The Bloody Shirt
Terror after Appomattox

What a dreadful chapter in American history. I knew that the Reconstruction Era was unpleasant, but it is even more painful than I thought to learn the specifics. And it is especially unfortunate that a person General Butler tried so hard to stanch racism only to be impeded and derailed by expedient politicking. The narration itself is clear but overly dramatic, hence the threestar rating.

I, as a school teacher, believe that this book and it's subject should be required reading for all high school students. It is about the terrorism that the blacks and their supports faced in the South after the Civil War. This book covers the history that is not taught in our schools in the United S......more

My hat goes off to Mr. Budiansky for writing a sad and harrowing tale of terrorism on America's home front immediately following the Civil War. This book holds your attention throughout, retelling the stories of a few of the people, black and white, who tried to create a new society in the old Confe......more

Much has been written about the military aspect of the Civil War but little of the war ideology. After you read Stephen Budiansky's book "The Bloody Shirt: Terror after Appomattox" the causes and reasons for the horrific destruction make more sense. The authors written snapshots of the atrocities,......more

I must say that while I do agree, for the most part, with his politics on Reconstruction; betrayals and downright Southern nastiness, this guy doesn't let the reader get a break from superfluous spiteful commentary after using great quotes and examples that more than prove his point. He clearly hate......more

Just incredibly well-written and devastating to read. The perfect introduction to just how brutal and nakedly treasonous Reconstruction was, should be required school reading.......more