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The Devil Knows how to Ride: The True Story of William Clarke Quantril and his Confederate Raiders
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.
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.
516 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 20, 2021
I feel some reviews have been unfair to the author. The author wrote beautifully and clearly, and it's obvious he did extensive amounts of research to write this book. I understand that William Clarke Quantrill wasn't a good man and a lot of horrible things happened, but the author did a great job of describing it all in a way that was easy to read and easy to follow. I tend to read history books before bed to help myself fall asleep (I know that sounds bad), but I had to stop myself from reading this into the night because I enjoyed it. I'm really happy I decided to read this book about Quantrill because it was such a good read.
July 1, 2016
I'll be honest, I didn't actually finish it.
I got about half-way and it was so depressing, I decided not to finish reading it.
I picked it up because I didn't know much about the western states during the war.
The first part about the border war, was pretty good. Though in no way could you ever justify the brutality that happened on both sides, it was very interesting to read accounts of the politics that occurred prior to the war (the narration begins around 1852) in the region.
I would give a 5 star to the author for his unbiased accounts. He took all his writings from primary sources, using accounts, letters, and dispatches from both sides.
Explaining differences between accounts (if they arose), he looked into why someone would be drawn to either exaggerate or down play their own account; connecting the dots between fact and fiction.
Two things I'v learned from this:
1)
If anyone thinks there were "good 'ol days", please, please remind them that mankind is morally depraved, and aside from the grace and mercy of God, we would have marauders, jay-walkers, red-legs, and border ruffians running wild even now.
2) No matter what "side" you're on, justice must be served. Brutality ALWAYS breeds brutality. Everyone is a human-being and should therefore be treated with respect. It only takes one act not being atoned for, and all hell breaks loose.
It turned into a bloodbath, all because no-one held accountable the person[s] who perpetrated the crime to begin with.
I got about half-way and it was so depressing, I decided not to finish reading it.
I picked it up because I didn't know much about the western states during the war.
The first part about the border war, was pretty good. Though in no way could you ever justify the brutality that happened on both sides, it was very interesting to read accounts of the politics that occurred prior to the war (the narration begins around 1852) in the region.
I would give a 5 star to the author for his unbiased accounts. He took all his writings from primary sources, using accounts, letters, and dispatches from both sides.
Explaining differences between accounts (if they arose), he looked into why someone would be drawn to either exaggerate or down play their own account; connecting the dots between fact and fiction.
Two things I'v learned from this:
1)
If anyone thinks there were "good 'ol days", please, please remind them that mankind is morally depraved, and aside from the grace and mercy of God, we would have marauders, jay-walkers, red-legs, and border ruffians running wild even now.
2) No matter what "side" you're on, justice must be served. Brutality ALWAYS breeds brutality. Everyone is a human-being and should therefore be treated with respect. It only takes one act not being atoned for, and all hell breaks loose.
It turned into a bloodbath, all because no-one held accountable the person[s] who perpetrated the crime to begin with.
May 22, 2020
Good book. Loaded with info on the Kansas/Missouri border war during the Civil War era. Maybe too much info. Sometimes it was tough to remember who was Union or Confederate due to the many different names. And it seemed a bit repetitive. This calvary goes after the guerrillas, they fight, some die most escape. Then same scenario different guys. Over....and over....and over. If it were edited down a little it would've been a better read in my opinion. But very informative and a good overall book.
October 13, 2025
A thoroughly researched yet lively and readable account of the life of the infamous William Quantrill. This sets the record straight and sorts the facts from the many salacious accounts of Missouri’s most elusive warrior during the years just before, during, and immediately after America’s brutal Civil War. This gets the highest marks for me as I get the sense it is THE definitive account of this man, for whom few records actually exist. Quantrill was in hiding from about 1957 until his death shortly after the surrender of the Confederate army at Appomatox in April of 1965. I’m sure I’ll get some facts wrong in my review below, but here it flows from recent memory.
I was unaware of this book until I received this as a gift from my son-in-law’s father, a handsome hardcover with its original dust jacket, by the Ohioan historian Edward Leslie. Being both Missourians, my son in law’s father and I share a love of the Civil War and shock at the nearly unbelievable cruelty and violence that beset our state during the war. Briefly, Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the “Missouri compromise” when Maine was also admitted as a free state in 1820, in contrast to the adjacent “free soil” state of “bleeding” Kansas, where the pre-Civil War violence preceded the first state secession of South Carolina in 1865. Abolitionists were encouraged, sometimes remunerated, to move to Kansas to prevent expansion of slavery in the west, the best-known being John Brown. The border wars along the Kansas / Missouri line is terrain I know well, being raised in this part of the country, where the windswept rural landscape is riddled with rivers and ravines and thickets perfect for hiding and ambushing. Most of these skirmishes and battles are unmarked, as they were transient and in wild areas where the most skilled horsemen, and those with the best (often stolen) animals battled. The title of this book reflects his fact, as Quantrill was an expert horseman and had the ability not only to attack quickly, but the fall back, and escape as needed.
Those of you following college will know of the University of Kansas’ Jayhawks in the currently trendy town of Lawrence (40 miles from my youthful stomping grounds). The “jayhawkers” were Unionist men sent in Kansas to protect the border and root out the pro-slavery sympathizers (the guerrilla bands typically referred to as Bushwhackers. As this book describes, a few of these leaders not only put down their enemies, but went the extra mile in looting, burning farms, and murdering their fellow Kansans, as well as during excursions east across the border into Missouri. In contrast to Kansas, Missouri was largely populated by southern-leaning families from Kentucky, Virginia and others. The exception was the Union federal troops, encouraged by the powerful abolitionist sentiment growing in the eastern states, notable Massachusetts and New York. These federal forces were often German immigrants, confined to garrisons aimed at keeping the larger cities (Kansas City, Saint Louis) and armories safe from pro-slavery sympathizers. I can’t help but see some parallels even today in the “red” rural areas of my state compared to the starkly “blue” voters in the cities and the tiny enclaves of universities. This divide exists today in rancorous politics, in contrast to the open warfare of the Civil War era. My own great grandfather fought for the Union forces though he hailed from the nearly completely southern-leaning sentiment of his own Lincoln county (the reason for his unusual choice is lost to history, but we did get some lore passed down about his escapades and injuries that continue to be shared, such as the plate in his head and his nearly being bayoneted whilst hiding in a wheat sheaf). My brother is the family historian, and we enjoy discussing this.
The ”murderous” William Quantrill actually started out as a mild-mannered schoolteacher in Ohio, with no apparent passion for slavery one way or the other. His father died when he was young, and he lost most of his siblings in infanthood. Many children didn’t survive at that time due to the lack of understanding of infectious diseases and the lack of vaccinations. The family was destitute, so William set out to wander across the great Midwest, teaching school here. His mother never saw him again from 1957 till his death, and a precious few letters survive, mostly promising to send money to the family, which never seemed to materialize. Encountering the border wars, the young Quantrill became radicalized against the seemingly corrupt and violent forces of a man named Jemison, a corrupt and thieving marauder himself. The government simply couldn’t reign in this type of activity once the edict came down to “stamp out” the pro-slavery enemy. The author of this book must have spent years researching his subject, reading everything on the topic and with special access to information, because he separates accurate accounts from hearsay with a historian’s careful eye. Quantrill was such an incendiary character, and the second, third, fourth and further hand accounts were voluminous. What we do know is that he never married, never was proved to have sired a child, and spent the last 8 years of his life on the move with variously sized group of compatriots, including “bloody Bill” Anderson, William Todd, and the well-known young brothers Frank and Jesse James. What a rich treasure, yet frustratingly contradictory, the author must have encountered while assembling this highly readable, lively and chronological account of this most remarkable period in American history.
The creation of the border ruffian bands was often catalyzed by odd events, such as the collapse of a house in Kansas City where southern women were imprisoned, including relatives of Bill Anderson: Bloody Bill seemed to enjoy his infamy more than the others, there is an amazing photo in this book where the “rakish” Bill is posed (think Che Guevera) in a stylish hat and blouse, pistols bristling on his hips, next to another of his corpse post mortem. Some felt the women were crushed due to malfeasance or wanton carelessness of the Union Troops. This served greatly as a recruitment tool for not only the guerillas but the Confederate troops in Missouri (though the state narrowly voted not to secede, it was quite evenly split population-wise on the issue of slavery, and in the rural areas nearly everyone hated the Union). Although Missouri had few pitched battles between the blue and the gray, there were several battles whose sites can be visited today. The guerillas, though sympathetic to the confederacy, were not soldiers per se and, if captured, were often shot on site (vs. imprisoned as prisoners of war as per the rules of engagement largely in place). This made Quantrill and the other bands of guerillas even more daring and desperate during their many battles. The confederate leadership often collaborated with these bands, who “softened” key targets with their focused attacks on strategic resources (as well as to blatantly steal from the likes of stagecoaches, railroad trains, and steamboats on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers).
Two consequential events beyond the collapse of the women’s prison are fairly well known. One was the August 1863 attack on Lawrence, KS – due to incompetence of the federal troops to protect the Free State city of the Midwest, on the Sante Fe Trail (Kansas as state was sparsely populated at this time). The “sack” of Lawrence was led by Quantrill and a team of over 400 men who rode all night from Liberty MO and murdered about 200 unarmed men and boys, stealing everything they could carry and torching the downtown and about 100 targeted homes (they had a hit list of Union sympathizing prominent families). Leslie, our author, gives a detailed account of this raid, not sparing in gory details, as this event was witnessed and recorded firsthand by many. The union troops failed not only to protect, but also to pursue. Thus, the raiders went back home in a hurry. The next Union leader event was the “Order 11” edict to finally destroy the Bushwackers once and for all by forcing civilians in key counties in Missouri to abandon their homesteads and farms. I used to wonder how the Bushwhackers survived, till I understood that they were fed, clothed and provided fresh horses by the largely sympathetic rural homesteads. As a consequence of Order 11, a good many family farms were burned to the ground, square miles of fertile farmland, as depicted in the famous painting by Caleb Bingham. But this edit only hardened the resolve of Quantrill and swelled the size of the Bushwhacking guerilla bands. The loosely organized bands, once cornered, would simply disappear into the wilds of their familiar terrain, to regroup later.
Long story short, Quantrill is eventually killed, and the account of his burial, reburial, and movements of his skull and bones is a bizarre story in itself (the skull was used for fraternity initiation for a period!). Eventually he was given a full military confederate soldier’s funeral in Higginsville, MO many decades after his death. This book was written in 1996, and the southerners presiding were complaining even then of the politically correct nature tendency of our culture (in hindsight that was a mild time).
Leslie has written an important book. What always amazes me is just how chaotic and violent the state of Missouri was from this time through the escapades of the James’ gang well after the war. During the war itself, the Bushwhackers often wore the blue uniforms of killed Union men, so your ordinary farms would often not know who was who. There was little peace, and constant fear, in the ordinary farmers (such as my own kin). You could be killed, your livestock stolen, and cabin burned to the ground. One had to choose a side, and regardless of that choice your life and those of your loved ones were at risk. Frank James didn’t die until 1930, well after my grandparents were born, so these events weren’t that long ago. I see remnants today, as Faulkner famously said “The past is never dead. It’s not even past”. Although my life is comfortable now, my heart is heavy with the knowledge that man’s inhumanity to man is always present, just waiting for a spark to re-emerge.
I was unaware of this book until I received this as a gift from my son-in-law’s father, a handsome hardcover with its original dust jacket, by the Ohioan historian Edward Leslie. Being both Missourians, my son in law’s father and I share a love of the Civil War and shock at the nearly unbelievable cruelty and violence that beset our state during the war. Briefly, Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the “Missouri compromise” when Maine was also admitted as a free state in 1820, in contrast to the adjacent “free soil” state of “bleeding” Kansas, where the pre-Civil War violence preceded the first state secession of South Carolina in 1865. Abolitionists were encouraged, sometimes remunerated, to move to Kansas to prevent expansion of slavery in the west, the best-known being John Brown. The border wars along the Kansas / Missouri line is terrain I know well, being raised in this part of the country, where the windswept rural landscape is riddled with rivers and ravines and thickets perfect for hiding and ambushing. Most of these skirmishes and battles are unmarked, as they were transient and in wild areas where the most skilled horsemen, and those with the best (often stolen) animals battled. The title of this book reflects his fact, as Quantrill was an expert horseman and had the ability not only to attack quickly, but the fall back, and escape as needed.
Those of you following college will know of the University of Kansas’ Jayhawks in the currently trendy town of Lawrence (40 miles from my youthful stomping grounds). The “jayhawkers” were Unionist men sent in Kansas to protect the border and root out the pro-slavery sympathizers (the guerrilla bands typically referred to as Bushwhackers. As this book describes, a few of these leaders not only put down their enemies, but went the extra mile in looting, burning farms, and murdering their fellow Kansans, as well as during excursions east across the border into Missouri. In contrast to Kansas, Missouri was largely populated by southern-leaning families from Kentucky, Virginia and others. The exception was the Union federal troops, encouraged by the powerful abolitionist sentiment growing in the eastern states, notable Massachusetts and New York. These federal forces were often German immigrants, confined to garrisons aimed at keeping the larger cities (Kansas City, Saint Louis) and armories safe from pro-slavery sympathizers. I can’t help but see some parallels even today in the “red” rural areas of my state compared to the starkly “blue” voters in the cities and the tiny enclaves of universities. This divide exists today in rancorous politics, in contrast to the open warfare of the Civil War era. My own great grandfather fought for the Union forces though he hailed from the nearly completely southern-leaning sentiment of his own Lincoln county (the reason for his unusual choice is lost to history, but we did get some lore passed down about his escapades and injuries that continue to be shared, such as the plate in his head and his nearly being bayoneted whilst hiding in a wheat sheaf). My brother is the family historian, and we enjoy discussing this.
The ”murderous” William Quantrill actually started out as a mild-mannered schoolteacher in Ohio, with no apparent passion for slavery one way or the other. His father died when he was young, and he lost most of his siblings in infanthood. Many children didn’t survive at that time due to the lack of understanding of infectious diseases and the lack of vaccinations. The family was destitute, so William set out to wander across the great Midwest, teaching school here. His mother never saw him again from 1957 till his death, and a precious few letters survive, mostly promising to send money to the family, which never seemed to materialize. Encountering the border wars, the young Quantrill became radicalized against the seemingly corrupt and violent forces of a man named Jemison, a corrupt and thieving marauder himself. The government simply couldn’t reign in this type of activity once the edict came down to “stamp out” the pro-slavery enemy. The author of this book must have spent years researching his subject, reading everything on the topic and with special access to information, because he separates accurate accounts from hearsay with a historian’s careful eye. Quantrill was such an incendiary character, and the second, third, fourth and further hand accounts were voluminous. What we do know is that he never married, never was proved to have sired a child, and spent the last 8 years of his life on the move with variously sized group of compatriots, including “bloody Bill” Anderson, William Todd, and the well-known young brothers Frank and Jesse James. What a rich treasure, yet frustratingly contradictory, the author must have encountered while assembling this highly readable, lively and chronological account of this most remarkable period in American history.
The creation of the border ruffian bands was often catalyzed by odd events, such as the collapse of a house in Kansas City where southern women were imprisoned, including relatives of Bill Anderson: Bloody Bill seemed to enjoy his infamy more than the others, there is an amazing photo in this book where the “rakish” Bill is posed (think Che Guevera) in a stylish hat and blouse, pistols bristling on his hips, next to another of his corpse post mortem. Some felt the women were crushed due to malfeasance or wanton carelessness of the Union Troops. This served greatly as a recruitment tool for not only the guerillas but the Confederate troops in Missouri (though the state narrowly voted not to secede, it was quite evenly split population-wise on the issue of slavery, and in the rural areas nearly everyone hated the Union). Although Missouri had few pitched battles between the blue and the gray, there were several battles whose sites can be visited today. The guerillas, though sympathetic to the confederacy, were not soldiers per se and, if captured, were often shot on site (vs. imprisoned as prisoners of war as per the rules of engagement largely in place). This made Quantrill and the other bands of guerillas even more daring and desperate during their many battles. The confederate leadership often collaborated with these bands, who “softened” key targets with their focused attacks on strategic resources (as well as to blatantly steal from the likes of stagecoaches, railroad trains, and steamboats on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers).
Two consequential events beyond the collapse of the women’s prison are fairly well known. One was the August 1863 attack on Lawrence, KS – due to incompetence of the federal troops to protect the Free State city of the Midwest, on the Sante Fe Trail (Kansas as state was sparsely populated at this time). The “sack” of Lawrence was led by Quantrill and a team of over 400 men who rode all night from Liberty MO and murdered about 200 unarmed men and boys, stealing everything they could carry and torching the downtown and about 100 targeted homes (they had a hit list of Union sympathizing prominent families). Leslie, our author, gives a detailed account of this raid, not sparing in gory details, as this event was witnessed and recorded firsthand by many. The union troops failed not only to protect, but also to pursue. Thus, the raiders went back home in a hurry. The next Union leader event was the “Order 11” edict to finally destroy the Bushwackers once and for all by forcing civilians in key counties in Missouri to abandon their homesteads and farms. I used to wonder how the Bushwhackers survived, till I understood that they were fed, clothed and provided fresh horses by the largely sympathetic rural homesteads. As a consequence of Order 11, a good many family farms were burned to the ground, square miles of fertile farmland, as depicted in the famous painting by Caleb Bingham. But this edit only hardened the resolve of Quantrill and swelled the size of the Bushwhacking guerilla bands. The loosely organized bands, once cornered, would simply disappear into the wilds of their familiar terrain, to regroup later.
Long story short, Quantrill is eventually killed, and the account of his burial, reburial, and movements of his skull and bones is a bizarre story in itself (the skull was used for fraternity initiation for a period!). Eventually he was given a full military confederate soldier’s funeral in Higginsville, MO many decades after his death. This book was written in 1996, and the southerners presiding were complaining even then of the politically correct nature tendency of our culture (in hindsight that was a mild time).
Leslie has written an important book. What always amazes me is just how chaotic and violent the state of Missouri was from this time through the escapades of the James’ gang well after the war. During the war itself, the Bushwhackers often wore the blue uniforms of killed Union men, so your ordinary farms would often not know who was who. There was little peace, and constant fear, in the ordinary farmers (such as my own kin). You could be killed, your livestock stolen, and cabin burned to the ground. One had to choose a side, and regardless of that choice your life and those of your loved ones were at risk. Frank James didn’t die until 1930, well after my grandparents were born, so these events weren’t that long ago. I see remnants today, as Faulkner famously said “The past is never dead. It’s not even past”. Although my life is comfortable now, my heart is heavy with the knowledge that man’s inhumanity to man is always present, just waiting for a spark to re-emerge.
February 21, 2016
This is a great book for anyone interested in the border war or the Civil War in general. The book paints a good picture of the events leading to the Lawrence raid and the feelings of both sides before and after.
July 4, 2019
A very interesting treatment of a figure in US history that most people would probably just as soon forget. Quantrill's story seemingly has the power to engender powerful feelings right down to this day in some parts of the country. Well paced and full of detail.
November 5, 2022
Life delivers the best stories.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2002
To write a historical book like "The True Story of William Clarke Quantrill" is not an easy job.
I can fully realize how much time Edward Leslie must have spent to do his research in order to perfectly present life of politicians, guerilla fighters, soldiers and uninvolved citizens during terrible times of Civil War on the border of Missouri and Kansas. I truly appreciate his huge effort and will say without hesitation that not quite often reader can come across such a magnificent work.
This book shows that United States of America, leading economy of the world and symbol of freedom and justice, once in the past was the scene of unimaginable brutal and fierce war. Civilians were killed, soldiers-prisoners of war executed, massacres took place and "no-quarter" manner of fighting was widely practiced. Nobody could be trusted; one never knew who is his friend or enemy.
I am not very much sure what made me to read this book almost non- stop: subject that most people like to read about - killings, war and action, or fantastic description of the era and people having enough bad luck to witness it.
No doubt, I had in my hands masterpiece of a historical book.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2002
To write a historical book like "The True Story of William Clarke Quantrill" is not an easy job.
I can fully realize how much time Edward Leslie must have spent to do his research in order to perfectly present life of politicians, guerilla fighters, soldiers and uninvolved citizens during terrible times of Civil War on the border of Missouri and Kansas. I truly appreciate his huge effort and will say without hesitation that not quite often reader can come across such a magnificent work.
This book shows that United States of America, leading economy of the world and symbol of freedom and justice, once in the past was the scene of unimaginable brutal and fierce war. Civilians were killed, soldiers-prisoners of war executed, massacres took place and "no-quarter" manner of fighting was widely practiced. Nobody could be trusted; one never knew who is his friend or enemy.
I am not very much sure what made me to read this book almost non- stop: subject that most people like to read about - killings, war and action, or fantastic description of the era and people having enough bad luck to witness it.
No doubt, I had in my hands masterpiece of a historical book.
April 21, 2024
534 Pages!! I made it to Page 298 and finally had to give it up. It was not because the Book was a poorly written book. Quite the opposite! It is probably the most descriptive and overly detailed history of the life of William Clarke Quantril and his Raiders that you will ever come across. It is a publication meant for the Researcher or the Biographer, not the casual reader. You have to give the Author Edward E. Leslie a great deal of credit for compiling what I would imagine is the most specific and complete historical record and the True Story William Clarke Quantril and his Confederate Raiders that has ever been written.
May 31, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
February 4, 2012
In Edward Leslie's first book he delivers an excellent account of the life of William Quantrill who was regarded as one of the most vicious commanders in the Civil War. Whether people sided with him as a legitimate soldier or an outlaw chieftain leading a band of thieves and murders the one common thing they agreed upon was his ruthless determination to do harm to the union. So little has been written about the border wars that this provides a fascinating look at the tit for tat strategy and counter raids that often are written off as simple thievery by other authors. The Union was not always in the right as seen by the devastating Order 11 which swelled Quantrill's ranks with new recruits eager to shoot union soldiers. Leslie also takes some time at the end to cover the fate of the various people who rode with an against Quantrill detailing what happens including the notorious Younger and James brothers who would become infamous in the years following the Civil War using the tactics practiced by Quantrill. Quantrill himself would be killed after being hounded by Union soldiers and being the most wanted man in the West.
The one hard part about this subject is the lack of available written sources. While most Civil War literature is filled with primary accounts and journals that survived this is not the case with the border war. We have a few military dispatches and newspaper accounts but most of the direct participating did not keep journals. Leslie puts together what he can and tells the reader when he is going off of rumor or speculation which happens at several points due to lack of hard primary sources. Due to his responsible use I don't see any problem with the book as some other reviewers have. It is well worth the time to gain a greater understanding of the border war and one of the most interesting figures of the Civil War.
The one hard part about this subject is the lack of available written sources. While most Civil War literature is filled with primary accounts and journals that survived this is not the case with the border war. We have a few military dispatches and newspaper accounts but most of the direct participating did not keep journals. Leslie puts together what he can and tells the reader when he is going off of rumor or speculation which happens at several points due to lack of hard primary sources. Due to his responsible use I don't see any problem with the book as some other reviewers have. It is well worth the time to gain a greater understanding of the border war and one of the most interesting figures of the Civil War.
July 19, 2012
I will commend and congratulate the author on his extensive and thorough research. That said, however, I must say this is simply the most discouraging and dispiriting book I have ever read. Never has the ability of humankind to turn on it's own, to put selfish beliefs and condemnations ahead of faith and fairness, even been more sadly illustrated than in this epic Civil War story. I'm going to have to agree with the author's hypothesis that this story of the "border wars" between Kansas and Missouri is 2nd only to the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII as the most heinous event in American history.
I would give it a "5" for depth and research, however, it's a hard story to follow and the author does not do much in helping keep the story lines cohesive and coherent, so I'm only rating it a "3".
I would give it a "5" for depth and research, however, it's a hard story to follow and the author does not do much in helping keep the story lines cohesive and coherent, so I'm only rating it a "3".
September 10, 2012
I really enjoy Civil War history, and the fact that the majority of this story takes place on the Missouri/Kansas border, made it particularly enjoyable for me to read. Quantrill and his guerillas battled heartily with the "jayhawkers" from Kansas, and the raid on Lawrence was portrayed in excellent fashion. Both sides were brutal and unforgiving with the other. There was zero sense of "fair play".
Anyone interested in why the rivalry between Kansas and Missouri is so intense would be well advised to read this book. The history between these two states has been "tense" for well over 150 years and this story demonstrates A LOT of the reason why.
While I found that this book could get a little dry at times, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Anyone interested in why the rivalry between Kansas and Missouri is so intense would be well advised to read this book. The history between these two states has been "tense" for well over 150 years and this story demonstrates A LOT of the reason why.
While I found that this book could get a little dry at times, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
June 20, 2010
Amazing introduction to the border wars in Kansas and Missouri. Covers all your famous sociopaths, like Bloody Bill Anderson. Really gripping account with original sources doing the talking a lot of the time.
March 26, 2015
CD Audiobook via Blackstone Downpour
December 11, 2023
Interesting historical period but the scenarios become tedious. Too much explanation on travel and geographic locations.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews