They echo modern headlines--a shadowy underground organization orchestrating plans to bring down the government; bands of saboteurs slipping in from Canada to attempt coordinated acts of destruction; plans to poison water supplies and spread deadly diseases among the urban populace--but these and similar incidents were part of a Confederate strategy to wreak "terror and consternation" upon the North during the Civil War. Elements within the Confederacy, acting officially or otherwise, developed--and attempted--numerous plans to inflict terror and death upon the Union populace and bring down the government using a variety of unconventional means. These efforts are an overlooked and important aspect of the Confederate strategy during the Civil War. This is a history of Confederate efforts to terrorize, demoralize and defeat the North by attacking civilians and the government, using means outside the bounds of conventional warfare. It covers arsonists, "destructionists," engineers of chemical and biological weapons, bands of mobile operatives, and a variety of other singular individuals and those who opposed them. Chapters cover prominent events in the campaign, from the efforts of the Sons of Liberty--an underground society allied against the Union and brought down by one heroic spy--to attempts to destroy the White House and "decapitate" the government. Illustrations, photographs and relative documents are included, as is an appendix following the career of Confederate bomber W.S. Duepree, killed while setting one of his own mines. Notes, a bibliography and an index are included.

"Originating in a conference organised in 2007 by the Centre for the Reception of Greece and Rome at Royal Holloway, University of London, and held at the British Library ... this accessible volume offers a pathbreaking study of the role played by the interpreters of ancient Greek and roman texts in the debates over the abolition of slavery. Focusing on Britain, North America, the Caribbean, and South Africa from the late 17th century, the essays examine the arguments of critics and defenders of slavery and legacy of slavery, in later periods." --Book jacket.