A Savage Conflict - (Civil War America) by Daniel E Sutherland (Paperback)

About the Book

Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War

Book Synopsis

While the Civil War is famous for epic battles involving massive armies engaged in conventional warfare, A Savage Conflict is the first work to treat guerrilla warfare as critical to understanding the course and outcome of the Civil War. Daniel Sutherland argues that irregular warfare took a large toll on the Confederate war effort by weakening support for state and national governments and diminishing the trust citizens had in their officials to protect them.

Review Quotes

"[A] very strong analysis of guerrilla warfare that is pertinent to counterinsurgency operations today. . . . Provide[s] excellent analysis." -- Journal of Military History

"A comprehensive survey, well written and very readable. . . . A needed view of the war that is seldom seen." -- TOCWOC: A Civil War Blog

"A welcome addition to the literature on guerilla warfare in America." -- Intelligence Service Europe Newsletter

"No one has ever undertaken a survey this complete, this solidly based in an almost incredible array of primary sources, and this well rooted in the historiography. . . . Sutherland's achievement in compiling all this material and elucidating it with a convincing thesis is formidable." -- Journal of Southern History

"Perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of guerrilla warfare during the Civil War to date. . . . Well written and exhaustively researched. . . . Specialists and enthusiasts of the Civil War will enjoy this book as it is an excellent addition to any Civil War library." -- On Point

"Sutherland places the 'Gray Ghost, ' John Singleton Mosby; John Hunt Morgan; 'Bloody Bill' Anderson; bushwhackers; Red Legs; and jayhawkers, among many others, in the larger context of the 'irrepressible conflict' in this wide-ranging account." -- CHOICE

"Sutherland's solid scholarship dispels the resilient image of guerrillas as colorful ancillaries of the 'real war' and integrates them into the broader narrative of the period. . . . An extremely valuable book." -- Journal of American History

"The most comprehensive investigation of the topic to date. . . . Sutherland's impeccably researched study is long overdue and certain to become essential reading for anyone attempting to understand the effect of guerrillas on the Civil War and especially on Confederate defeat." -- Virginia Magazine

"Will surely invigorate discussion of guerilla conflict in the Civil War. . . . Sutherland has set the stage for further considerations on the place of guerilla warfare within American society." -- Virginia Quarterly Review

"With this masterful work, Daniel E. Sutherland has presented historians of the American Civil War with the most important single volume on the role of guerrilla warfare to appear in twenty years. Scholars of the conflict have long awaited the publication of Sutherland's definitive work and the book does not disappoint." -- Common-place