During the Civil War, the state of Missouri witnessed the most widespread, prolonged, and destructive guerrilla fighting in American history. With its horrific combination of robbery, arson, torture, murder, and swift and bloody raids on farms and settlements, the conflict approached total war, engulfing the whole populace and challenging any notion of civility. Michael Fellman's Inside War captures the conflict from "inside," drawing on a wealth of first-hand evidence, including letters, diaries, military reports, court-martial transcripts, depositions, and newspaper accounts. He gives us a clear picture of the ideological, social, and economic forces that divided the people and launched the conflict. Along with depicting how both Confederate and Union officials used the guerrilla fighters and their tactics to their own advantage, Fellman describes how ordinary civilian men and women struggled to survive amidst the random terror perpetuated by both sides; what drove the combatants themselves to commit atrocities and vicious acts of vengeance; and how the legend of Jesse James arose from this brutal episode in the American Civil War.

Smithsonian Civil War is a lavishly illustrated coffee-table book featuring 150 entries in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. From among tens of thousands of Civil War objects in the Smithsonian's collections, curators handpicked 550 items and wrote a unique narrative that begins before the war through the Reconstruction period. The perfect gift book for fathers and history lovers, Smithsonian Civil War combines one-of-a-kind, famous, and previously unseen relics from the war in a truly unique narrative. Smithsonian Civil War takes the reader inside the great collection of Americana housed at twelve national museums and archives and brings historical gems to light. From the National Portrait Gallery come rare early photographs of Stonewall Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant; from the National Museum of American History, secret messages that remained hidden inside Lincoln's gold watch for nearly 150 years; from the National Air and Space Museum, futuristic Civil War-era aircraft designs. Thousands of items were evaluated before those of greatest value and significance were selected for inclusion here. Artfully arranged in 150 entries, they offer a unique, panoramic view of the Civil War.

"In recent years the field of modern history has been enriched by the exploration of two parallel histories. These are the social and cultural history of armed conflict, and the impact of military events on social and cultural history"--

Comprised of essays from twelve leading scholars, this volume extends the discussion of Civil War controversies far past the death of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865. Contributors address, among other topics, Walt Whitman's poetry, the handling of the Union and Confederate dead, the treatment of disabled and destitute northern veterans, Ulysses S. Grant's imposing tomb, and Hollywood's long relationship with the Lost Cause narrative. The contributors are William Blair, Stephen Cushman, Drew Gilpin Faust, Gary W. Gallagher, J. Matthew Gallman, Joseph T. Glatthaar, Harold Holzer, James Marten, Stephanie McCurry, James M. McPherson, Carol Reardon, and Joan Waugh.

The post-Cold War era was characterised by both the recurrence of state wars and the spread of forms of organised violence other than wars. Asymmetric warfare between alliances led by the USA and groups of insurgents, such as those witnessed in Afghanistan and Iraq, coexist alongside domestic conflicts, such as that of former Yugoslavia and, more recently, Libya and Syria; and still other conflicts involving gangs, mafias or narco-traffickers. The massive military-industrial complexes conceived in the context of the threat of nuclear Armageddon are still there of course, but they now coexist with irregular armies of insurgents carrying out massacres through the use of light weapons and improvised explosives devices. This book oppose the idea that this situation prefigures the return to an anarchical, pre-political condition, by assuming that new wars are rather the product of the blurring of the public-private divide, induced by the end of the Cold War, together with globalisation. As a consequence, also the internal and external factors are blurred; and ever more permeable and elusive is becoming even the border between war and crime. Inside War goes beyond a state-centered analysis and adopts an interdisciplinary and multilayered approach, and is intended to foster the dialogue among researchers from different fields. It places war at the core of analysis, assuming that the reality of war is what we make of it; and that the only insurmountable limit to our comprehension of war is our way of knowing and representing it. Fabio Armao teaches courses in Politics and Globalisation Processes, and Criminal Systems. He has been Visiting Professor at Cornell University, and co-convenor of the Standing Group on Organized Crime, European Consortium for Political Research. Founding member of T.wai (Torino World Affair Institute), he is also member of the Editorial Board of ‘Global Crime’. His research interests and publications focus on international wars and geopolitics, on violent non-state actors and transnational organised crime, and on urban security.

With brazen honesty and self-reflection, Jordan Northrup tells the true story of how alcohol plagued his life for 14 years. Early on, he was holding the bottle. Alcohol became the means to fit in, to cope with hurt, and to overcome personal hurdles. Years later, the bottle held him in a death grip. He tried anything and everything to quit drinking, but nothing worked. He felt empty and alone. Alcohol cost him friends and relationships, a marriage, his self-respect, and almost his life. The War Inside depicts an ageless struggle: the war between God and sin that is fought on the battlefield of our hearts. Our sins and addictions seek to consume us, to define us. Too often we believe the lie that we can never be free of our struggles and vices. The Bible says otherwise! When God is allowed to lead, our hearts and motivations soon follow. This book is the story of one man's journey from alcohol abuse to sobriety. Even more, this book declares how God can bring a person from utter hopelessness to a place of grace, healing, and hope restored. True freedom from alcohol addiction is possible. Instead of self-help techniques and man-made solutions, Jordan Northrup shares his every-man perspective and points the reader towards a very real and personal God, the One who bestows a new identity on all who seek Him.

Tony had mastered the art of hiding the frightened child, behind the mask of a fearless criminal. Years later, exhausted from holding up that same weary disguise, he headed for Peru in pursuit of freedom and truth in sheer desperation. Stumbling from bar to bar in hope of something, anything, Tony found a connection to take him to meet a shaman the following day. With a bottle of water in hand to a nurse significant hangover Tony boarded the cramped fishing boat No amount of hard living could have prepared him for what he would be spiritually subjected to deep in the Amazon Jungle. He had opened himself up to the realms of the demonic through torturous Ayahuasca ceremonies. When returning to London drenched in fear and darkness, suicide seemed to be the only escape from his vivid evil manifestations. One night alone and frightened he experienced a vision which promised him a way out. But there was something he needed to do first before it could happen. This is that true story.