{"product_id":"teacher-preacher-soldier-spy-the-civil-wars-of-john-r-kelso-hardcover","title":"Teacher, Preacher, Soldier, Spy: The Civil Wars of John R. Kelso - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eChristopher Grasso\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe epic life story of a schoolteacher and preacher in Missouri, guerrilla fighter in the Civil War, Congressman, freethinking lecturer and author, and anarchist.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA former Methodist preacher and Missouri schoolteacher, John R. Kelso served as a Union Army foot soldier, cavalry officer, guerrilla fighter, and spy. Kelso became driven by revenge after pro-Southern neighbors stole his property, burned down his house, and drove his family and friends from their homes. He vowed to kill twenty-five Confederates with his own hands and, often disguised as a rebel, proceeded to track and kill unsuspecting victims with \"wild delight.\" The newspapers of the day reported on his feats of derring-do, as the Union hailed him as a hero and Confederate sympathizers called him a monster. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003eTeacher, Preacher, Soldier, Spy: The Civil Wars of John R. Kelso \u003c\/em\u003eis an account of an extraordinary nineteenth-century American life. During Reconstruction, Kelso served in the House of Representatives and was one of the first to call for the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Personal tragedy then drove him west, where he became a freethinking lecturer and author, an atheist, a spiritualist, and, before his death in 1891, an anarchist. Kelso was also a strong-willed son, a passionate husband, and a loving and grieving father. The Civil War remained central to his life, challenging his notions of manhood and honor, his ideals of liberty and equality, and his beliefs about politics, religion, morality, and human nature. Throughout his life, too, he fought private wars--not only against former friends and alienated family members, rebellious students and disaffected church congregations, political opponents and religious critics, but also against the warring impulses in his own\u003cbr\u003echaracter. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn Christopher Grasso's hands, Kelso's life story offers a unique vantage on dimensions of nineteenth-century American culture that are usually treated separately: religious revivalism and political anarchism; sex, divorce, and Civil War battles; freethinking and the Wild West. A complex figure and passionate, contradictory, and prolific writer, John R. Kelso here receives a full telling of his life for the first time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Grasso\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of History at the College of William \u0026amp; Mary and was the editor of the \u003cem\u003eWilliam and Mary Quarterly\u003c\/em\u003e. He is the author of \u003cem\u003eA Speaking Aristocracy: Transforming Public Discourse in Eighteenth-Century Connecticut \u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSkepticism and American Faith from the Revolution to the\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eCivil War \u003c\/em\u003eand the editor of Bloody Engagements: John R. Kelso's Civil War.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 544\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.44 x 9.56 x 6.58 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 01, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49147997847704,"sku":"9780197547328","price":47.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/8830\/4024\/files\/eEVwajdXZFljOHFZVjdvNkthRVRRUT09.webp?v=1779501357","url":"https:\/\/thepinkflamingobooks.myshopify.com\/products\/teacher-preacher-soldier-spy-the-civil-wars-of-john-r-kelso-hardcover","provider":"The Pink Flamingo","version":"1.0","type":"link"}