Brilliantly weaving together eyewitness accounts; letters; memories; newspaper articles; and military reports into a riveting narrative; this definitive biography reveals the personality of William Clarke Quantrill (1837–1865) and the events that transformed a quiet Ohio schoolteacher from a staunchly Unionist family into a virulent pro-slavery Confederate soldier and the most feared and despised guerrilla chieftain of the Civil War. This groundbreaking work includes the most accurate account ever written of the 1863 Lawrence; Kansas massacre (the greatest atrocity of the Civil War); when Quantrill and 450 raiders torched the Unionist town and executed roughly 200 unarmed; unresisting men and teenage boys. It also details the postwar outlaw careers of those who rode with him—Frank and Jesse James; and Cole Younger. No other history so fully penetrates the myth of a cardboard-cutout psychopath to expose Quantrill in all his brutality and human complexity.
#2218837 in Books 2000-04Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .59 x 6.06 x 9.22l; #File Name: 030470217X180 pages
Review
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Excellent survey of recent researchBy Damon JaspersonWalvin's book is an excellent summary of the most recent round of scholarship concerning the British end of the Atlantic slave trade. The book is short and to the point; but is very readable and laced with anecdotes. Walvin moves Africans to center stage as players in the drama equal in importance to the Europeans. Walvin's book would be an excellent choice for an undergraduate text or for someone just wanting to understand what the Atlantic slave trade was all about. Scholars will be familiar with most of the material that Walvin reports; but may find a few unfamiliar odds and ends. All in all; highly recommended.
