This landmark book, the product of years of research by a team of two dozen historians, reveals that resistance to occupation by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the Second World War was not narrowly delineated by country but startlingly international. Tens of thousands of fighters across Europe resisted 'transnationally', travelling to join networks far from their homes. These 'foreigners' were often communists and Jews who were already being persecuted and on the move. Others were expatriate business people, escaped POWs, forced labourers or deserters. Their experiences would prove personally transformative and greatly affected the course of the conflict. From the International Brigades in Spain to the onset of the Cold War and the foundation of the state of Israel, they played a significant part in a period of upheaval and change during the long Second World War. -- .

Spanish Cinema against Itself maps the evolution of Spanish surrealist and politically committed cinematic traditions from their origins in the 1930s-with the work of Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, experimentalist Jose Val de Omar, and militant documentary filmmaker Carlos Velo-through to the contemporary period. Framed by film theory this book traces the works of understudied and non-canonical Spanish filmmakers, producers, and film collectives to open up alternate, more cosmopolitan and philosophical spaces for film discussion. In an age of the post-national and the postcinematic, Steven Marsh's work challenges conventional historiographical discourse, the concept of "national cinema," and questions of form in cinematic practice.

The American Civil War was by far the bloodiest conflict in American history. Arising out of a political crisis over the expansion of slavery, the war set the stage for the emergence of the modern American nation-state. This new interpretation of one of the most mythologized events in modern history combines narrative with analysis and an up-to-date assessment of the state of Civil War scholarship. The American Civil War: - emphasizes the importance of Northern public opinion in shaping the meaning and outcome of the crisis - argues that the war exposed deep social and political divisions within, as well as between, North and South - explores the experiences of ordinary soldiers and civilians, and the political and cultural context in which they lived - sets this distinctively American crisis over slavery and nationhood in the wider context of the nineteenth-century world. Concise and authoritative, this is an indispensable introduction to a critical period in modern American history.

Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now, "Midnight Rising" portrays Brown's uprising in vivid colour, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict. Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859, he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland, joined by his teenage daughter, three of his sons, and a guerrilla band that included former slaves and a dashing spy. On October 17, the raiders seized Harpers Ferry, stunning the nation and prompting a counter-attack led by Robert E. Lee. After Brown's capture, his defiant eloquence galvanized the North and appalled the South, which considered Brown a terrorist. The raid also helped elect Abraham Lincoln, who later began to fulfil Brown's dream with the Emancipation Proclamation, a measure he called "a John Brown raid, on a gigantic scale."

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

aTogether, the essays collected by Logue and Barton provide a vivid portrait of the social, political, economic, and cultural struggles of Civil War veterans.a
--"The North Carolina Historical Review"

"A marvelous collection of essays, The Civil War Veteran provides an indispensable introduction to the problems the veterans faced and the contributions that they made. The bibliography alone is an invaluable resource."
--Gaines M. Foster, author of "Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the Emergence of the New South"

"Never before has such a wide-ranging and excellent collection of readings on Civil War veterans been assembled in one place. A must have book for anyone interested in this topic."
--Donald R. Shaffer, author of "After The Glory: The Struggles of Black Civil War Veterans"

"An excellent collection of essays on a largely neglected topic. . . . The editors have done a thorough job of considering the pivotal issues, selecting broad yet focused themes, and gathering the writings that best illustrate those issues and themes."
--Daniel Sutherland, University of Arkansas

The Civil War Veteran presents a profound but often troubling story of the postwar experiences of Union and Confederate Civil War veterans. Most ex-soldiers and their neighbors readjusted smoothly. However, many arrived home with or developed serious problems; poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, and other manifestations of post traumatic stress syndrome, such as flashbacks and paranoia, plagued these veterans. Black veterans in particular suffered a particularly cruel fate: they fought with distinction and for theirfreedom, but postwar racism obliterated recognition of their wartime contributions.

Despite these hardships, veterans found some help from federal and state governments, through the establishment of a national pension system and soldiers' homes. Yet veterans did not passively accept this assistance--some influenced and created policy in public office, while others joined together in veterans' organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic to fight for their rights and to shape the collective memory of the Civil War. As the number of veterans from wars in the Middle East rapidly increases, the stories in the pages of The Civil War Veteran give us valuable perspective on the challenges of readjustment for ex-soldiers and American society.

Emma Spaulding's life might have been the simple story of a nineteenth-century woman in rural Maine. Instead, wooed by the ambitious John Emory Bryant, the Yankee Reconstruction activist and Georgia politician, she became the Civil War bride of a Republican carpetbagger intent on reforming the South. The grueling years in the shadow of her husband's controversial political career gave her a backbone of steel and the convictions of an early feminist. Emma supported John's agenda-to "northernize" the South and work for civil rights for African-Americans- and frequently reflected on national political events. Struggling virtually alone to rear a daughter in near poverty, Emma became an independent thinker, suffragist, and officer in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. In eloquent letters, Emma coached her husband's understanding of "the woman question;" their remarkable correspondence frames a marriage of love and summarizes John's career as it determined the contours of Emma's own storyafrom the bitter politics of Reconstruction Georgia to her world as a mother, writer, editor, and teacher in Tennessee and, with her husband, running a mission for the homeless in New York.In this extraordinary resource, Ruth Douglas Currie organizes and edits their voluminous correspondence, enhancing the letters with an extensive introduction to Emma Spaulding Bryant's life, times, and legacy.

Francis C. Barlow rose from lieutenant to general, suffered two serious wounds in combat, and played critical roles in such battles as Fair Oaks, Gettysburg (part of this battlefield is now named for him), and Spotsylvania. Barlow's war correspondence not only provide a rich description of his experiences in these actions but also offer insight into a civilian learning the realities of war as well as the burdens of command.Barlow was well connected with many eminent figures of his time, having spent part of his youth at Brook Farm, graduated in the Harvard College class of 1855, and had such friends as Dr. Samuel G. Howe, Ralph W. Emerson, Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., and John M. Forbes to watch over and promote his career. Winslow Homer spent considerable time with Barlow while making engravings for Harper's Weekly and later immortalized his friend in the painting, Prisoners From the Front. Barlow's letters not only offer information concerning such people but more importantly, help fill a gap in Civil War scholarship by providing a valuable window into Northern intellectual responses to the war.Jacket CopyHISTORY"Through explanatory passages and extensive notes that accompany Barlow's letters, Christian G. Samito sheds new light on the life of a major general. The letters, which span the entire war, trace the development of Northern intellectuals' perspective on the war and military life. The book illustrates how a young man, unskilled in military science, eventually became one of the North's strongest combat leaders, and a postwar politician."-Civil War Book Review Originally untrained in military science, Francis Channing Barlow ended the Civil War as one of the North's premiercombat generals. He played decisive roles in historic campaigns throughout the War and his letters are classic accounts of courage combat, and the burdens of command as experienced by one of the Union's fiercest officers.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Barlow enlisted in April 1861 at the age of twenty six, commanded the 61st New York Infantry regiment by April 1862, and found himself a general in command of a division by 1863. He played a key role at Fair Oaks, Antietam, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg, suffered two serious wounds in combat, and was left for dead at Gettysburg, where part of the battlefield is named after him. Barlow's war correspondence not only provides a rich description of his experiences in these actions but also offers insight into a civilian learning the realities of war.As a young intellectual, Barlow was also well connected with many eminent figures of his time. He spent part of his youth at Brook Farm, graduated first in his Harvard College class, and became a successful New York City lawyer by the time he enlisted. Among his friends he counted Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., and Winslow Homer's family. Transformed by his experiences in the War, Barlow entered politics and served as New York's Secretary of State and Attorney General. Superbly edited by Christian G. Samito, Barlow's letters not only illuminate the life of a talented battlefield commander; they also fill a gap in Civil War scholarship by providing a valuable window into Northern intellectual responses to the War.Christian G. Samito is the editor of Commanding Boston's Irish Ninth: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Patrick R. Guiney, Ninth Massachusetts VolunteerInfantry and History of the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.Cover illustration: Cover design: Fordham University PressNew Yorkwww.fordhampress.com

Signs and Wonders in Britain's Age of Revolution is an original collection of primary sources from the era encompassing the political, religious, and social tumult of the English Civil War. With a focus on Britain in the seventeenth century and covering topics such as astrology, scurrilous pamphlet wars, witch-hunts and trials, and the execution of King Charles I, Signs and Wonders investigates published "strange and true" accounts that existed alongside more traditionally studied historical events. Including fully edited and annotated texts of carefully selected popular pamphlets, the sourcebook is accompanied by guided introductory essays for each of the thematically divided chapters. With more than two dozen woodcut images, Signs and Wonders enables students to pursue in-depth primary source analysis of this rich period of history, when the supernatural was woven into the lives of those participating in or viewing the tumultuous political and religious events of the mid-17th century. In this collection of popular pamphlets, battles in the sky, witches, monstrous births, and apparitions stand side-by-side with the major political and religious events that make up the standard histories of the era, allowing a fuller perspective on these early modern narratives and their interpretation (and exploitation) by the heated presses of 17th-century Britain. Signs and Wonders in Britain's Age of Revolution is essential reading for all students of early modern Britain.

A prequel to the authors previous monographs on the Great War and the Foundations of the Spanish Civil War, this book analyses the troubled and often violent path of Spain to modernity. During the nearly 30 years of history explored (18921921), the country appeared to be caught in a kind of Groundhog Day. It was rocked in the 1890s by an ill-fated colonial adventure and a spiral of anarchist terrorism and praetorian-led repression, mostly in Barcelona, which culminated with the murder of the Conservative prime minister, Antonio Canovas, in August 1897. Twenty-four years later, Spain was undergoing a similar set of circumstances: a military quagmire in Morocco and vicious social warfare, with its epicentre in the Catalan capital, which resulted in the killing of the then Conservative prime minister, Eduardo Dato, in March 1921. The chronological framework highlights the gradual crisis, but also resilience, of the ruling Restoration Monarchy. Francisco Romero Salvado pursues the thesis that this crisis could be largely explained by focusing on the correlation between two apparently contradictory conceptual terms, but which in fact proved to be supplementary: the extent to which the persistence of the political comedy embodied by an unreformed liberal but oligarchic order perpetuated a social tragedy. Notwithstanding the peculiarity of the authors approach, this study rejects any notion of determinism or exceptionalism. On the contrary, Spain was not an extraordinary case within the European context but constituted a laboratory par excellence of the turmoil which marked this age. Indeed, a watershed period of fast technological progress, economic modernization and cultural awareness clashed head-on with traditional constitutional and liberal states that found they were unable to retain their past hegemony in the dawning era of mass politics. The outcome was unprecedented social warfare which led in many cases to a reactionary backlash and the establishment of authoritarian formulas of governance. Published in association with the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies

There is an extraordinary range of material in this anthology, from Lincoln's Gettysburg address to a contemporary account of a visit from the Ku Klux Klan. The primary sources reproduced are both visual and written, and the secondary materials present a remarkable breadth and quality of relevant scholarship.
Contains an extensive selection of writings and illustrations on the American Civil War
Reflects society and culture as well as the politics and key battles of the Civil War
Reproduces and links primary and secondary sources to encourage exploration of the material
Includes editorial introductions and study questions to aid understanding

In "Lincoln", acclaimed biographer Fred Kaplan explores the life of America's 16th president through his use of language as a vehicle both to express complex ideas and feelings and as an instrument of persuasion and empowerment. Like the other great canonical writers of American literature-a status he is gradually attaining-Lincoln had a literary career that is inseparable from his life story. In this book, the first to discuss the growth and development of Lincoln's career as a writer, Kaplan focuses on the elements that shaped Lincoln's mental and imaginative world; how his writings molded his identity, relationships, and career; and how they simultaneously generated both the distinctive political figure he became and the public discourse of the nation. This unique account of Lincoln's life and career will remind readers that the careful and honest use of words is a necessity for successful democracy.

A NATION TORN APART BY WAR. ONE WOMAN STEPS INTO THE CROSSFIRE. _____________________________ 'This amazing book has everything in it: love, war, history and relevance to today. Gripping.' Russell Kane 'I insist you read this intelligent empathetic novel. You won't regret it.' Frost Magazine 'Extraordinary events sensitively told.' Lucy Jago, A Net For Small Fishes 'I couldn't put it down.' Gill Paul, The Collector's Daughter 'A heartrending tale of love, courage and sacrifice.' Nikki Marmery, On Wilder Seas ____________ 1936. Civil war in Spain. A world on the brink of chaos ... Twenty-one-year-old Lucy is frustrated with her constrained life in Hertfordshire, teaching and keeping house for her domineering father. But she is happy to be living next door to Tom and Jamie, two brothers she has known since childhood, and whom she loves equally. But her life is turned upside down when Tom decides he must travel to Spain to fight in the bloody Spanish Civil War. He is quickly followed by Jamie who, much to Lucy's despair, is supporting General Franco. To the dismay of her irascible father, Lucy decides that the only way to bring her boys back safely is to travel to Spain herself to persuade them to come home. Yet when she sees the horrific effects of the war, she quickly becomes immersed in the lifesaving work the Quakers are doing to help the civilian population, many of whom are refugees. As the war progresses and the situation becomes increasingly perilous, Lucy realises that the challenge going forward is not so much which brother she will end up with, but whether any of them will survive the carnage long enough to decide ... ____________ More praise for Acts of Love and War ... 'Be prepared to lose your heart in the simmering heat of war-torn Spain.' Miranda Malins, The Puritan Princess 'This is a marvellous book on any level, I thoroughly enjoyed it and could hardly put it down.' Deborahjs 'Wide in scope and told with honesty, insight and tenderness, a moving and unputdownable story' Judith Allnatt, The Poet's Wife 'Accomplished and expansive' Anne Morgan, Reading The World 'Insightful and moving' Katherine Clements, The Crimson Ribbon 'One of historical fiction's most lyrical and intelligent voices' Rachel McMillan, The London Restoration 'Emotionally captivating and authentic ... an unforgettable story' Susan Meissner, The Nature of Fragile Things _______________ Readers can't get enough of Acts of Love and War ... ***** 'A tale of passion and passionate caring, and how that can manifest in very different ways.' ***** 'A masterpiece.' ***** 'Highly recommended if you enjoy historical fiction.' ***** 'An amazing and compelling read.' ***** 'An immersive and powerful story.'

From the first shots at Jumonville Glen to the surrender at Appomattox, Rebels and Patriots allows you to campaign with Wolfe or Montcalm, stand with Tarleton at Cowpens or Washington at Yorktown, or don the blue or grey to fight for Grant or Lee. From the French and Indian War, through the War of Independence and the War of 1812, to the Alamo and the American Civil War, these rules focus on the skirmishes, raids, and small engagements from this era of black powder and bayonet.

Your Company is commanded by your Officer during these tumultuous conflicts. Each battle that your Officer faces allows him to develop new and interesting traits. Does he perform heroically and earn a nom de guerre? Or falter, to be forever known as a yellow-belly? Designed by Michael Leck and Daniel Mersey, with a core system based on the popular Lion Rampant rules, Rebels and Patriots provides all the mechanics and force options needed to recreate the conflicts that forged a nation.

Peer through history at Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet, whose steady nature and dominating figure earned him the nicknames "War Horse," "Bulldog," and "Bull of the Woods." Years after the war, Longstreet's reputation swung between Confederate hero and brutish scoundrel. A dutiful soldier with a penchant for drink and gambling, Longstreet spoke little but inspired many, and he continues to fascinate Civil war historians. In his memoir From Manassas to Appomattox, Longstreet reveals his inner musings and insights regarding the War between the States. Ever the soldier, he skims over his personal life to focus on battle strategies, war accounts, and opinions regarding other officers who were as misunderstood as him. The principle subordinate under General Robert E. Lee, Longstreet provides several accounts of Lee's leadership and their strong partnership. An invaluable firsthand account of life during the Civil War, From Manassas to Appomattox not only illuminates the life and ambitions of Lieutenant General James Longstreet, but it also offers an in-depth view of army operations within the Confederacy. An introduction and notes by prominent historian James I. Robertson Jr. and a new foreword by Christian Keller offer insight into the impact of Longstreet's career on American history.

"This type of work would be especially valuable for assignment in the classroom."
--"North & South"

"Understanding what convinced Civil War soldiers to lay down their lives for "the cause," North AND South, is perhaps the hardest part of teaching about making sense of the war. This excellent collection of selections from leading scholars on who the soldiers were, how they lived, and why they fought is a fine introduction to years of research that seeks to answer that question."
--Janet Coryell, Western Michigan University

"Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees."
--"Booklist," August 2002

aThis is a fine collection which lends itself to classroom use and to the edification of non-specialists.a
-- Indiana Magazine of History

"In The Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader, Michael Barton and Larry M. Logue present a valuable anthology of classic works and recent scholarship on the rank and file."
--"The Journal of Southern History"

"This is a nice anthology, embodying much of the best available work on the Civil War soldier. It is a fine addition to the personal library, the university library, and to many a course syllabus."
--"Journal of Military History"

"This Civil War sampler combines 19th-century battlefield accounts with past and contemporary scholoarship to offer a broad perspective on the historiographical issues scholars have raised concerning the soldiers' total experience."--"Library Journal"

In 1943, Bell Wiley's groundbreaking book "Johnny Reb" launched a new area of study: the history of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War. This anthology brings together landmarkscholarship on the subject, from a 19th century account of life as a soldier to contemporary work on women who, disguised as men, joined the army.

One of the only available compilations on the subject, The Civil War Soldier answers a wide range of provocative questions: What were the differences between Union and Confederate soldiers? What were soldiers' motivations for joining the army--their "will to combat"? How can we evaluate the psychological impact of military service on individual morale? Is there a basis for comparison between the experiences of Civil War soldiers and those who fought in World War II or Vietnam? How did the experiences of black soldiers in the Union army differ from those of their white comrades? And why were southern soldiers especially drawn to evangelical preaching?

Offering a host of diverse perspectives on these issues, The Civil War Soldier is the perfect introduction to the topic, for the student and the Civil War enthusiast alike.

Contributors: Michael Barton, Eric T. Dean, David Donald, Drew Gilpin Faust, Joseph Allen Frank, James W. Geary, Joseph T. Glaatthaar, Paddy Griffith, Earl J. Hess, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Perry D. Jamieson, Elizabeth D. Leonard, Gerald F. Linderman, Larry Logue, Pete Maslowski, Carlton McCarthy, James M. McPherson, Grady McWhiney, Reid Mitchell, George A. Reaves, Jr., James I. Robertson, Fred A. Shannon, Maris A. Vinovskis, and Bell Irvin Wiley.

To the Gates of Atlanta covers the period from the Confederate victory at Kennesaw Mountain, 27 June 1864, leading up to the Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 20 July 1864, and the first of four major battles for Atlanta that culminated in the Battle of Jonesboro, 31 August and 1 September 1864. To the Gates of Atlanta answers long-sought mysteries surrounding the actions, the reasoning, and the results of the events that culminated into the fall of Atlanta and the end of the Confederacy. Many historians point to the events that led to the fall of The Gate City as central to the War's outcome. Readers will learn why President Davis believed that he had to replace General Johnston on the eve of a battle that he hoped would save the city and turn the tide of the War for the South. Jenkins offers an understanding of why General Sherman had to take the city quickly without risking another disastrous Kennesaw Mountain. To the Gates of Atlanta also gives the important, but previously untold stories of the actions and engagements that befell the sleepy hamlet of Buckhead and the surrounding woods that today shelter many parts of Atlanta's vast community. From Smyrna to Ruff's Mill, Roswell to Vinings, Nancy Creek to Peach Tree Creek, and Moore's Mill to Howell's Mill, To the Gates of Atlanta tells the story of each as part of the larger story which led to the fall of The Gate City of the South.

The Spanish Civil War: A Military History takes a new, military approach to the conflict that tore Spain apart from 1936 to 1939. In many histories, the war has been treated as a primarily political event with the military narrative subsumed into a much broader picture of the Spain of 1936-9 in which the chief themes are revolution and counter-revolution. While remaining conscious of the politics of the struggle, this book looks at the war as above all a military event, and as one in whose outbreak specifically military issues - particularly the split in the armed forces produced by the long struggle in Morocco (1909-27) - were fundamental. Across nine chapters that consider the war from beginning to endgame, Charles J. Esdaile revisits traditional themes from a new perspective, deconstructs many epics and puts received ideas to the test, as well as introducing readers to foreign-language historiography that has previously been largely inaccessible to an anglophone audience. In taking this new approach, The Spanish Civil War: A Military History is essential reading for all students of twentieth-century Spain.

The English Civil War is a subject of perennial interest. This book presents the 'essentials' of the conflict in the form of a readable chronological narrative, beginning with the causes of the war and ending with the execution of King Charles I. The author, who has been exploring battlefields for 50 years, describes the celebrated battles - including Edgehill, Marston Moor and Naseby - together with the major political events which characterized one of the most turbulent periods in English History. Contemporary documents and leading secondary sources have been used to produce a picture of those troubled times - years which revolutionised government and witnessed the first faltering steps of Parliamentarians towards the democratic form of government we know today. Students of the English Civil War will find this an invaluable source of reference, while the general reader will be encouraged to delve deeper into what is, undeniably, the most fascinating of historical subjects.

This book brings together fourteen of the most influential articles on the English Civil War, which have appeared over the last thirty years, introduced and contextualized for the reader. Peter Gaunt provides a substantial and wide-ranging introduction giving the essential background to the period and key debates within it, and helping readers to understand and interpret the following chapters.

"The English Civil War: The Essential Readings" includes coverage of all the major debates on this key period in English and British history. It examines the different interpretations of the causes of the war, encompassing long-term origins and short-term causes in the British as well as an English context. It covers key themes surrounding the course of the civil war of 1642-46, and aspects of the impact and consequences of the civil war during the late 1640s and beyond. It discusses military and political affairs alongside social, religious and economic developments, providing a rounded picture of the period.

This book not only presents an essential source of key articles, it also provides the critical context to understanding the nature of past and continuing historical debates surrounding the major aspects of the civil war.

On the Boston Common stands one of the great Civil War memorials, a magnificent bronze sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It depicts the black soldiers of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry marching alongside their young white commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. When the philosopher William James dedicated the memorial in May 1897, he stirred the assembled crowd with these words: "There they march, warm-blooded champions of a better day for man. There on horseback among them, in the very habit as he lived, sits the blue-eyed child of fortune." In this book Shaw speaks for himself with equal eloquence through nearly two hundred letters he wrote to his family and friends during the Civil War. The portrait that emerges is of a man more divided and complex--though no less heroic--than the Shaw depicted in the celebrated film Glory. The pampered son of wealthy Boston abolitionists, Shaw was no abolitionist himself, but he was among the first patriots to respond to Lincoln's call for troops after the attack on Fort Sumter. After Cedar Mountain and Antietam, Shaw knew the carnage of war firsthand. Describing nightfall on the Antietam battlefield, he wrote, "the crickets chirped, and the frogs croaked, just as if nothing unusual had happened all day long, and presently the stars came out bright, and we lay down among the dead, and slept soundly until daylight. There were twenty dead bodies within a rod of me." When Federal war aims shifted from an emphasis on restoring the Union to the higher goal of emancipation for four million slaves, Shaw's mother pressured her son into accepting the command of the North's vanguard black regiment, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts. A paternalist who never fully reconciled his own prejudices about black inferiority, Shaw assumed the command with great reluctance. Yet, as he trained his recruits in Readville, Massachusetts, during the early months of 1963, he came to respect their pluck and dedication. "There is not the least doubt," he wrote his mother, "that we shall leave the state, with as good a regiment, as any that has marched." Despite such expressions of confidence, Shaw in fact continued to worry about how well his troops would perform under fire. The ultimate test came in South Carolina in July 1863, when the Fifty-fourth led a brave but ill-fated charge on Fort Wagner, at the approach to Charleston Harbor. As Shaw waved his sword and urged his men forward, an enemy bullet felled him on the fort's parapet. A few hours later the Confederates dumped his body into a mass grave with the bodies of twenty of his men. Although the assault was a failure from a military standpoint, it proved the proposition to which Shaw had reluctantly dedicated himself when he took command of the Fifty-fourth: that black soldiers could indeed be fighting men. By year's end, sixty new black regiments were being organized. A previous selection of Shaw's correspondence was privately published by his family in 1864. For this volume, Russell Duncan has restored many passages omitted from the earlier edition and has provided detailed explanatory notes to the letters. In addition he has written a lengthy biographical essay that places the young colonel and his regiment in historical context.

This extensive and unique collection, consisting of over 180 letters and hundreds of drawings, covers Reed's period of service (1862-65) and provides the modern reader a wealth of information on the role of the Union army in the eastern theater, the events in the life of the Civil War soldier, and the war in general. A native of Boston, Reed served as bugler of the Ninth Massachusetts Battery, whose desperate holding action at Gettysburg ranks as one the most heroic actions of the war. During this battle Reed performed a deed of selfless bravery by saving his wounded captain from between the lines, an act for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honor. In addition to Gettysburg, Reed saw action in nearly all of the battles in the East from 1862 to 1865, including Bristoe Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Ana, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg.Reed's letters chronicle events, from the most common to the extraordinary, with simple yet thoughtful eloquence. His drawings capture a wide variety of events to which he was not only an eyewitness but also a participant. His talent was considered equal to that of leading newspaper artists of his day, and his drawings were used to illustrate a best-selling Civil War book, Hardtack and Coffee (1887). We are fortunate that Reed's writings and drawings have been preserved, and can be presented here in a single volume.

One of the most hotly debated issues in the historical study of race relations is the question of how the Civil War and Reconstruction affected social relations in the South. Did the War leave class and race hierarchies intact? Or did it mark the profound disruption of a long-standing social order?

Yankee Town, Southern City examines how the members of the southern community of Lynchburg, Virginia experienced four distinct but overlapping events--Secession, Civil War, Black Emancipation, and Reconstruction. By looking at life in the grog shop, at the military encampment, on the street corner, and on the shop floor, Steven Elliott Tripp illustrates the way in which ordinary people influenced the contours of race and class relations in their town.