Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation, and the Reconstruction of Kentucky and Missouri (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
"Astor consulted an impressive array of manuscript collections, government documents, newspapers and secondary sources to fashion this fascinating study of the transformation of the political and social order in these two border states. Anyone with an interest in either of these critical states during the antebellum, wartime or postwar periods will need to consult this fine work. Highly recommended." -- Jeff Patrick, Interpretive Specialist at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield"A fascinating and sobering view of shifting memories during Reconstruction, Astor's study goes a long way to complicate and drive forward the entire field of border state studies. Overall, Astor maintains a keen analytical focus on a slippery subject and in doing so provides us with an engaging and meaningful take on Kentucky and Missouri during the Civil War era."-- Court Carney, H-Civil War, Author of Cuttin' Up: How Early Jazz Got America's Ear''Aaron Astor compellingly and definitively explains the political culture surrounding the Border South's belated embrace of the Confederacy and its consequences for the region's citizens, both white and African American. This volume stands to redefine Civil War and Border State studies.'' --Anne E. Marshall, author ofCreating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State''In this clearly and forcefully written study, employing meticulous research skills, Aaron Astor reconstructs an utterly realistic panorama of the era of the Civil War in the border states of Kentucky and Missouri. Far from a romantic portrait of racial progress, what emerges is a sobering account of the sustaining force of a white supremacist nation whose long-term effects still corrode American society.'' --Michael Fellman, author ofInside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri During the American Civil War