The border states affected the course of the American Civil War in ways large and small, but none played a more important role than did Kentucky. Just as the nation was torn asunder, so too was the Bluegrass State, divided between those loyal to the Union, those with allegiances looking South, and others who simply wanted to remain neutral. Tumultuous politics gave way to the boots of marching armies that turned some of the most beautiful landscape in the country into bloody battlefields. Don W. Rightmyer's fresh narrative history Torn: The Civil War in Kentucky is the first comprehensive book-length account of politics and war in the Bluegrass State. Rightmyer, who serves as the editor of Kentucky Ancestors, the genealogical quarterly of the Kentucky Historical Society, understands and appreciates Kentucky's unique experiences better than most. After describing the state's delicate situation as a critical border state when the war broke out, the native Kentuckian delves into the tumultuous events that followed, including the violation of the state's neutrality by Confederate troops, Union occupation, and the especially critical 1862 Confederate invasion that culminated in the battle of Perryville that October. Like other border states, Kentucky also experienced brutal guerrilla warfare and complex cavalry raids for several long years. A thorough bibliography of the war in the state, a chronology of the war's major events, and a listing of the Civil War camps and forts in Kentucky supplement the study. Original in its coverage and rich in sweeping fast-paced detail, ?Torn: The Civil War in Kentucky' offers essential reading for everyone interested in the American Civil War in general, and especially Kentucky's unique role in the greatest drama of our nation's past.
