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STILES, T. J: : JESSE JAMES: LAST REBEL OF THE CIVIL WAR

LONDON.JONATHAN CAPE,2003.

ISBN 022406925X.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1.] FINE/FINE.Neat inked owner name to top,right-hand corner of half-title page and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean, matt,subject's colour photographic portrait illustrated dw/dj panels+spine with grey,black and red lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present,spine lightly sunned/faded.Top edges aged/toned with some minimal dust-soiling spotting,fore-edges also aged/toned but without any foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners, appears unread - apart from my own collation. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip,and immaculate plain black endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,ix-xiiipp+3- 510pp [paginated] includes contents list/table, separate illus+maps lists/tables,a prologue,Pts One - Four comprising 20 chapters,16pp contemporary b/w illustration reproductions and b/w biographical photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp178/9 and pp322/3 respectively, acknowledgements,abbreviations used in the notes,notes,a bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,epigrams(3) and 4pp blanks at the rear of the book. This first serious biography of Jesse James in forty years is a meticulously researched and stylishly written consideration of an American icon.Stripped of the familiar myths surrounding him,Jesse James emerges as a far more significant figure: a ruthless,purposeful and intensely political man who used crimes and notoriety to promote the Confederate cause during the bitter decade that followed the South's surrender at Appomattox. Stiles paints a strikingly new and vivid portrait of the period before the Civil War, during the conflict and its aftermath,both nationally and,more specifically,in the divided border state of James's Missouri.There the great issues of the day expressed themselves in battles between those who aligned themselves with North or South.Jesse and his older brother Frank, sons of a pro-slavery preacher who died in the California Gold Rush and a ferocious Southern mother,served with some of the most savage Confederate guerillas.At sixteen,Jesse began his fighting career by killing Unionist neighbours on their doorsteps.In the bloodshed and bitterness that followed the war,we see Jesse and his fellow guerillas,with their gunfights and holdups,become part of the intensely brutal struggle by the White South against the racial egalitarianism and Federal power fostered by the Reconstruction.We see how Jesse placed himself squarely in this context with his thirst for attention,his partisan pronouncements and his alliance with a rising ex-Confederate newspaper editor who helped shape Jesse's image for their common purpose.In using violence and the news media to promote a political cause,Jesse James was neither a Robin Hood nor a quaint Wild West figure. Rather,as his life played out across the racial divide,the rise of the Klan,and the expansion of the railroads,he was a forerunner of what we have come to call a terrorist. With groundbreaking scholarship and dazzling reinterpretation,T. J. Stiles has refashioned one of the great legends of American history, offering brilliant insights along the way into both the nation and the man. Please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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