"When the Civil war broke out, Missouri was secured for the Union, but many Southern-leaning citizens in the border state resented the Federal occupation. Fighting along the border flared up again as hundreds of boys and young men took to the bush to champion the Rebel cause. Waging a particularly vicious brand of guerilla warfare, they stayed to fight long after regular Confederate forces had been driven from the state. Although William "Bloody Bill" Anderson always warrants special mention in books about confederate Civil War guerrilla William Quantrill, Anderson's story has scarcely been told in its own right. In [this work], Larry Wood aims 'neither to condemn nor to justify but merely to tell a story I find fascinating - the story of perhaps the bloodiest man in America's deadliest war'" -- From the back cover.

My native state of Missouri -- They murdered my father -- The last man you will ever see -- The most desperate of desperate men -- They murdered my sister -- I have glutted by vengeance -- Quantrill's sand is gone -- I had them to kill -- Things I would shrink from if possible to avoid -- Every Federal soldier shall die like a dog -- I grew sick of killing them -- I could not throw my life away -- One devil less in the world.