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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
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
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Reinforced my beliefs about the South, I suppose. Horwitz's John Brown book was probably better.
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.
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.
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
fast-paced
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.
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.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Very interesting look at the idea that portions of the South can't let go of the Civil War. Of course this is evident through news reports and other outlets which focus on stress and malcontent. The book goes deeper and has a more striking look at the emotions and reactions to the outcome than a typical review.
I really enjoyed the storytelling and the clean writing style. It had a Bill Bryson feel to it.
I really enjoyed the storytelling and the clean writing style. It had a Bill Bryson feel to it.