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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, War
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation
Minor: Cursing, Blood, Medical content, Colonisation, Classism
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Written 20+ years ago, but if you read it today, you'll feel as if he just published it yesterday, given today's climate of racism and rancor. Horwitz's childhood fascination with the Civil War evolves into a journey through major and minor sites as he tries to figure out why he was so obsessed as a kid, as was his Jewish immigrant grandfather. Along the way he discovers that a lot of the South is still fighting the war, while the rest is either trying to ignore it, or live with it. The reader meets a fascinating group of people, from hardcore reenactors, to full blown racists, to former Northerners who married Southerners and just sort of abide. Most are a complicated bunch.
This account gives you a glimpse of what we see in the media today, why the South can't let go of their "lost cause", how many communities are just plain conflicted, and how some communities completely reverted to old anger and racism during the Obama administration and into the Trump administration. So I found it important for my understanding of current events and emotions, not that those events or emotions are justified. Hint - the importance of connection to the land in the Southern mind is not to be dismissed lightly.
An end note in my edition pointed out that upon its original publication, Horwitz got blow back from both the left AND the right, with each side claiming he was siding with the other. Which is a very interesting result, and really illustrates how far our country is from resolving the conflict, 150+ years later.
I would highly recommend this book for books clubs, but only those whose members sign a pledge to discuss it calmly. If that's possible!
I learned a LOT from this book.
This account gives you a glimpse of what we see in the media today, why the South can't let go of their "lost cause", how many communities are just plain conflicted, and how some communities completely reverted to old anger and racism during the Obama administration and into the Trump administration. So I found it important for my understanding of current events and emotions, not that those events or emotions are justified. Hint - the importance of connection to the land in the Southern mind is not to be dismissed lightly.
An end note in my edition pointed out that upon its original publication, Horwitz got blow back from both the left AND the right, with each side claiming he was siding with the other. Which is a very interesting result, and really illustrates how far our country is from resolving the conflict, 150+ years later.
I would highly recommend this book for books clubs, but only those whose members sign a pledge to discuss it calmly. If that's possible!
I learned a LOT from this book.
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Horwitz's tour of the many ways the Civil War remains alive in the South is pure genius. From hard-core Civil War re-enactors who spoon at night to keep warm, to battles over flying the Confederate flag, Horwitz examines this particular patch of American memory with humor and insight. The book has its funny moments, but overall Horwitz shows enormous respect for the people he meets and manages to consider both sides without ever forgetting the very important questions of race, class, and regionalism that persist 143 years after the War Between the States. Overall what emerges is a portrait of an America divided: by race, class, and latitude. I rarely read non-fiction, and I highly, highly recommend this book.
Interesting book that I generally enjoyed as Horwitz explored his own passion for the Civil War, started when he was a child, the (extreme) passion of others and the continuing impact of the Civil War in many communities in our country. Those with an interest in the Civil War (War Between the States, War of Northern Aggression, War of Southern Rebellion...) would enjoy this.
medium-paced
I read this for AP US History. A really good book--I remember reading it as I was walking down the street.
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.
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.