as author Chris DeRose reveals in "Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and t
£20.69
Skyhorse Publishing George Washington and Benedict Arnold
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£15.19
Skyhorse Publishing George Washingtons Military Genius
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£20.69
Rowman & Littlefield Long Rifle: A Sniper's Story in Iraq and
Book SynopsisWhen fires raged in the ruins of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Joe LeBleu, a native of Brooklyn and a retired U.S. Army Ranger veteran, was in lower Manhattan. On that day he decided to return to active duty. By the time he received an honorable discharge as a Staff Sergeant, paratrooper, and sniper team leader in the 82nd Airborne Division in 2005, he’d become known as “Long Rifle”—for shooting an Iraqi insurgent at 1,100 meters in Fallujah in the fall of 2003. That single shot remains the farthest in Iraq by any American or British sniper. This book tells his story. Long Rifle is gripping and moving, but most of all, inspiring. As 9/11 altered the terrain of so many lives, it shaped that of Joe LeBleu: “Watching my city burn tore me up inside like nothing else in my life, ever.” Joe takes us with him from that haunting day in New York across the world, to the sweltering heat and ambush-rife conditions of desert and urban combat in Iraq. From here we enter a vastly different world: the remote and rugged mountains of Afghanistan. Joe’s accounts of sniper missions against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in this grueling landscape are engaging and intriguing. Finally, Joe trusts his gut and returns to civilian life, settling near Las Vegas and going on to train Mark Wahlberg for his role as a Force Recon Marine scout/sniper in the film, Shooter. Joe had come full circle from 9/11, “a day that changed my life forever.” Raw, gritty, passionate, and provocative, Long Rifle is both the first memoir by a U.S. Army sniper from the 9/11 generation and a stirring testament to the core values of American soldiers: integrity, honor, and courage. LeBleu’s journey to war and back also testifies to the enduring power of love: Joe carried his dream to return to Natalie, his wife, for six long years.Table of ContentsOutlineTitle PageMaps/Photos (Joe has over 200 photos to select from, in Iraq and Afghanistan)GlossaryContentsIntroduction: A day that changed my life foreverIntroduction will cover Joe’s youth, growing up in Brooklyn,tour of duty in US Army Rangers, return to NYC, and of course,September 11th—September 11th is the anchor of the introduction andJoe’s thoughts on September 11th weave throughout the book. Book One: “Insurgent at 1100 Meters, Lieutenant.” “Roger that. Take the shot.”Joe’s combat in Iraq dominates this section, the guts of the book are all here—this is the section that will appeal most to the military reader. His affection for Natalie, which the reader will first get in the introduction, grows here and the general reader will stay hooked on the love groove. Joe saw a ton of action, including “The Shot,” and the combat will no doubt draw in many readers. The witnesses to Joe’s seemingly-impossible shot will also recount that mission—among them are Captain Adam Bohlen, US Army 10th Mountain Division. You’re familiar with Bohlen, of course, from Among Warriors in Iraq, a book in which LeBleu appears also. Book Two: Far Afghan HillsJoe was on a lot of dicey, very high-risk sniper missions in Afghanistan, and his thoughts on fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda are provocative, engaging, and intriguing. The grueling and very challenging nature of sniper missions in the rugged and remote mountains of Afghanistan provide the general reader with real contrast to the desert and urban missions of Book One. Again, Joe’s love for Natalie binds the narrative. Book Three: Coming HomeThe warrior at rest. Joe felt that his debt to America was paid, having served in the Rangers and the paratroopers, and trusted his gut. His transition to civilian life, “back to The World,” as grunts like to put it, wasn’t easy but Natalie certainly made it far less difficult than it would’ve been without her. This section will also have Joe’s thoughts on training Mark Wahlberg for the film, Shooter, and his last words on the impact of September 11th on his life.
£12.34
Texas A & M University Press Moss Bluff Rebel: A Texas Pioneer in the Civil
Book Synopsis'I was not willing, but finally agreed...' So wrote Texas pioneer cattle drover William Berry Duncan in his March 1862 diary entry, the day he joined the Confederate Army. Despite his misgivings, Duncan left his prosperous business to lead neighbors and fellow volunteers as commanding officer of cavalry Company F of Spaight's Eleventh Battalion which later became the 21st Texas Infantry in America's Civil War. Philip Caudill's rich account - drawn from Duncan's previously untapped diaries and letters, written by candlelight on the Gulf Coast cattle trail to New Orleans, in Confederate Army camps, and on his southeast Texas farm after the war - reveals the personable Duncan as a man of steadfast integrity and extraordinary leadership. After the war, he returned to his home in Liberty County and battled for survival on the chaotic Reconstruction-era Texas frontier. Supplemented by archival records and complementary accounts, Moss Bluff Rebel paints a picture of everyday life for the Anglo-Texans who settled the Mexican land grants in the early nineteenth century and subsequently became citizens of the proudly independent Texas Republic. "Moss Bluff Rebel" will appeal to history lovers of all ages who are attracted to the drama of the Civil War period and interested in the stories of the men and women who shaped the Texas frontier.
£25.46
Texas A & M University Press USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final
Book SynopsisLavish illustrations (photographs, site drawings, and artifact sketches) complement this informative and highly readable account. Naval warfare buffs, amateurs and professionals involved in maritime archaeology, and Civil War aficionados will be intrigued and informed by USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage.
£19.96
University Press of Mississippi Legend of the Free State of Jones
Book SynopsisA maverick, unionist district in the heart of the Old South? A notorious county that seceded from the Confederacy? This is how Jones County, Mississippi, is known in myth and legend.Since 1864, the legend has persisted. Differing versions give the name of this new nation as Republic of Jones, Jones County Confederacy, and Free State of Jones. Over the years this story has captured the imaginations of journalists, historians, essayists, novelists, short story writers, and Hollywood filmmakers, although serious scholars long ago questioned the accuracy of local history accounts about a secessionist county led by Newt Knight and a band of renegades.Legend of the Free State of Jones was the first authoritative explanation of just what did happen in Jones County in 1864 to give rise to the legend. This book surveys the facts, the records, and the history of the ""Free State of Jones"" and well may provide the whole story.
£21.21
Cosimo Classics History of the Civil War 1861-1865
£18.99
£10.45
Pegasus Books Waterloo: Wellington, Napoleon, and the Battle
Book SynopsisWellington remarked that Waterloo was "a damned nice thing," meaning uncertain or finely balanced. He was right. For his part, Napoleon reckoned "the English are bad troops and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast." He was wrong-and this gripping and dramatic narrative history shows just how wrong. Fought on Sunday, June 18th, 1815, by some 220,000 men over rain-sodden ground in what is now Belgium, the Battle of Waterloo brought an end to twenty-three years of almost continual war between imperial France and her enemies. A decisive defeat for Napoleon and a hard-won victory for the Allied armies of the Duke of Wellington and the Prussians, led by the stalwart Marshal Blucher, it brought about the French emperor's final exile to St. Helena and cleared the way for Britain to become the dominant military power in the world. The Napoleonic Wars are a source of endless fascination and this authoritative volume provides a wide and colorful window into this all-important climactic battle.Trade Review"Two centuries have not diminished the avalanche of books on this subject, but even history buffs familiar with the two generals and their epic 1815 encounter will not regret choosing this one. Gripping. A superb addition to an overstuffed genre." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred) "Those interested in military history, particularly that of England or France, will love the detail in this volume. Corrigan keeps things exciting by blending his own brand of wit with historical fact." -- Library Journal "Detailed enough to satisfy military history buffs without losing general readers. Clear and engaging, sprinkled with gratifying details and footnotes revealing dry British humor." -- Shelf Awareness
£10.99
Kent State University Press The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known:
Book SynopsisThe martial enthusiasm that engulfed the North when the American Civil War commenced in April 1861 vanished by the following summer. Repeated military defeats, economic worries, and staggering casualties prompted many civilians to question the war’s viability. Frustration exploded into anger when Republican president Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September.The disgruntled voices grew louder. These anti-Lincoln Democrats, nicknamed “Copperheads,” viewed blacks with disdain and considered many of Lincoln’s legal decisions to be unconstitutional. Civilian disenchantment led to significant Republican defeats in the November Congressional elections. As 1862 ended, Northern morale was at rock bottom. Across the North, ardent pro-Lincoln men realized their country needed a patriotic stimulus, as well as an organized means of countering what they viewed as theirCopperhead adversaries’ treasonous pronouncements and subversion. These men formed what became known as Union Leagues: semisecretive societies whose members had to possess unconditional loyalty to the Lincoln administration and unwavering support for all of its efforts to suppress the rebellion. Their mysterious member initiation rites were likened to a solemn religious ceremony.In The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known, Paul Taylor examines the Union League movement. Oftenportrayed as a mere footnote to the Civil War, the Union League’s influence on the Northern home front was far more important and consequential than previously considered. The Union League and its various offshoots spread rapidly across the North, and in this first comprehensive examination of the leagues, Taylor discusses what made them so effective, including their recruitment strategies, their use of ostracism as a way of stifling dissent, and their distribution of political propaganda in quantities unlike anything previously imagined. By the end of 1863, readers learn, it seemed as if every hamlet from Maine to California had formed its own league chapter, collectively overwhelming their Democratic foe in the 1864 presidential election.Trade Review"There is much in this book to appreciate. The writing is clear and engaging. The research is careful and thorough. Any future assessment of the election of 1864, so critical to US victory, will have to include Taylor's work on the Union Leagues." — Civil War History"Taylor provides a well-written, direct, and thoroughly researched summary of this movement." — Indiana Magazine of History
£39.16
Kent State University Press No Place for Glory: Major General Robert E. Rodes
Book SynopsisA scrupulous analysis of Rodes's conduct during the Battle of Gettysburg Over the years, many top historians have cited Major General Robert E. Rodes as the best division commander in Robert E. Lee's vaunted army. Despite those accolades, Rodes faltered badly at Gettysburg, which stands as the only major blemish on his otherwise sterling record. Although his subordinates were guilty of significant blunders, Rodes shared the blame for the disjointed attack that led to the destruction of Alfred Iverson's brigade on the first day of the battle. His lack of initiative on the following day was regarded by some in the army as much worse. Whether justified or not, they directly faulted him for not supporting Jubal Early's division in a night attack on Cemetery Hill that nearly succeeded in decisively turning the enemy's flank.The reasons behind Rodes's flawed performance at Gettysburg have long proven difficult to decipher with any certainty. Because his personal papers were destroyed, primary sources on his role in battle remain sparse. Other than the official reports on the battle, the record of what occurred there is mostly limited to the letters and diaries of his subordinates. In this new study, however, Robert J. Wynstra draws on sources heretofore unexamined, including rare soldiers' letters published in local newspapers and other firsthand accounts located in small historical societies, to shed light on the reasons behind Rodes's missteps.As a result of this new research and analysis, we are finally able to come to a more detailed understanding of Rodes's division's activities at Gettysburg, an enduring subject of study and interest.Trade ReviewAt the moment of Gettysburg's sesquicentennial, it was estimated that nearly half of the approximately 65,000 books published about the Civil War in some way focused on the war's bloodiest battle. Because such a vast literature already exists about the Gettysburg Campaign, one might easily surmise that it would be impossible for anyone to produce anything original about it. Robert J. Wynstra successfully challenges that assumption with his recent volume, one destined to become a staple for anyone seeking a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the campaign's opening weeks. There is little to criticize about Wynstra's exhaustively researched, skillfully written, and nuanced history. While this book is certainly a necessity for students of the Gettysburg Campaign, those who seek a deeper understanding of the interactions between Confederate soldiers and white civilians, Confederates and African Americans, or how soldiers justified bringing war to people's doorsteps will find Wynstra's volume inestimably valuable."- The Civil War Monitor
£47.20
Nova Science Publishers Inc Georgia & the Caucasus Region
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£80.24
Haymarket Books The United States, Southeast Asia, And Historical
Book SynopsisThe United States, Southeast Asia, and Historical Memory sheds crucial new light on the epochal US interventions in Southeast Asia after World War II. The United States came out of the Indochina wars with a tarnished reputation, as evidence of their behaviours came to light. Now - as U.S. war crimes in other countries like Afghanistan and Iraq continue to blight the country - Mark Pavlick and a group of scholars provide insight into some of the first and the worst war crimes perpetrated by the American military. Includes essays from Noam Chomsky.Trade Review"The text Pavlick and Luft have put together is both history and forewarning. By the very nature of its subject matter, it can not be light reading. It barely touches the catalog of horrors that the US war on the people of Southeast Asia was. At the same time, it is a useful and potent introduction to a history too few US residents truly know and one that most US leaders would like to hide. There is no respite from the true nature of the war on Southeast Asia in these pages. Indeed, the only relief can be found in the knowledge that all proceeds from the book’s sale will go to humanitarian assistance in Indochina." —CounterPunch “Extremely important and pertinent…. The importance of the historical events and arguments made in this book cannot be overstated; the government of the United States waged war against the three countries of Indochina for years, even though none had harmed the United States or were vital to American security or geopolitical interests. In the course of those wars, massive atrocities were committed, undoubtedly war crimes. The United States has never taken responsibility for those actions nor has it punished the criminals who committed these acts… Moreover, the extent of these atrocities have been kept from the American public and the lack of historical awareness of these events prevents Americans from learning important lessons about how their government acts in their names and precludes learning important lessons to prevent any other occurrences such as these.” —Critical Asian Studies "A well-researched and powerfully presented overview...." —David Swanson “The content of this book is unavoidably grim, and it can be tempting to turn away. Yet the individual essays, clear and carefully researched, are especially useful for classroom purposes.” —Peace & Change “Within the academic disciplines of international relations and diplomatic history, there still exists the perception that the U.S military engagement in Southeast Asia was an honorable but ill-advised adventure. Moral outrage is often absent among historians and political scientists. Mark Pavlick’s edited volume illuminates these American wars as a denial of democracy, and a crime against humanity. The United States, Southeast Asia, and Historical Memory has educated me, and it should educate my colleagues.” —Lubna Qureshi, author of Nixon, Kissinger, and Allende: U.S. Involvement in the 1973 Coup in ChileTable of ContentsCONTENTS Contributors XX Acknowledgments and Permissions XX Message XX Introduction XX Richard Falk 1 War Crimes in Indochina and Our Troubled National Soul XX Fred Branfman 2 Excerpts from Voices from the Plain of Jars XX Collected by Fred Branfman 3 Legacies of War: Cluster Bombs in Laos XX Channapha Khamvongsa and Elaine Russell 4 Agent Orange in Vietnam XX Tuan V. Nguyen 5 Iraq, Another Vietnam? Consider Cambodia XX Ben Kiernan and Taylor Owen 6 Who Was Responsible for My Lai? The Peers Commission and the American Way of War Crimes XX Gareth Porter 7 Thailand in the Era of the Cold War and Rama IX XX Jim Glassman 8 Concealing War Crimes XX Nick Turse 9 Bloodbaths in Indochina: Constructive, Nefarious, and Mythical XX Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman 10 From Mad Jack to Mad Henry: The United States in Vietnam XX Noam Chomsky 11 After “Mad Henry”: U.S. Policy Toward Indochina Since 1975 XX Ngo Vinh Long 12 My Experiences with Laos and the Indochina Wars: Interview with Fred Branfman XX 13 Interview with Noam Chomsky XX Glossary of Selected Terms XX Further Action XX Recommended Reading XX Notes XX Index XX
£19.79
University of Iowa Press This Mighty Convulsion: Whitman and Melville
Book SynopsisThis is the first book exclusively devoted to the Civil War writings of Walt Whitman and Herman Melville, arguably the most important poets of the war. The essays brought together in this volume add significantly to recent critical appreciation of the skill and sophistication of these poets; growing recognition of the complexity of their views of the war; and heightened appreciation for the anxieties they harbored about its aftermath. Both in the ways they come together and seem mutually influenced, and in the ways they disagree, Whitman and Melville grapple with the casualties, complications, and anxieties of the war while highlighting its irresolution. This collection makes clear that rather than simply and straightforwardly memorializing the events of the war, the poetry of Whitman and Melville weighs carefully all sorts of vexing questions and considerations, even as it engages a cultural politics that is never pat. Contributors: Kyle Barton, Peter Bellis, Adam Bradford, Jonathan A. Cook, Ian Faith, Ed Folsom, Timothy Marr, Cody Marrs, Christopher Ohge, Vanessa Steinroetter, Sarah L. Thwaites, Brian Yothers
£57.60
Skyhorse Publishing Americas Forgotten Founders Second Edition Lives
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£15.96
Skyhorse Publishing What So Proudly We Hail The American Soul in
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£25.49
PublicAffairs,U.S. Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of
Book SynopsisA Best Book of the Year- The Economist & the Wall Street Journal At the heart of Africa is the Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal war in which millions have died. In Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, renowned political activist and researcher Jason K. Stearns has written a compelling and deeply-reported narrative of how Congo became a failed state that collapsed into a war of retaliatory massacres. Stearns brilliantly describes the key perpetrators, many of whom he met personally, and highlights the nature of the political system that brought these people to power, as well as the moral decisions with which the war confronted them. Now updated with a new introduction, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters tells the full story of Africa's Great War.Trade Review"The best account [of the conflict in the Congo] so far...The task facing anyone who tries to tell this whole story is formidable, but Stearns by and large rises to it." --Adam Hochschild, New York Times Book Review "[A] tour de force, though not for the squeamish." --Washington Post "This is a serious book about the social and political forces behind one of the most violent clashes of modern times--as well as a damn good read." --Economist "[P]erhaps the best account of the most recent conflict in the Congo." --Foreign Policy "A serious, admirably balanced account of the crisis and the political and social forces behind it... perhaps the most accessible, meticulously researched, and comprehensive overview of the Congo crisis yet." --Financial Times "Impressively controlled account of the devastating Congo war...The book's greatest strength is the eyewitness dialogue; Stearns discusses his encounters with everyone from major military figures to residents of remote villages (he was occasionally suspected of being a CIA spy)...An important examination of a social disaster that seems both politically complex and cruelly senseless."-Kirkus "Covering the devastating effects of these deadly contests on the Congolese infrastructure, Congolese institutions, and people's lives, Stearns informatively reports on affairs for students of African politics."Booklist "He is a cracking writer, with a wry sense of understatement...Mr. Stearns has spoken to everyone--villagers, child soldiers, Mobutu's commanders, Kabila's ministers, Rwandan intelligence officers. In these conversations he found gold, bringing clarity--and humanity--to a place that usually seems inexplicable and barbaric. 'Dancing in the Glory of Monsters' is riveting and certain to become essential reading for anyone looking to understand Central Africa." -Wall Street Journal "Stearns is more concerned with the perceptions, motivations, an actions of an eclectic mix of actors in the conflict--from a Tutsi warlord who engaged in massive human rights violations to a Hutu activist turned refugee living in the camps and forests of eastern Congo. He tells their stories with a judicious mix of empathy and distance, linking them to a broader narrative of a two-decade-long conflict that has involved a dozen countries and claimed six million victims."-Foreign Affairs "Stearns is a leading authority on the region, having lived there for years working for the United Nations and the International Crisis Group. He has built up a superb knowledge of Congo and how it articulates with its neighbours, particularly Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. He frequently imparts his understanding to journalists far less well-informed than he. And now he has produced a book where he makes the whole convoluted and confusing war in Congo a little more comprehensible, which is quite a feat. If you want to understand modern Congo then Stearns' book should be required reading."-Global Post "A brave and accessible take on the leviathan at the heart of so many of Africa's problems... Stearns's eye for detail, culled from countless interviews, brings this book alive... I once wrote that the Congo suffers from 'a lack of institutional memory', meaning that its atrocities well so inexorably that nobody bothers to keep an account of them. Stearns's book goes a long way to putting that right."Telegraph, "(t)his courageous book is a plea for more nuanced understanding and the silencing of the analysis-free 'the horror, the horror' exclamation that Congo still routinely wrings from Western lips." -The Spectator,
£14.24
University of South Carolina Press Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption,
Book SynopsisIn Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption, 1861–1893, the second of three volumes on the history of Beaufort County, Stephen R. Wise and Lawrence S. Rowland offer details about the district from 1861 to 1893, which influenced the development of the South Carolina and the nation. During a span of thirty years the region was transformed by the crucible of war from a wealthy, slave-based white oligarchy to a county where former slaves dominated a new, radically democratic political economy.This volume begins where volume I concluded, the November 1861 Union capture and occupation of the Sea Islands clustered around Port Royal Sound, and the Confederate retreat and re-entrenchment on Beaufort District’s mainland, where they fended off federal attacks for three and a half years and vainly attempted to maintain their pre-war life. In addition to chronicling numerous military actions that revolutionized warfare, Wise and Rowland offer an original, sophisticated study of the famous Port Royal Experiment in which United States military officers, government officials, civilian northerners, African American soldiers, and liberated slaves transformed the Union-occupied corner of the Palmetto State into a laboratory for liberty and a working model of the post-Civil War New South.The revolution wrought by Union victory and the political and social Reconstruction of South Carolina was followed by a counterrevolution called Redemption, the organized campaign of Southern whites, defeated in the war, to regain supremacy over African Americans. While former slave-owning, anti-black “Redeemers” took control of mainland Beaufort County, they were thwarted on the Sea Islands, where African Americans retained power and kept reaction at bay. By 1893, elements of both the New and Old South coexisted uneasily side by side as the old Beaufort District was divided into Beaufort and Hampton counties. The Democratic mainland reverted to an agricultural-based economy while the Republican Sea Islands and the town of Beaufort underwent an economic boom based on the phosphate mining industry and the new commercial port in the lowcountry town of Port Royal.
£35.96
University of South Carolina Press John Laurens and the American Revolution
Book SynopsisA historical figure's attempts to secure freedom for America and her slaves winning a reputation for reckless bravery in a succession of major battles and sieges, John Laurens distinguished himself as one of the most zealous, self-sacrificing participants in the American Revolution. A native of South Carolina and son of Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress, John devoted his life to securing American independence. In this comprehensive biography, Gregory D. Massey recounts the young Laurens's wartime record --a riveting tale in its own right --and finds that even more remarkable than his military escapades were his revolutionary ideas concerning the rights of African Americans.Massey relates Laurens's desperation to fight for his country once revolution had begun. A law student in England, he joined the war effort in 1777, leaving behind his English wife and an unborn child he would never see. Massey tells of the young officer's devoted service as General George Washington's aide-de-camp, interaction with prominent military and political figures, and conspicuous military efforts at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Newport, Charleston, Savannah, and Yorktown. Massey also recounts Laurens's survival of four battle wounds and six months as a prisoner of war, his controversial diplomatic mission to France, and his close friendship with Alexander Hamilton. Laurens's death in a minor battle in August 1782 was a tragic loss for the new state and nation. Unlike other prominent southerners, Laurens believed blacks shared a similar nature with whites, and he formulated a plan to free slaves in return for their service in the Continental Army. Massey explores the personal, social, and cultural factors that prompted Laurens to diverge so radically from his peers and to raise vital questions about the role African Americans would play in the new republic.
£24.65
University of South Carolina Press From Revolution to Reunion: The Reintegration of the South Carolina Loyalists
Book SynopsisThe American Revolution was a vicious civil war fought between families and neighbors. Nowhere was this truer than in South Carolina. Yet, after the Revolution, South Carolina’s victorious Patriots offered vanquished Loyalists a prompt and generous legal and social reintegration. From Revolution to Reunion investigates the way in which South Carolinians, Patriot and Loyalist, managed to reconcile their bitter differences and reunite to heal South Carolina and create a stable foundation for the new United States to become a political and economic leader.Rebecca Brannon considers rituals and emotions, as well as historical memory, to produce a complex and nuanced interpretation of the reconciliation process in post-Revolutionary South Carolina, detailing how Loyalists and Patriots worked together to heal their society. She frames the process in a larger historical context by comparing South Carolina’s experience with that of other states.Brannon highlights how Loyalists apologized but also went out of their way to serve their neighbors and to make themselves useful, even vital, members of the new experiment in self-government and liberty ushered in by the Revolution. Loyalists built on existing social ties to establish themselves in the new Republic, and they did it successfully.By 1784 the state government reinstated almost all the Loyalists who had stayed, as the majority of Loyalists had reinscribed themselves into the postwar nation. Brannon argues that South Carolinians went on to manipulate the way they talked about Loyalism in public to guarantee that memories would not be allowed to disturb the peaceful reconciliation they had created. South Carolinians succeeded in creating a generous and lasting reconciliation between former enemies, but in the process they unfortunately downplayed the dangers of civil war—which may have made it easier for South Carolinians to choose another civil war.
£71.64
University of South Carolina Press Martyr of the American Revolution: The Execution
Book SynopsisIn 1781 South Carolina patriot militiamen played an integral role in helping the Continental army reclaim their state from its British conquerors. Martyr of the American Revolution is the only book-length treatment that examines the events that set an American militia colonel on a disastrous collision course with two British officers, his execution in Charleston, and the repercussions that extended from the battle lines of South Carolina to the Continental Congress and across the Atlantic to the halls of British Parliament.On August 4, 1781, in Charleston, South Carolina, the British army hanged Col. Isaac Hayne for treason. Rather than a strict chronological retelling of the events, which led to his execution during the British occupation of Charleston, what is offered instead is a consideration of factors, independently set in motion that culminated in the demise of a loving father and devout patriot.Hayne was the most prominent American executed by the British for treason. He and his two principal antagonists, Lt. Col. Nisbet Balfour and Lt. Col. Francis Lord Rawdon, were unwittingly set on a collision course that climaxed in an act that sparked perhaps the most notable controversy of the war. Martyr of the American Revolution sheds light on why two professional soldiers were driven to commit a seemingly wrongheaded and arbitrary deed that halted prisoner exchange and nearly brought disastrous consequences to captive British officers.The death of a patriot in the cause of liberty was not a unique occurrence, but the unusually well-documented events surrounding the execution of Hayne and the involvement of his friends and family makes his story compelling and poignant. Unlike young Capt. Nathan Hale, who suffered a similar fate in 1776, Hayne did not become a folk hero. What began as local incident, however, became an international affair that was debated in Parliament and the Continental Congress.
£30.35
University of South Carolina Press Eutaw Springs: The Final Battle of the American
Book SynopsisThe Battle of Eutaw Springs took place on September 8, 1781, and was among the last in the War of Independence. It was brutal in its combat and reprisals, with Continental and Whig militia fighting British regulars and Loyalist regiments. Although its outcome was seemingly inconclusive, the battle, fought near present-day Eutawville, South Carolina, contained all the elements that defined the war in the South. In Eutaw Springs: The Final Battle of the American Revolution’s Southern Campaign, Robert M. Dunkerly and Irene B. Boland tell the story of this lesser known and under-studied battle of the Revolutionary War’s Southern Campaign. Shrouded in myth and misconception, the battle has also been overshadowed by the surrender of Yorktown.Eutaw Springs represented lost opportunities for both armies. The American forces were desperate for a victory in 1781, and Gen. Nathanael Greene finally had the ground of his own choosing. British forces under Col. Alexander Stewart were equally determined to keep a solid grip on the territory they still held in the South Carolina lowcountry.In one of the bloodiest battles of the war, both armies sustained heavy casualties with each side losing nearly 20 percent of its soldiers. Neither side won the hard-fought battle, and controversies plagued both sides in the aftermath. Dunkerly and Boland analyze the engagement and its significance within the context of the war’s closing months, study the area’s geology and setting, and recount the action using primary sources, aided by recent archaeology.
£18.86
University of South Carolina Press A South Carolina Upcountry Saga: The Civil War
Book SynopsisCollected letters of a Confederate officer and his family detail daily life and loss on the battlefield.Hope, sacrifice, and restoration: throughout the American Civil War and its aftermath, the Foster family endured all of these in no small measure. Drawing from dozens of public and privately owned letters, A. Gibert Kennedy recounts the story of his great-great-grandfather and his family in A South Carolina Upcountry Saga: The Civil War Letters of Barham Bobo Foster and His Family, 1860–1863.Barham Bobo Foster was a gentleman planter from the Piedmont who signed the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession and served as a lieutenant colonel in the Third South Carolina Volunteers alongside his two sons. Kennedy’s primary sources are letters written by Foster and his sons, but he also references correspondence involving Foster’s daughters and his wife, Mary Ann.The letters describe experiences on the battlefields of Virginia and South Carolina, vividly detailing camp life, movements, and battles along with stories of bravery, loss, and sacrifice. The Civil War cost Foster his health, all that he owned, and his two sons, though he was able to rebuild with the help of his wife and three daughters. Supplementing the correspondence with maps, illustrations, and genealogical information, Kennedy shows the full arc of the Foster family’s struggle and endurance in the Civil War era.
£41.36
