A review of the book: Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War Author: T.J.

Stiles Publisher: Knopf

the fearsome monosyllable DeathJohn N. Edwards The Nation was at war with itself, and he rode under a black flag. From Maine to Florida, New Jersey to Tennessee, young men became soldiers, left their homes and marched to the meet the enemy. Hailing from Missouri, this mandescribed as having blue eyes and light hair, who looked tolerably well educated and not at all like a working manchose a different path: he joined a band of guerilla fighters. His name was Jesse James. In the border-state of Missouri, the American Civil War took on a different character. It was small-scale and personal. Within the states borders, men turned against their neighbors if they happened to disagree with their politics. In response, Unionists gathered into various militia forces in an attempt to protect themselves. The moreviolently inclined Secessionists became irregulars, as known as bushwhackers or guerillas. They saw those loyal to the Union as the worse kind of traitor and heretic. As such, the guerillas made no qualms about killing their enemies, even if they were not armed. Riding with Bloody Bill Andersons gang, Jesse James did not fight the soldiers of an invading Federal army, but mostly men from his own state. He did not fight in grand battles miles away from hearth and home; rather he fought alongside men who saw victory in killing and burning out their neighbors. In this environment of intense hatred, it is perhaps natural that some would hail these guerillas as heroes. One such ardent admirer and defender of those who served the Southern cause in Missouri was John Newman Edwards. A Confederate veteran who became a journalist after the War, Edwards described the guerilla organization composed of men who fought a pitiless warfare with a battle-cry the fearsome monosyllable Death. They were men driven to desperation by the unceasing persecutions of Federals and militia, they had been outlawed and hunted.They accepted the black flag as an emblem, because it suited their ideas of murderand having no hope themselves, they left none to their victims. The more fanatical guerillas refused to stop the fight after Lee surrendered at Appomattox and the Confederate government collapsed. They continued their battle to drive the Unionists out of Missouri. Jesse James was one such fellow. He switched his tactics from terror to robbery, his targets from loyal citizens to banks and trains. As Jesse James and his gang embarked on their life of crime, John Edwards wrote many editorials under such fanciful titles as The Chivalry of Crime and "A Terrible Quintette" that

romanticized the image of Jesse James: fashioning him into a hero of the Lost Cause who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. In Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War, author T.J. Stiles traces these and other events in the outlaws life. At the same time, Stiles presents a comprehensive portrait of the nation during Jesse James lifetime, detailing and clearly explaining a turbulent, complex era. The scope of this engaging biography is immense, yet deeply intimate. Stiles succeeds in this ambitious undertaking of rendering Jesee James shorn of the folkloric trappings that have obscured his true image and legacy for ages. We called him outlaw, and he was; but fate made him so.John N. Edwards Jesse James lived in a time when it was hard to be an American. He had grown-up during the intense border war between Kansas and Missouri, matured during the Civil War, and reached the height of his powers during Reconstruction. T.J. Stiles clearly explains the dynamic of each conflict and explores the impact of each on both Jesse James and America. Jesse James emerges from the pages of this book as a man who reacted to the tragedies and hardships of his day by turning to the power of the gun, like many did at that time. As Stiles points out, the Civil War not only armed a vast majority of the country, but it also advanced weapon technology, making firearms more deadly. But, perhaps, it was the power of the written word that set James apart. Jesse James loved to read the newspaper, and he wrote many letters to them, often with the help of John Newman Edwards. These letters and Edwardss own editorials cast James, his brother, and members of his gang as innocent men being pursued by an authority that wanted them dead simply because they had fought on the wrong side of the Civil War. Whether written to achieve a political goal, to garner personal fame, or to rally ex-Confederates to the ideals they once fought for, these letters helped take Jesse James out of the ranks of the common criminal, where he most likely would have been forgotten by history, and turned him into a hero in America folklore, which has made him a indelible part of this countrys identity. Throughout the book, Stiles provides excerpts of these letters and editorials, which were so engaging, in fact, that I wished he had quoted them at greater length or included longer passages in an appendix. However, the real power of Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War is in its approach to the subject. For instance, the book begins, appropriately enough, with death. The reader is taken on a guided tour of the modest house in St. Joseph, Missouri on the corner of Thirteenth and Lafayette Streets in which Jesse James was killed. Stiles uses a novelistic device by allowing the reader to experience the scene over the shoulder of a reporter who is hurrying to the house after he had heard the news of the shooting. Rich, descriptive language erases time and distance, thrusting the reader into a house occupied by a family in shock, their husband and father lying upon the floor cold in death, blood oozing from his wounds. The point-of-view is personal, so close to the subject that a reader can not help but feel sympathy and a little bit of awe. Then, Stiles pulls the reader back by broadening the perspective. He drops the sensibilities of the novelist and looks at the subject with the eyes and mind of a historian.

This introduction reflects the work as a whole: it combines historical analysis and insight with a well-crafted story. Thus, readers will be riveted by stories of robberies, shootouts, and great escapes, but at the same time learn a great deal about Americas economic history or the extremely bloody war between Kansas and Missouri, just to name two. In fact, by the end of the book, readers will not just know what made Jesse James tick, they will have a very thorough understanding of more than two turbulent decades in this countrys history. Jesse James never apologized for what he was, and that alone should have as pause as we consider who we, as Americans, have been. T.J. Stiles Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War is biographical writing at its best. It clearly details the facts of Jesse Jamess life and separates them from the mythology that has gained power over time. It also provides deep insight into the many conflicts during a turning-point America history. Above all, however, it tells an extremely good tale. Additional Reading A Treasury of American Folklore by B. A. Bodkin (0517420570) The life of John Brown serves as an intersting counter-point to Jesse James: John Brown by W. E. B. Du Bois (0679783539) To Purge This Land With Blood: A Biography of John Brown by Stephen B. Oates (0870234587)