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bhnmt61's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book fascinating, well-researched, and easy to read. Tony Horwitz spent a year down the rabbit hole of Southerners who are still obsessed with the Civil War (it was originally published 1998, one suspects that not much has changed). The only problem is that it's depressing to read. The amount of misinformation, the attachment to outdated values, the obsession with the past (which is sometimes not even the real past, but an imagined one)-- I can only imagine what Horwitz's interviewees could do in the here and now if they applied as much energy and imagination to the present. This is a great example of why I love being in a book club-- this is a book I would never have picked up on my own, but I'm glad I read it.
heathercottledillon's review against another edition
4.0
As I was growing up in rural southwest Missouri, I knew plenty of people who were obsessed with the Civil War. I've been to reenactments and I've seen plenty of Confederate flags waving in front of homes or stuck on bumpers. Horwitz does a great job of reporting on this. He tells the stories in a lively, interesting way without passing judgment, letting his subjects' actions and words speak for themselves. Many of them claim they just want to honor their heritage, and some--like the hardcore Rob, with whom Horwitz embarks on a five-day whirlwind historic tour they call the "Civil Wargasm"--seem to really mean that. Others, however, use the Civil War as a mask for racism and opposition the Federal government. Even I was shocked by the intensity with which some people Horwitz talked to loved the Confederacy and what it stood for. It's pretty scary, actually. Horwitz also talks to many black Americans about their thoughts on the Confederacy and the people who idolize it, bringing up the fact that even though some whites have no malicious intentions when they wave their Rebel flags, they can't control the implications that the symbols of the Confederacy have for other people. Overall, I think Horwitz did a fantastic job exploring the Confederate subculture in America and how the War still affects us, 150 year later.
pheelmphree's review against another edition
5.0
An important and relevant book. My inner nerd was always embarrassed I had never read it because of its enduring and esteemed reputation, only increasing after Horwitz’s sudden death just over a year ago. Horwitz detailed his exploration of Civil War memory through his travels in key areas of the old Confederacy. Since this book is nearing its 25-year anniversary, I think I feared it would be a dated read. Not so. This book is even more applicable in today’s environment of BLM awareness, efforts to remove Confederate memorials erected many decades after the war (and which largely served to intimidate African-Americans), and the ongoing debates over Lost Cause fact and fiction.
I can say some parts of Horwitz’s narrative can’t escape becoming dated. The Richmond he described from the mid/late 90s is not the one I recognize today. I love Richmond, based on my handful of times hanging there. Great restaurants, cool bars, creative breweries, excellent museums, awesome outdoor space, cool people. It was the Confederate capital, and a mandatory destination for anyone even casually interested in the Civil War. But the changes places undergo and what’s remembered by different groups are central to this book. I know it will influence how I’ll perceive Richmond on my next visit.
Written as a witty and humorous travel book, but occasionally sad, Horwitz dove into subject matter rooted in Civil War legacy that continues to flavor how people perceive and behave today, often with little direct knowledge of the history influencing them. A great read.
Horwitz’s obituary from the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/tony-horwitz-pultizer-prize-winning-journalist-and-author-dies-at-60/2019/05/28/adc64b72-8157-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html?outputType=amp
I can say some parts of Horwitz’s narrative can’t escape becoming dated. The Richmond he described from the mid/late 90s is not the one I recognize today. I love Richmond, based on my handful of times hanging there. Great restaurants, cool bars, creative breweries, excellent museums, awesome outdoor space, cool people. It was the Confederate capital, and a mandatory destination for anyone even casually interested in the Civil War. But the changes places undergo and what’s remembered by different groups are central to this book. I know it will influence how I’ll perceive Richmond on my next visit.
Written as a witty and humorous travel book, but occasionally sad, Horwitz dove into subject matter rooted in Civil War legacy that continues to flavor how people perceive and behave today, often with little direct knowledge of the history influencing them. A great read.
Horwitz’s obituary from the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/tony-horwitz-pultizer-prize-winning-journalist-and-author-dies-at-60/2019/05/28/adc64b72-8157-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html?outputType=amp
nobody999's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75
Reinforced my beliefs about the South, I suppose. Horwitz's John Brown book was probably better.
alidottie's review against another edition
5.0
My first Tony Horwitz book and it was love at first read! I love how he teached history while trying to relive it in some way.
tintinintibet's review against another edition
5.0
I chose to read a totally different book as a tie-in to “The Last of Us” HBO series (“Entangled Life” about fungi). But there are better commentaries on the evil subjugation and slaughter of humans and the horrors that reverberate.
theflamingopriss's review against another edition
fast-paced
0.5
This book is so absolutely fucking ignorant. He coddles Neo Confederates while admitting to condescending to Black people who display a very natural wariness of Southern whites. I got so pissed off that I chucked my copy of this out the window of a speeding car.
Fuck this book.
Fuck this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Ignorant white writer perpetuating the bullshit mythos of the South’s pathetic Lost Cause.sara_shocks's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 / 5 stars (rounded down)
I had to put this down several times to scream (inside my heart). It's an outstanding examination of how Americans create and recreate history, how history is embodied and what this devotion to the Civil War in particular means to those focused on it. I think he needed a little more development of the penultimate chapter on the Civil Rights movement and how that history is viewed & taught versus the Civil War, but that's also related to what I as a person in 2020 think versus how such topics were discussed in the mid-1990s.
I had to put this down several times to scream (inside my heart). It's an outstanding examination of how Americans create and recreate history, how history is embodied and what this devotion to the Civil War in particular means to those focused on it. I think he needed a little more development of the penultimate chapter on the Civil Rights movement and how that history is viewed & taught versus the Civil War, but that's also related to what I as a person in 2020 think versus how such topics were discussed in the mid-1990s.