After the feverish mobilization of secession had faded, why did Southern men join the Confederate army? Kenneth Noe examines the motives and subsequent performance of "later enlisters." He offers a nuanced view of men who have often been cast as less patriotic and less committed to the cause, rekindling the debate over who these later enlistees were, why they joined, and why they stayed and fought. Noe refutes the claim that later enlisters were more likely to desert or perform poorly in battle and reassesses the argument that they were less ideologically savvy than their counterparts who enlisted early in the conflict. He argues that kinship and neighborhood, not conscription, compelled these men to fight: they were determined to protect their families and property and were fueled by resentment over emancipation and pillaging and destruction by Union forces. But their age often combined with their duties to wear them down more quickly than younger men, making them less effective soldiers for a Confederate nation that desperately needed every able-bodied man it could muster. Reluctant Rebels places the stories of individual soldiers in the larger context of the Confederate war effort and follows them from the initial optimism of enlistment through the weariness of battle and defeat.

In 1861,The Whitlow Brothers of Texas felt they were living near perfect lives. They enjoyed the outdoor work on the family ranch, they were well paid for their efforts, and they knew beautiful girls who enjoyed their company. The future held such wonderful promise, until the politicians destroyed the American dream. War amongst ourselves has to be evidence of ultimate failure. Uncompromising politicians were forcing the citizens of America to fight each other in a war. As far as the Whitlow boys were concerned, they should have locked all the politicians in a barn and told them No one comes out until you reach an agreement to do something other than wage war. U.S. citizenship and Texas citizenship are both held very precious. Why would anyone in his right mind be willing to give up either? The boys thought their father had the best idea. He had said, If the politicians want a war, we ought to make them fight it amongst themselves instead of getting all of the American people involved. That, of course, didnt happen. When personal involvement in the Civil War could no longer be avoided, the Whitlow Brothers made the difficult decision to join their friends and neighbors in defending the South, which the North had invaded. If the slavery issue had been the only consideration, they would have gladly fought on the Union side. Slavery was not an issue for most Southerners. Only about ten percent of all Southerners held slaves. The problem was, the ten percent who did were, for the most part, the wealthy people who had the most influence with the Southern politicians. It appears that the problem of special interest groups was a plague even then. Determining how they could best serve the South was not a major problem. The Cavalry was the logical choice, since they had been on horseback most of their lives. The Texas Eighth Cavalry, also known as Terrys Texas Rangers, was the unit they chose. History reveals the Terrys Texas Rangers were marvelous horsemen, and fierce fighters. Many considered them the best cavalry unit on either side in the Civil War. Their level of accomplishment in battle led them to become the most feared, and most hated, adversary of many in the Union Army. Such success did not come without casualties. The Regiment began with over eleven hundred members; at the end of the Civil War less than three hundred had survived. The Whitlows faced the gamut of emotions as they waged this senseless war, and came to realize that being the best at what you do does not guarantee a final victory. Fiction can not do justice to the actual experiences of the Terry Texas Rangers, but the chronology of events, and the battle activities of the actual unit must have been very similar to those recorded on the pages of this book.

"The next best young adult novel."—Huffington Post Mariam Just Wants to Fit In. That's not easy when she's the only Egyptian at her high school and her parents are super traditional. So when she sneaks into a party that gets busted, Mariam knows she's in trouble...big trouble. Convinced she needs more discipline and to reconnect with her roots, Mariam's parents send her to Cairo to stay with her grandmother, her sittu. But Marian's strict sittu and the country of her heritage are nothing like she imagined, challenging everything Mariam once believed. As Mariam searches for the courage to be true to herself, a teen named Asmaa calls on the people of Egypt to protest their president. The country is on the brink of revolution—and now, in her own way, so is Mariam.

Ready to stand up and create positive change at work, but reluctant to speak up? True leadership doesn’t always come from a position of power or authority. By teaching you skills and providing practical advice, this handbook shows you how to engage your coworkers and bosses and bring your ideas forward so that they are heard, considered, and acted upon. Authors Carmen Medina and Lois Kelly—once rebels themselves—reveal ways to navigate your workplace, avoid common mistakes and traps, and overcome the fears that may be holding you back. You can achieve more success and less frustration, help your organization do better work, and—most important—find more meaning and joy in what you do.

Seymour Reit, the creator of Casper the friendly ghost, blends fact with fiction in this captivating tale about one woman who dared to go behind enemy lines as a spy for the Union Army. Canadian-born Emma Edmonds loved the thrill of adventure and chasing freedom, so in 1861 when the Civil War began, she enlisted in the Union Army. With cropped hair and men’s clothing, Emma transformed herself into a peddler, slave, bookkeeper and more, seamlessly gathering information and safely escaping each time. This fictionalized biography about the daring exploits of a cunning master of disguise, risking discovery and death for the sake of freedom, will inspire readers for generations to come.

In this groundbreaking study, Barton A. Myers analyzes the secret world of hundreds of white and black Southern Unionists as they struggled for survival in a new Confederate world, resisted the imposition of Confederate military and civil authority, began a diffuse underground movement to destroy the Confederacy, joined the United States Army as soldiers, and waged a series of violent guerrilla battles at the local level against other Southerners. Myers also details the work of Confederates as they struggled to build a new nation at the local level and maintain control over manpower, labor, agricultural, and financial resources, which Southern Unionists possessed. The story is not solely one of triumph over adversity but also one of persecution and, ultimately, erasure of these dissidents by the postwar South's Lost Cause mythologizers.