Kirjahaku

With this volume Stephen Z. Starr brings to a triumphant conclusion his prize-winning trilogy on the history of the Union cavalry. The War in the West provides accounts of the cavalry's role in the Vicksburg Campaign, the conquest of central Tennessee, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and the campaign of the Carolinas. Starr never neglects the numerous difficulties the cavalry faced: equipment shortages, inadequate weapons, unsuitable organisation, and inept use of the cavalry by many members of the Union high command. And he never ignores the cavalry's own contributions to its failures. He convincingly demonstrates that in the end, in the battle of Nashville and in the Selma Campaign, the Union cavalry proved enormously effective. With this final volume Starr's objective remains ""the portrayal of the life and campaigns of the Union cavalry as they were experienced and fought by its troopers and officers.

In the predawn hours of March 7, 1868, four prisoners aided by a guard escaped from Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas and headed a small, open fishing boat into a violent storm in the Gulf of Mexico. The men were never seen again.One of them, Colonel George St. Leger Grenfell, was a British soldier of fortune who had come to America in 1862 and earned himself a unique place in the Confederate Valhalla. In this biography Stephen Z. Starr recounts the fascinating story of this romantic and neglected character.Grenfell was a talented cavalry officer who served with John H. Morgan, Braxton Bragg, and J. E. B. Stuart. Yet his congenital restlessness hampered his effectiveness. In one of his most fantastic adventures, Grenfell plotted to help northern Copperheads take over the governments of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and establish a Northwestern Confederacy. When the plan, the ""Chicago Conspiracy"" as it became known, to attack Camp Douglas, free Confederate prisoners, and capture Chicago was discovered, Grenfell, along with 150 cohorts, was arrested. He and six of the principal collaborators were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Grenfell and three fellow prisoners planned the escape that apparently ended in tragedy, although rumors that the legendary soldier of fortune was still alive persisted for many years.

In the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, Stephen Z. Starr covers in three volumes the dramatic story of the Union cavalry. In this first volume he presents briefly the story of the United States cavalry prior to the Civil War, describing how the Union cavalry was raised, organized, equipped, and trained, and offering detailed descriptions of the campaigns and battles in which the cavalry engaged -- the Peninsula, Shenandoah Valley/Second Bull Run, Lee's invasion of Maryland, Kelly's Ford, Stoneman's May 1863 Raid, Brandy Station (Fleetwood), Aldie-Middleburg-Upperville, and Gettysburg. Starr focuses on the officers and men of the Union cavalry -- who they were; how they lived, fought, behaved; what they thought. Starr tells their story -- drawn from regimental records and histories, memoirs, letters, diaries, and reminiscences -- whenever possible in the words of the troopers themselves.

With this volume Stephen Z. Starr brings to a triumphant conclusion his prize-winning trilogy on the history of the Union cavalry.The War in the West provides accounts of the cavalry's role in the Vicksburg Campaign, the conquest of central Tennessee, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and the campaign of the Carolinas. Starr never neglects the numerous difficulties the cavalry faced: equipment shortages, inadequate weapons, unsuitable organization, and inept use of the cavalry by many members of the Union high command. And he never ignores the cavalry's own contributions to its failures. He convincingly demonstrates that in the end, in the battle of Nashville and in the Selma Campaign, the Union cavalry proved enormously effective. With this final volume Starr's objective remains ""the portrayal of the life and campaigns of the Union cavalry as they were experienced and fought by its troopers and officers.

In January 2011 President Bashar al-Assad told the Wall Street Journal that Syria was 'stable' and immune from revolt. In the months that followed, and as regimes fell in Egypt and Tunisia, thousands of Syrians took to the streets calling for freedom, with many dying at the hands of the regime. Stephen Starr delves deep into the lives of Syrians whose destiny has been shaped by the state for almost fifty years. In conversations with people from all strata of Syrian society, Starr draws together and makes sense of perspectives illustrating why Syria, with its numerous sects and religions, was so prone to violence and civil strife. Through his unique access to a country largely cut off from the international media during the unrest, Starr delivers compelling first hand testimony from both those who suffered and benefited most at the hands of the regime. Revolt in Syria details why many Syrians wanted Assad's government to stay as the threat of civil war loomed large, the long-standing gap between the state apparatus and its people and why the country's youth stood up decisively for freedom.Starr also sets out the positions adhered to by the country's minorities and explains why many Syrians believe that enforced regime change might precipitate a region-wide conflict. This revised and updated edition contains a chapter bringing it up to the end of 2013, and examines the experiences of those who have fled the fighting to Turkey and elsewhere.