They Should Have Been Hanged

Name: They Should Have Been Hanged
Price: 22.17 AUD
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ISBN: 9798989076000

War Nerd Essays on the U.S. Civil War

John Dolan, Daniel Greenhalgh

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Paperback

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English

Caltrops Press, LLC
03 November 2025

Biography: historical, political & military; History of the Americas; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; American Civil War

They Should Have Been Hanged is a collection of essays presenting a stimulating revisionist view of the U.S. Civil War. Gary Brecher aka John Dolan rejects both the Lost Cause myth and insipid mainstream histories. Instead, he relies on the testimony of contemporary figures like Mary Chesnut, Mark Twain, John A. Logan, and Adam Gurowski to show the American Civil War had its share of treachery, criminality, and error.

Referring to primary sources (letters, diaries, speeches) and secondary texts (biographies and histories), Dolan argues that McClellan was not just incompetent but sympathetic to the Confederate cause; that Gurowski long anticipated the necessity of hard war; that Congressmen were plotting treason long before 1864; and that the Burning of Atlanta was relatively mild in the context of 19th-century warfare.

Dolan pushes back against a modern right-wing contention that the Civil War was not about race or slavery and decries monuments like the one dedicated to Henry Wirz, who ran the Andersonville camp. Finally, he suggests that the tragedy of Reconstruction could have been avoided had certain Confederate figures faced justice in a timely fashion.

By: John Dolan
Other: Daniel Greenhalgh
Imprint: Caltrops Press, LLC
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 15mm
Weight: 376g
ISBN: 9798989076000
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 03 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

John Dolan aka Gary Brecher is an American essayist, novelist, and broadcaster. In 2002 he began writing a regular column as ""The War Nerd"" offering trenchant and entertaining commentary on military affairs. Since 2015, he has co-hosted the Radio War Nerd podcast with Mark Ames. He has been a student of the U.S Civil War since third grade at Oak Park Elementary School.