Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18464 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

totally enthralling
As an Englishwoman on holiday in Canada, I found this book by chance in a small town bookshop. Previously having had only a fleeting knowledge of the American Civil War, mainly stirred by images of "Gone with the Wind", I thought this book looked mildy interesting -mainly because there was nothing much of note to purchase in the store. This book was SO GRIPPING - and VERY VERY funny. It's a cliche, but I could not put this book down. It didn't matter that I had little knowledge of the topic beforehand - at the end I was a master. The way that past and present are seamlessly interwoven is a skilful testament to the author's skill. This was a real find.

Experiencing a wargasm . . .
The event of national self-abuse that sundered the American republic in the 1860s was once relegated to the realm of history. Horwitz declares that the Civil War/War Between the States has been restored to the status of current events. With the majority of battles occurring in the South, this is his venue as he travels from battle site to battle site, recalling, interviewing, reflecting. Horwitz, an outstanding journalist, has given us a stimulating picture of war as it was and the South as it is.

"The South is a place. North, East and West are only directions." Thus declaims a letter to a Richmond newspaper, summarising nicely Horwitz' findings during two years of touring the former Confederacy. As a descendent of Russian Jewish immigrants to America, Horwitz, as he confesses, seems an unlikely Civil War "buff." Yet as a child he possessed the ten-volume photographic record of the conflict, read widely in the many works available and awoke one morning to the sounds of battle. The battle was a modern expression of a group of "reenactors," men playing soldiers. At one point, the constraints of time led to a rapid, exhausting tour of several battle sites in but a few days - a "Civil Wargasm." Following their lead, Horwitz began a tour of former Confederate states which resulted in this excellent volume. In it he demonstrates how the War Between the States has become a foundation for the resurgence of the Southron identity.

Horwitz's earlier career as a war-time journalist in Iran, Bosnia and other conflict areas provide him with a fine sense of what soldiering entails. His tours with reenactors and encounters on 1860s battlefields reveal a welcome sensitivity in his accounts. He joins the reenactors without submerging himself in their artificial existence. Yet he can sympathise with their feelings in recapturing the sense of history and dedication that many of the combatants felt. Few were conscripts, and however, ephemeral, both sides felt they were defending a Cause.

But this is far more than a recapitulation of military history. The real value of this book lies in its portrayal of the modern, or "New" South. Horwitz examines why there is a renewed interest in Civil War memorabilia and how it is manifested in society, education and politics. In the Union, the Cause was maintaining the national identity. In the South, "a place," it was the protection of local customs - "states' rights." Once thought to be a dead issue, Horwitz makes clear the notion has returned with new strength. "Big government," "affirmative action," and "Black power" are the same or similar topics fought over at Shiloh, Sharpsburg, or Shelbyville. "The South" still reflects a separation of the races, which Horwitz reports as happening by mutual consent in some Southern schools. Tradition dies hard, and nowhere is the demise more lingering than in the former Confederacy.

A bold, funny, contentious account of historical memory.....
As a thrilling supplement to more scholarly studies of the Civil War, I would recommend this joyous romp of a book. Combining data, interviews, and first-hand accounts, this book presents a side of history rarely seen: those who believe that the only road to authenticity lies in "hardcore" re-creations. While the people are sources of charm and humor, they are never mocked. If anything, the author presents these folks as the last bastion of "true" historical study left in America. At the very least, he believes, these people are passionate, involved, and are willing to keep memory alive in an age of apathy and ignorance. While there are several points that will bring about feelings of anger and sadness (especially when the author journeys to the schools of Alabama), the author is always fair and attempts to discover why it is that the Civil War provokes such strong feelings even today. While the war was a complex mix of politics, race, power, leadership, law, and sectional rivalry, it has been, especially in our age of political correctness, reduced to oversimplified "movements" and self-serving slogans. Thanks to this book, we can hopefully reclaim the war and return it to more academic, intellectual circles where it belongs.