Naval Battle Of Hampton Roads 1862

Download Naval Battle Of Hampton Roads 1862 full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Naval Battle Of Hampton Roads 1862 ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Duel Between the First Ironclads

Author : William C. Davis
Publisher : Doubleday
ISBN 13 : 0307817504
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (78 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Duel Between the First Ironclads by : William C. Davis

Download or read book Duel Between the First Ironclads written by William C. Davis and published by Doubleday. This book was released on 2012-05-09 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One was called "a tin can on a shingle"; the other, "a half-submerged crocodile." Yet, on a March day in 1862 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, after a five-hour duel, the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack) were to change the course of not only the Civil War but also naval warfare forever. Using letters, diaries, and memoirs of men who lived through the epic battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack and of those who witnessed it from afar, William C. Davis documents and analyzes this famous confrontation of the first two modern warships. The result is a full-scale history that is as exciting as a novel. Besides a thorough discussion of the designs of each ship, Davis portrays come of the men involved in the building and operation of America's first ironclads-John Ericsson, supreme egoist and engineering genius who designed the Monitor; John Brooke, designer of the Virginia; John Worden, the well-loved captain of the Monitor; Captain Franklin Buchanan of the Virginia; and a host of other men on both Union and Confederate sides whose contributions make this history as much a story of men as of ships and war.

Dignity of Duty

Author : Erasmus Corwin Gilbreath
Publisher : Pritzker Military Museum and Library
ISBN 13 : 0989792854
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (897 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Dignity of Duty by : Erasmus Corwin Gilbreath

Download or read book Dignity of Duty written by Erasmus Corwin Gilbreath and published by Pritzker Military Museum and Library. This book was released on 2015-06-19 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published 117 years after his death, the journals of the American soldier Erasmus Corwin Gilbreath provide a compelling vantage point by which to view contemporary American history. They tell, first and foremost, a tale of war in which there is no gloryonly carnage and death. Through Gilbreaths firsthand accounts we get a sense of what life was like during the Civil War, the Indian Wars, and the War with Spain from an accomplished field officer, rather than from high command. Gilbreath illuminates the true horrors of war in the 19th Century for soldiersboredom, fatigue, death, and crude medical care for the woundedand their families, as Gilbreaths wife and children followed him wherever his orders would lead, enduring the primitive conditions they found along the way. From his instrumental role in raising a company that would become part of the 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, to his death while serving with the 11th U.S. Infantry in Puerto Rico at the tail end of the SpanishAmerican War, Gilbreaths life exemplifies the dignity of his service and the importance he placed on duty to his nation. In his journals, Gilbreath paints a vivid picture of the turmoil and change that was 19th Century America. Passages such as the lyric firsthand account of the Battle of the Ironclads or his reconnecting with a fellow Gettysburg veteran in Chicago 21 years after the battle are beautifully written, and carry a personal and emotional gravity that are found in the best literary works. Gilbreath is one of Americas sons, a proud citizen soldier who helped to forge the United States, and we are truly fortunate that his legacy lives on in these pages.

The Battle of the Ironclads

Author : John V. Quarstein
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780738501130
Total Pages : 134 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (11 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Battle of the Ironclads by : John V. Quarstein

Download or read book The Battle of the Ironclads written by John V. Quarstein and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Battle of the Ironclads brings to life the dramatic events which occurred in Hampton Roads on March 8 and 9, 1862. This first battle between armored vessels, often called the Monitor-Merrimack engagement, is perhaps the most significant naval event of the entire Civil War. This thrilling history is the first volume to offer a comprehensive pictorial interpretation of the men and ships that forever changed naval warfare. Over 150 images, including photographs, engravings, paintings, and sketches, have been gathered from museums, archives, and private collections to chronicle the exciting story of the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimack). While Battle of the Ironclads is a visual history of the first battle between armored ships, it is also a saga of uncommon valor and leadership epitomized by Franklin Buchanan, George U. Morris, Samuel Dana Greene, and John Taylor Wood. The brilliant innovations of John Mercer Brooke and the farsighted inventions of John Ericsson made this showdown in Hampton Roads a death for wooden sailing ships. Battle of the Ironclads is indeed an epic tale that tells how steam-powered iron vessels not only influenced the Civil War, but more importantly, how the two ironclads echoed the dawn of modern navies.

Decision at Sea

Author : Craig L. Symonds
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199754888
Total Pages : 585 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Decision at Sea by : Craig L. Symonds

Download or read book Decision at Sea written by Craig L. Symonds and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-23 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From thunderous broadsides traded between wooden sailing ships on Lake Erie, to the carrier battles of World War II, to the devastating high-tech action in the Persian Gulf, here is a gripping history of five key battles that defined the evolution of naval warfare--and the course of the American nation. Acclaimed military historian Craig Symonds offers spellbinding narratives of crucial engagements, showing how each battle reveals the transformation of technology and weaponry from one war to the next; how these in turn transformed naval combat; and how each event marked a milestone in American history. - Oliver Hazard Perry's heroic victory at Lake Erie, one of the last great battles of the Age of Sail, which secured the Northwestern frontier for the United States - The brutal Civil War duel between the ironclads Monitor and Virginia, which sounded the death knell for wooden-hulled warships and doomed the Confederacy's hope of besting the Union navy - Commodore Dewey's stunning triumph at Manila Bay in 1898, where the U.S. displayed its "new navy" of steel-hulled ships firing explosive shells and wrested an empire from a fading European power - The hairsbreadth American victory at Midway, where aircraft carriers launched planes against enemies 200 miles away--and where the tide of World War II turned in the space of a few furious minutes - Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf, where computers, ship-fired missiles, and "smart bombs" not only changed the nature of warfare at sea, but also marked a new era, and a new responsibility, for the United States. Symonds records these encounters in detail so vivid that readers can hear the wind in the rigging and feel the pounding of the guns. Yet he places every battle in a wide perspective, revealing their significance to America's development as it grew from a new Republic on the edge of a threatening frontier to a global superpower. Decision at Sea is a powerful and illuminating look at pivotal moments in the history of the Navy and of the United States. It is also a compelling study of the unchanging demands of leadership at sea, where commanders must make rapid decisions in the heat of battle with lives--and the fate of nations--hanging in the balance.

Confederate Ironclad Vs Union Ironclad

Author : Ron Field
Publisher : Osprey Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 84 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Confederate Ironclad Vs Union Ironclad by : Ron Field

Download or read book Confederate Ironclad Vs Union Ironclad written by Ron Field and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2008-11-18 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships. With the parallel pressures of civil war and the industrial revolution, technology advanced at a breakneck speed. It was the South who first utilized ironclads as they attempted to protect their ports from the Northern blockade. Impressed with their superior resistance to fire and their ability to ram vulnerable wooden ships, the North began to develop its own rival fleet of ironclads. Eventually these two products of this first modern arms race dueled at the battle of Hampton Roads in a clash that would change the face of naval warfare. Fully illustrated with cutting-edge digital artwork, rare photographs and first-person perspective gun sight views, this book allows the reader to discover the revolutionary and radically different designs of the two rival Ironclads - the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor - through an analysis of each ship's weaponry, ammunition and steerage. Compare the contrasting training of the crews and re-live the horrors of the battle at sea in a war which split a nation, communities and even families.

The Battle of Midway

Author : Craig L. Symonds
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199315981
Total Pages : 465 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Battle of Midway by : Craig L. Symonds

Download or read book The Battle of Midway written by Craig L. Symonds and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-03 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A close-up look at the battle of Midway Island analyzes this crucial naval victory, which marked the turning point for the American fleet in the Pacific theater of World War II.

Iron Dawn

Author : Richard Snow
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1476794200
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (767 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Iron Dawn by : Richard Snow

Download or read book Iron Dawn written by Richard Snow and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An utterly absorbing account of one of history’s most momentous battles” (Forbes) that not only changed the Civil War but the future of all sea power—from acclaimed popular historian Richard Snow, who “writes with verve and a keen eye” (The New York Times Book Review). No single sea battle has had more far-reaching consequences than the one fought in Hampton Roads, Virginia, in 1862. The Confederacy, with no fleet of its own, took a radical step to combat the Union blockade, building an iron fort containing ten heavy guns on the hull of a captured Union frigate named the Merrimack. The North got word of the project, and, in panicky desperation, commissioned an eccentric inventor named John Ericsson to build the Monitor, an entirely revolutionary iron warship. Rushed through to completion in just one hundred days, it mounted only two guns, but they were housed in a shot-proof revolving turret. The ship hurried south from Brooklyn, only to arrive to find the Merrimack had already sunk half the Union fleet—and would be back to finish the job. When she returned, the Monitor was there. She fought the Merrimack to a standstill, and, many believe, saved the Union cause. As soon as word of the fight spread, Great Britain—the foremost sea power of the day—ceased work on all wooden ships. A thousand-year-old tradition ended and the naval future opened. Richly illustrated with photos, maps, and engravings, Iron Dawn “renders all previous accounts of the encounter between the Monitor and the Merrimack as obsolete as wooden war ships” (The Dallas Morning News). Richard Snow brings to vivid life the tensions of the time in this “lively tale of science, war, and clashing personalities” (The Wall Street Journal).

USS Monitor

Author : John D. Broadwater
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
ISBN 13 : 1603444734
Total Pages : 259 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (34 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis USS Monitor by : John D. Broadwater

Download or read book USS Monitor written by John D. Broadwater and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lavish 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.

Iron Coffin

Author : David A. Mindell
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421406055
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (214 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Iron Coffin by : David A. Mindell

Download or read book Iron Coffin written by David A. Mindell and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The USS Monitor famously battled the CSS Virginia (the armored and refitted USS Merrimack) at Hampton Roads in March 1862. This updated edition of David A. Mindell's classic account of the ironclad warships and the human dimension of modern warfare commemorates the 150th anniversary of this historic encounter. Mindell explores how mariners—fighting "blindly," below the waterline—lived in and coped with the metal monster they called the "iron coffin." He investigates how the ironclad technology, new to war in the nineteenth century, changed not only the tools but also the experience of combat and anticipated today’s world of mechanized, pushbutton warfare. The writings of William Frederick Keeler, the ship’s paymaster, inform much of this book, as do the experiences of everyman sailor George Geer, who held Keeler in some contempt. Mindell uses their compelling stories, and those of other shipmates, to recreate the thrills and dangers of living and fighting aboard this superweapon. Recently, pieces of the Monitor wreck have been raised from their watery grave, and with them, information about the ship continues to be discovered. A new epilogue describes the recovery of the Monitor turret and its display at the USS Monitor Museum in Newport News, Virginia. This sensitive and enthralling history of the USS Monitor ensures that this fateful ship, and the men who served on it, will be remembered for generations to come.

Lincoln Takes Command

Author : Steve Norder
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1611214580
Total Pages : 414 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (112 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Lincoln Takes Command by : Steve Norder

Download or read book Lincoln Takes Command written by Steve Norder and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2019-12-20 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed history of one week during the Civil War in which the American president assumed control of the nation’s military. One rainy evening in May, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln boarded the revenue cutter Miami and sailed to Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia. There, for the first and only time in our country’s history, a sitting president assumed direct control of armed forces to launch a military campaign. In Lincoln Takes Command, author Steve Norderdetails this exciting, little-known week in Civil War history. Lincoln recognized the strategic possibilities offered by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s ongoing Peninsula Campaign and the importance of seizing Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard. For five days, the president spent time on sea and land, studied maps, spoke with military leaders, suggested actions, and issued direct orders to subordinate commanders. He helped set in motion many events, including the naval bombardment of a Confederate fort, the sailing of Union ships up the James River toward the enemy capital, an amphibious landing of Union soldiers followed by an overland march that expedited the capture of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the navy yard, and the destruction of the Rebel ironclad CSS Virginia. The president returned to Washington in triumph, with some urging him to assume direct command of the nation’s field armies. The week discussed in Lincoln Takes Command has never been as heavily researched or told in such fine detail. The successes that crowned Lincoln’s short time in Hampton Roads offered him a better understanding of, and more confidence in, his ability to see what needed to be accomplished. This insight helped sustain him through the rest of the war.

Civil War Ironclads

Author : William H. Roberts
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 9780801868306
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (683 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Civil War Ironclads by : William H. Roberts

Download or read book Civil War Ironclads written by William H. Roberts and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2002-04 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contrary to widespread belief, Roberts concludes, the ironclad program set Navy shipbuilding back a generation.--Kathy Crewdson and Ian Dew "The Northern Mariner"

The Monitor Boys

Author : John V Quarstein
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1625842279
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (258 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Monitor Boys by : John V Quarstein

Download or read book The Monitor Boys written by John V Quarstein and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-27 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories of the officers and crew who served aboard the ironclad warship up until that fateful stormy New Year’s Eve in 1862. The United States Navy’s first ironclad warship rose to glory during the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, but there's much more to know about the USS Monitor. Historian John Quarstein has painstakingly compiled bits of historical data gathered through years of research to present the first comprehensive picture of the lives of the officers and crew who served faithfully in an iron ship unlike any vessel previously known. “The Monitor Boys,” a moniker the men gave themselves, is a reflection of how these hundred-odd souls were bound together through storms, battles, boredom, and disaster. Just living aboard the ironclad took uncommon effort and fortitude. Their perseverance through the heat, stress, and unseaworthiness that defined life on the ship makes the study of those who dared it a worthy endeavor. Many recognized that they were part of history. Moreover, the Monitor Boys were agents in the change of naval warfare. Following Quarstein’s compelling narrative is a detailed chronology as well as appendices including crew member biographies, casualties, and statistics and dimensions of the ship. Readers can dive into the world of the Monitor and meet William Flye, George Geer, and the rest of the men who risked everything by going to sea in the celebrated “cheesebox on a raft” and became the hope of a nation wracked by war. Includes illustrations

The Civil War at Sea

Author : Craig L. Symonds
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199931682
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (999 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Civil War at Sea by : Craig L. Symonds

Download or read book The Civil War at Sea written by Craig L. Symonds and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2012 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Continuing in the vein of the Lincoln-prize winning Lincoln and His Admirals, acclaimed naval historian Craig L. Symonds presents an operational history of the Civil War navies - both Union and Confederate - in this concise volume. Illuminating how various aspects of the naval engagement influenced the trajectory of the war as a whole, The Civil War at Sea adds to our understanding of America's great national conflict. Both the North and the South developed and deployed hundreds of warships between 1861 and 1865. Because the Civil War coincided with a revolution in naval techonology, the development and character of warfare at sea from 1861-1865 was dramatic and unprecedented. Rather than a simple chronology of the war at sea, Symonds addresses the story of the naval war topically, from the dramatic transformation wrought by changes in technology to the establishment, management, and impact of blockade. He also offers critical assessments of principal figures in the naval war, from the opposing secretaries of the navy to leading operational commanders such as David Glasgow Farragut and Raphael Semmes. Symonds brings his expertise and knowledge of military and technological history to bear in this essential exploration of American naval engagement throughout the Civil War.

Engines of Rebellion

Author : Saxon Bisbee
Publisher : University of Alabama Press
ISBN 13 : 0817319867
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (173 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Engines of Rebellion by : Saxon Bisbee

Download or read book Engines of Rebellion written by Saxon Bisbee and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of steam propulsion machinery in warships during the nineteenth century, in conjunction with iron armor and shell guns, resulted in a technological revolution in the world's navies. Warships utilizing all of these technologies were built in France and Great Britain in the 1850s, but it was during the American Civil War that large numbers of ironclads powered solely by steam proved themselves to be quite capable warships. This book focuses on Confederate ironclads with American built machinery, offering a detailed look at marine steam-engineering practices in both northern and southern industry prior to and during the Civil War. It gives a contextual naval history of the Civil War, the creation of the ironclad program, and the advent of various technologies. The author analyzes the armored warships built by the Confederate States of America that represented a style adapted to scarce industrial resources and facilities.

"Our Little Monitor"

Author : Anna Gibson Holloway
Publisher : Civil War in the North
ISBN 13 : 9781606353141
Total Pages : 283 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (531 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis "Our Little Monitor" by : Anna Gibson Holloway

Download or read book "Our Little Monitor" written by Anna Gibson Holloway and published by Civil War in the North. This book was released on 2018 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On March 9, 1862, the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia met in the Battle of Hampton Roads--the first time ironclad vessels would engage each other in combat. For four hours the two ships pummeled one another as thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers and civilians watched from the shorelines. Although the battle ended in a draw, this engagement would change the nature of naval warfare by informing both vessel design and battle tactics. The "wooden walls" of navies around the world suddenly appeared far more vulnerable, and many political and military leaders initiated or accelerated their own ironclad-building programs. Americans did not initially have much faith in the Monitor. Few believed that this strange little vessel could hold her own against the formidable Confederate ironclad Virginia, which had been built on the bones of the scuttled USS Merrimack in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Virginia, seemingly relentless and unstoppable, had ravaged the U.S. Navy in Hampton Roads on March 8, just before the Monitor arrived. Yet the following day, the "cheesebox on a raft" proved her Union mettle, becoming a national hero in her own right. For the remainder of the Civil War the Union Navy used dozens of monitor-style vessels on inland waters as well as at sea. But there would always be only one first Monitor, and she became affectionately known to many throughout the nation as "Our Little Monitor." Her loss off Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862, was mourned as keenly in the press as the loss of 16 of her men that night. Using the latest archaeological finds from the USS Monitor Center in Newport News, Virginia, as well as untapped archival material, Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White bring "Our Little Monitor" to life once more in this beautifully illustrated volume. In addition to telling her story from conception in 1861 to sinking in 1862, as well as her recent recovery and ongoing restoration, they explain how fighting in this new "machine" changed the experience of her crew and reveal how the Monitor became "the pet of the people"--a vessel celebrated in prints, tokens, and household bric-a-brac; a marketing tool; and a prominent feature in parades, Sanitary Fairs, and politics.

The Battle of Hampton Roads

Author : Harold Holzer
Publisher : Marine's Museum
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (97 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Battle of Hampton Roads by : Harold Holzer

Download or read book The Battle of Hampton Roads written by Harold Holzer and published by Marine's Museum. This book was released on 2006 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book takes a new look at that historic battle. The original essays, written by leading naval and Civil War scholars, explore every aspect of the battle - from the building of the warships and life aboard these "iron coffins" to tactics, strategy, and the debates about who really won the battle of Hampton Roads." "Copublished with The Mariners' Museum, this guide to the military, political, technological, and cultural dimensions of this historic battle also features a portfolio of classic lithographs, drawings, and paintings interpreting the battle, including for the first time an array of pictures of the exhumed Monitor relics."--Jacket.

Jesse James

Author : T.J. Stiles
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 030777337X
Total Pages : 890 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (77 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Jesse James by : T.J. Stiles

Download or read book Jesse James written by T.J. Stiles and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-10-27 with total page 890 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this brilliant biography T. J. Stiles offers a new understanding of the legendary outlaw Jesse James. Although he has often been portrayed as a Robin Hood of the old west, in this ground-breaking work Stiles places James within the context of the bloody conflicts of the Civil War to reveal a much more complicated and significant figure. "Carries the reader scrupulously through James’s violent, violent life.... When [Stiles]… calls Jesse James the ‘last rebel of the Civil War; he correctly defines the theme that ruled Jesse’s life." —Larry McMurtry, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove via The New Republic Raised in a fiercely pro-slavery household in bitterly divided Missouri, at age sixteen James became a bushwhacker, one of the savage Confederate guerrillas that terrorized the border states. After the end of the war, James continued his campaign of robbery and murder into the brutal era of reconstruction, when his reckless daring, his partisan pronouncements, and his alliance with the sympathetic editor John Newman Edwards placed him squarely at the forefront of the former Confederates’ bid to recapture political power. With meticulous research and vivid accounts of the dramatic adventures of the famous gunman, T. J. Stiles shows how he resembles not the apolitical hero of legend, but rather a figure ready to use violence to command attention for a political cause—in many ways, a forerunner of the modern terrorist.