The Devil's Own Purgatory

Reviews / Votes

"Combining social history and military history, analysis of naval technology, and incredible storytelling, The Devil's Own Purgatory gives a history of the Civil War from an entirely new angle. Robert Gudmestad offers us the fullest picture of the war on the western rivers, showing us how the war was won on those churning waterways by ambitious engineers, innovative officers, and tough-as-leather sailors. His writing transports the reader to those muddy channels amidst the flying lead and exploding bombs, while his descriptions of the gruesome nature of warfighting done within those wooden and iron boats will make you thankful you weren't there. Gudmestad's book will be an essential fixture on every Civil War bookshelf for years to come." - Joseph M. Beilein Jr., author of A Man by Any Other Name: William Clarke Quantrill and the Search for American Manhood

"I loved this definitive account of a unique combat force in American history. . . . a naval fleet comprised of bizarre vessels and a disproportionate number of formerly enslaved men. It waged counterinsurgency and environmental war on Confederate ambush squads and their civilian supporters. Gudmestad provides the first social history of the martial men who skylarked and fought their way to victory on the western rivers and the refined officers who tried to reform them." - Lorien Foote, author of Rites of Retaliation: Civilization, Soldiers, and Campaigns in the American Civil War

"The Devil's Own Purgatory is a wild ride through disease-infested swamps, floating contraband camps, tinclads' boiler bombs, and drunken melees. Gudmestad's prose had me turning pages like a novel. His book is social-military history at its best." - Andrew Fialka, author of Hope Never to See It: A Graphic History of Guerrilla Violence during the American Civil War