Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Added to your cart
Hardcover War's Relentless Hand: Twelve Tales of Civil War Soldiers (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) Book

ISBN: 0807131903

ISBN13: 9780807131909

War's Relentless Hand: Twelve Tales of Civil War Soldiers (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)

(Part of the Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War Series)

A happy-go-lucky soldier falls at Gettysburg. An officer survives a hair-raising escape after capture at Gettysburg, only to die in the Atlanta campaign. A young volunteer retreats into insanity. Though they did most of the fighting and dying in the American Civil War, "ordinary" soldiers largely went unheralded in their day and have long since been forgotten. Mark H. Dunkelman retrieves twelve of these common soldiers from obscurity and presents intimate accounts of their harrowing, heartbreaking, and occasionally humorous experiences. Their stories, true to the last historical detail yet as dramatic as the most powerful fiction, put a human face on the terrible ordeal of a country at war with itself. These were soldiers from the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry, a regiment that Dunkelman has studied for forty years. He weaves a complex and intimate portrait of each man -- portraits that reveal how, even for the common soldier, war was a cataclysmic event forever marking his life and the lives of those around him. Through a vast array of primary sources, Dunkelman reconstructs the lives and legacies of soldiers who died on the battlefield and others who later died of war-related injuries, some who were permanently disabled and others who saw their families undergo trauma. A reluctant soldier is doomed by red tape. A veteran is crippled for life because of his brutal treatment as a prisoner of war. Father and son are killed at Chancellorsville. A dying private is immortalized by Walt Whitman. Separated by the war, a husband and wife agonize when their children contract a deadly disease. A veteran claiming he was blinded by campfire smoke is at the center of one of the largest pension scandals of the postwar era. Recalling a lost world, War's Relentless Hand tells of the resilience, perseverance, and loyalty that distinguished these men, the families and communities that supported them, and the faith and character that sustained them. Though the full human cost and grief of the Civil War can never be calculated, deeply felt and carefully retold lives like these help convey its magnitude.

Recommended

Format: Hardcover

Temporarily Unavailable

3 people are interested in this title.

We receive fewer than 1 copy every 6 months.

You Might Also Enjoy

Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam: The Battle that Changed the Course of the Civil War
Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam: The Battle that Changed the Course of the Civil War
James M. McPherson

from: $4.29

A Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy
A Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy
Jim Murphy

from: $10.71

Truman
Truman
David McCullough

from: $5.29

The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy
The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy
Bell Irvin Wiley

from: $5.19

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
Jon Meacham

from: $5.79

The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts
The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts
Burke Davis

from: $5.49

American Slavery, American Freedom
American Slavery, American Freedom
Edmund S. Morgan

from: $5.59

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45
The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45
Stephen E. Ambrose

from: $4.29

The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Oxford English Dictionary
The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Oxford English Dictionary
Simon Winchester

from: $4.19

Une mort très douce
Une mort très douce
Simone de Beauvoir

from: $8.29

The Class of 1846: From West Point to Appomattox: Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan, and Their Br others
The Class of 1846: From West Point to Appomattox: Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan, and Their Br others
John C. Waugh

from: $5.49

Wisconsin Death Trip
Wisconsin Death Trip
Michael Lesy

from: $24.99

Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman
Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman
Sarah Morgan Dawson

from: $5.19

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
Joseph J. Ellis

from: $4.79

The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
Harold Holzer

from: $7.39

All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies
All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies
Elizabeth D. Leonard

from: $4.79

For Cause and Comrades
For Cause and Comrades
James M. McPherson

from: $4.89

John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights
John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights
David S. Reynolds

from: $11.79

John Adams
John Adams
David McCullough, James (Author) McCullough

from: $5.59

American Prometheus
American Prometheus
Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin

from: $6.19

Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War
Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War
Drew Gilpin Faust

from: $4.99

Father and I were Ranchers
Father and I were Ranchers
Ralph Moody

from: $14.28

General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier
General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier
Jeffry D. Wert

from: $4.39

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
Karen Abbott, Karen White

from: $4.89

Customer Reviews

customer rating | review
There are currently no reviews. Be the first to review this work.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured