Originally published in 1907 and now reprinted for the first time, this is the only account published by a Union guerrilla in the border region of the central Ozarks, where political and civil violence lasted from the Civil War well into the 1880s. There were probably many people who wanted to shoot Billy Monks. He was a Union patriot and skilled guerrilla fighter to some, but others called him a bushwhacker, a murderer, and a thief. His was a very personal combat: he commanded, rallied, arrested, killed, quarreled with, and sued people he knew. His life provides a striking example of the cliché that the war did not end in 1865, but continued fiercely on several fronts for another decade as partisan factions settled old scores and battled for local political control. This memoir was Monks’s last salvo at his old foes, by turns self-defense and an uncompromising affirmation of the Radical Union cause in the Ozarks. The editors include a new biographical sketch of the author, fill in gaps in his narrative, identify all the people and places to which he refers, and offer a detailed index. Monks himself illustrated the volume with staged photographs of key events re-created by aged comrades who appear to have been just barely able to hoist the muskets they hold as props.

THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED BY MISSOURI LIFE MAGAZINE AND DISTIBUTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PRESS.

In this stunning book, four accomplished writers and lifelong conservationists team up with keen-eyed photographers to capture the compelling history, beauty, and recreational value of Missouri’s unique state park system, one that has been ranked among the top four in the nation. The book features hundreds of photographs and includes information on all 88 state parks and historic sites, including the longest developed rails-to-trail project in the nation, homes of famous Missourians, Civil War battlefields, and other reminders of the past such as mills and covered bridges. The authors tell the complete story of the park system, from its inception in 1917 to the newest state park created in 2015, encompassing much of Missouri’s history as well as its scenic and varied landscape.