At the start of the Civil War; Dr. William McPheeters was a distinguished physician in St. Louis; conducting unprecedented public-health research; forging new medical standards; and organizing the state's first professional associations. But Missouri was a volatile border state. Under martial law; Union authorities kept close watch on known Confederate sympathizers. McPheeters was followed; arrested; threatened; and finally; in 1862; given an ultimatum: sign an oath of allegiance to the Union or go to federal prison. McPheeters "acted from principle" instead; fleeing by night to Confederate territory. He served as a surgeon under Gen. Sterling Price and his Missouri forces west of the Mississippi River; treating soldiers' diseases; malnutrition; and terrible battle wounds.From almost the moment of his departure; the doctor kept a diary. It was a pocket-size notebook which he made by folding sheets of pale blue writing paper in half and in which he wrote in miniature with his steel pen. It is the first known daily account by a Confederate medical officer in the Trans-Mississippi Department. It also tells his wife's story; which included harassment by Federal military officials; imprisonment in St. Louis; and banishment from Missouri with the couple's two small children. The journal appears here in its complete and original form; exactly as the doctor first wrote it; with the addition of the editors' full annotation and vivid introductions to each section.
#64689 in Books Weidenfeld n Nicolson 1988-03Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 #File Name: 1555841066398 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A fascinating but troubling account of the U.S. Government recuriting Nazi scientists after WWII.By Vickie RubinsonBlowback investigates a hushed up but vitally important chapter in American history. It explores US recruitment of Nazis and Nazi collaborators in Europe through programs such as the Gehlen Organization; Klaus Barbie's network and the Labor Service Battalions. Perhaps more significantly; Blowback reveals the government-approved (though usually extralegal) immigration of ex Nazis and colloborators into the United States itself and the significant impact this has had on American society.Among the wealth of new material in this book; Blowback brings to light for the first time how senior members of the State Department and the CIA; including noted diplomat George F Kennan; helped organize clandestine programs that brought high ranking Nazis and Axis government officials to America--and how the State Department has covered up the evidence ever since how the Pentagon falsified its own files to bring former Nazi scientists some of them 55 officers such as Wernher von Braun into the countr; y how in 1948; Nazis on the US intelligence payroll seriously misrepresented the nature and extent of the Soviet threat; thereby heightening the cold war; how the Pentagon trained and equipped former Nazi collaborators for use as anti communist guerrilles in the event of a nuclear confrontation; how the CIA has spent MILLIONS to bankroll anti Semitic emigre political groups inside the United States and has consistently hidden the part played by leaders of these groups during the Holocaust.Blowback is a sober and sobering account of how a clandestine national security policy often embarked on for limited pragmatic ends; has resulted in a disastrous blowback effect that escaped the control of its instigators; unseated those who had participated in is inception and contributed to the hysteria of the cold war and the McCarthy era. Authoritative; shocking; controversial; Blowback opens for public scrutiny a chapter of our recent history that remains essential to the understanding of our world but that many would prefer to keep shut. LOL.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Very interesting and informative.By jemI gound this book to be very enlightening and interesting. Well written; well presented ..very helpful in understanding today's political climate. In addition to other books I am reading regarding changes which have occurred in our country post-WW II; my understanding has increased.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. This is a great read and everyone should know about this bookBy Jim LogicThis is a great read and everyone should know about this book......Powerfully enlightening about our corrupt government and it's roots to the Nazis......Was an eye opening read....
