The acclaimed Western author’s classic novel of a Civil War soldier finding his humanity in the face of horrible savagery. Emerging from the Civil War broken and ashamed, Stephen Latch turns to a life of thievery and murder. Still hoping to uphold the values of the Confederacy, Latch sets his sights on the wealth of resources pouring westward from the northern United States, putting together a band of ruthless misfits to target the riches of the caravans. Latch's plan calls for an unusual alliance, one made with Chief Satana and his band of Kiowas. The Kiowas are in desperate need of “firewater”—the rum and whiskey that Latch keeps secreted away—and Latch plans to use it to inspire them to new levels of barbarism. But as Latch leads his coalition on an ambitious attack against a train of 160 wagons, the haunted man turns a dangerous corner toward a new way of life.