No person excited greater emotion in Kansas than James Henry Lane, the U.S. senator who led a volunteer brigade in 1861-1862. In fighting numerous skirmishes, liberating hundreds of slaves, burning portions of four towns, and murdering half a dozen men, Lane and his brigade garnered national attention as the saviors of Kansas and the terror of Missouri.

This first book-length study of the "jayhawkers," as the men of Lane's brigade were known, takes a fresh look at their exploits and notoriety. Bryce Benedict draws on a wealth of previously unexploited sources, including letters by brigade members, to dramatically re-create the violence along the Kansas-Missouri border and challenge some of the time-honored depictions of Lane's unit as bloodthirsty and indiscriminately violent.

Bringing to life an era of guerillas, bushwhackers, and slave stealers, "Jayhawkers" also describes how Lane's brigade was organized and equipped and provides details regarding staff and casualties. Assessing the extent to which the jayhawkers followed accepted rules of warfare, Benedict argues that Lane set a precedent for the Union Army's eventual adoption of "hard" tactics toward civilians.

An entertaining story rich in detail, "Jayhawkers" will captivate scholars and history enthusiasts as it sheds new light on the unfettered violence on this western fringe of the Civil War.

The Spanish Civil War left a legacy of destruction, resentment and deep ideological divisions in a country that was attempting to recover from economic stagnation and social inequality. After Franco's victory, the repression and purge that ensued immersed Spain in a spiral of fear and silence which continued long after the dictator's death, through 'the pact of oblivion' that was observed during the transition to democracy. Memories of the Spanish Civil War: Conflict and Community in Rural Spain attempts to break this silence by recovering the local memories of survivors of the Civil War and the early years of Franco's dictatorship. Combining oral testimony gathered in one Andalusian village, with archival research, this ethnographic study approaches the expression of memory as an important site of socio-political struggle.

A Federal Corps at war against the Confederacy
The Nineteenth Army Corps of the Union Army was comprised of the Federal troops allocated to the Department of the Gulf. It commenced active operations in 1863 first engaging the enemy at Fort Bisland and Irish Bend in Louisiana followed by the investment of Port Hudson. Thereafter it took part in Bank's Red River Expedition where it engaged at the Battles of Sabine Cross Roads and Pleasant Hill. In 1864 the 1st and 2nd Divisions transferred to Virginia and thence to Maryland where they served under Sherman in the Shenandoah Valley. The 19th also fought with distinction at Opequon, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. Before the war was won it was engaged in further actions at Fort Blakely, Spanish Fort and Mobile. This is an essential unit history of an army corps during the American Civil war and provides much vital information for the student of the period. Available in soft cover and hard back with dust jacket.

Ulysses S. Grant was responsible for orchestrating the activities of all the Union armies into a single strategy, providing the leadership that eventually doomed the Confederacy and brought about the end of the Civil War. This book documents Grant's contributions to the Civil War as well as his early life and presidency. Ulysses S. Grant: A Biography takes an in-depth look at one of the most well-known figures to emerge from the American Civil War, the famed Union commander and 18th President of the United States who has become an iconic part of our nation's history. The book provides a balanced overview that encompasses all the major events of Grant's life as well as his ancestry, portraying him as a common man who endured defeats and setbacks instead of a flawless noble hero. It accurately chronicles his life as it took place and tells a story of perseverance that illuminates Grant's successes as a testimony to determination and pluck rather than the result of luck or raw talent. This work will be especially helpful to high school and college-age audiences, and can be enjoyed by anyone interested in the Civil War period. Contains photographs of Grant at various stages of his life or that depict important events Includes a comprehensive bibliography as well a timeline of Grant's life and career

Relying principally on Ian Saberton's edition of The Cornwallis Papers: The Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Theatre of the American Revolutionary War, 6 vols (Uckfield: The Naval & Military Press Ltd, 2010), this work opens with an essay containing a groundbreaking critique of British strategy during the momentous and decisive campaigns that terminated in Cornwallis's capitulation at Yorktown and the consolidation of American independence. The essay begins by analysing the critical mistakes that led the British to disaster and ends, conversely by describing how they might have achieved a lasting measure of success. The remaining essays address certain characters and events in or connected to the war.

At least 8,000 Jewish soldiers fought for the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. A few served together in Jewish companies while most fought alongside Christian comrades. Yet even as they stood "shoulder-to-shoulder" on the front lines, they encountered unique challenges.

In Jews and the Civil War, Jonathan D. Sarna and Adam Mendelsohn assemble for the first time the foremost scholarship on Jews and the Civil War, little known even to specialists in the field. These accessible and far-ranging essays from top scholars are grouped into seven thematic sections--Jews and Slavery, Jews and Abolition, Rabbis and the March to War, Jewish Soldiers during the Civil War, The Home Front, Jews as a Class, and Aftermath--each with an introduction by the editors. Together they reappraise the impact of the war on Jews in the North and the South, offering a rich and fascinating portrait of the experience of Jewish soldiers and civilians from the home front to the battle front.

Finalist for the 2011 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize "A seminal work. . . . One of the best examples of new, sophisticated scholarship on the social history of Civil War soldiers." -The Journal of Southern History "Will undoubtedly, and properly, be read as the latest word on the role of manhood in the internal dynamics of the Union army." -Journal of the Civil War Era During the Civil War, the Union army appeared cohesive enough to withstand four years of grueling war against the Confederates and to claim victory in 1865. But fractiousness bubbled below the surface of the North's presumably united front. Internal fissures were rife within the Union army: class divisions, regional antagonisms, ideological differences, and conflicting personalities all distracted the army from quelling the Southern rebellion. In this highly original contribution to Civil War and gender history, Lorien Foote reveals that these internal battles were fought against the backdrop of manhood. Clashing ideals of manliness produced myriad conflicts, as when educated, refined, and wealthy officers ("gentlemen") found themselves commanding a hard-drinking group of fighters ("roughs")-a dynamic that often resulted in violence and even death. Based on extensive research into heretofore ignored primary sources, The Gentlemen and the Roughs uncovers holes in our understanding of the men who fought the Civil War and the society that produced them.

One man, Abraham Lincoln, was the sole cause of the War Between the States, l861 - 1865, and the deaths of almost one million Americans. Honest, compassionate and kind hearted, but forthright to an extreme, Lincoln spoke for millions of Americans who detested slavery, and wanted to eradicate it, and for millions more who wanted to preserve the Union upon confronting the secession of eleven southern states By calling for 75,000 volunteers, men to defend the Union immediately following the attack in Charleston Harbor, Lincoln knowingly inflamed the situation. The war was on. Lincoln wanted it. He also knew that it could have been avoided, it could have been settled amicably without the loss of any men from the North or the South. Lincoln knew that the U.S. Constitution was silent on the issue of secession, that there was then, as there is now, absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prevents any state or any number of states, from peacefully leaving the Union. REVIEW: "A great yarn - worthy of a Pulitzer." B. Ballard, Rockville, MD

'Shiloh' as Seen by a Private Soldier
by Warren Olney
The Battle of Shiloh
by Joseph W. Rich
Shiloh from the ranks-Shiloh from the historian
The first piece in his vital book is a description of battle from the sharpest end of combat. It is the recollection of this momentous conflict of the American Civil War by a very ordinary private soldier who stood in the ranks of the Union Army-more significantly from his perspective-among his comrades of Company B, Third Iowa Infantry. It is not-nor does it purport to be-an overview of the battle. It is an ordinary soldier's narrow view-devoid of the larger picture-filled with noise, smoke, mud, fear and blood. For those who study military history it is, of course, precisely the kind of invaluable material that brings history alive. The second piece offers that objective perspective that the first account lacks. It is an overview and appraisal of that day of relentless and often controversial collision of arms. More significantly the author's interest and focus is drawn from the fact that this was a highly significant event for the State of Iowa since there were, apart from the Third Infantry, no less than ten other Iowa regiments engaged upon the field. This is an ideal book to help gain an understanding of 'both perspectives' of this famous battle-the human and the academic-within one volume and is recommended to all students of the period. Available in soft cover and hard back with dust jacket.

"The American negroes are the only people in the history of the world. . . . that ever became free without any effort on their own." W. E. Woodward stated this in his biography of General Ulysses S. Grant. Nothing could be farther from the truth as will be seen in this history which will show that the African Americans fighting in the Civil War may have been the deciding factor in determining the outcome.

Hemp helped not only to define economic development in southern and border-states, it also played a crucial role in agricultural production in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as industrial development in the North-east. From the founding of the nation, the manufacture of American hemp helped monetize the US economy. US hemp producers also established a range modern labor practices, including the identification and training of skilled labor, the use of seasonal workers, and ultimately, the creation of a sliding scale of wages. This book chronicles this history, as well as the contemporary controversy obstructing the production of both industrial hemp and medical marijuana. The analysis concludes with a survey of current industrial hemp projects, including several promising adaptations - as a potential medicine, a bio-fuel, and most promisingly, a reliable source of clean computing fabrication.