J. Stiles has won two Pulitzer Prizes for his last couple of books—one about Cornelius Vanderbilt and the other about George Armstrong Custer.
His first book (2002) was a fascinating look at Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War. Stiles argues that the James-Younger Gang was not a group of social bandits, nor was it merely an outfit aimed at hurting the big bankers and railroads of the time.
Instead, Stiles says Jesse was a terrorist, still fighting against the Union and trying to bring back the Confederacy during his post-War career—and make money, too.
Related Articles
-
September 27, 1864. Seventeen-year-old Jesse James puts the first notch on his gun. He, his…
-
Jesse James had his own publicity agent—John Newman Edwards. A Confederate veteran, Edwards became a…
-
Jesse James had just turned 17 when the opportunity for violence first arose—up close and…
