You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
This book was so good!!! I loved that it was part travelogue, part history, and part societal issues!! asdfghjkl really great book super funny too!!
Fantastic expose on the civil war and the hypocrisy of "southern heritage"
All the stars for this wonderful book. Thoughtful, honest, humorous, and smart, I cannot think of anyone who would not enjoy this work.
It’s not that the book is not good - I think it actually is pretty good. I’m just tired of the people in it - with their “it was about states’ rights”, we’re not racist we just love our Southern heritage, the North started it, black people loved being slaves, etc etc. The book may well be an accurate portrayal of these people, but I just don’t want to spend any more time in their company.
I was totally fascinated through all 400-ish pages. I've always had an abiding interest in the Civil War, though it never reached any sort of obsessive level. Horwitz takes this narrative to improbable and admirable places, asking and trying to puzzle through answers to really hard questions.
This book was definitely an interesting read. I feel like it did pretty well on both fronts of being entertaining and informative although in parts the informative chunks went on and on enough that I skimmed a little in places.
An impressive book in so many ways, though I was starting to feel a bit burnt out by the end (perhaps entirely my fault for choosing to read the entire book in one day), thus four stars instead of five.
I was flabbergasted by the sheer number of strangers that the author engaged with from so many different parts of society in so many varied locations. I live in Boston, where so many of us frown upon forced small talk with strangers in elevators, which perhaps colors my awe at Horwitz. But still- what an undertaking.
The honest, fairly non-judgmental way he relates his experiences rounded out with a delightfully dry sense of humor truly makes the book what it is.
I was flabbergasted by the sheer number of strangers that the author engaged with from so many different parts of society in so many varied locations. I live in Boston, where so many of us frown upon forced small talk with strangers in elevators, which perhaps colors my awe at Horwitz. But still- what an undertaking.
The honest, fairly non-judgmental way he relates his experiences rounded out with a delightfully dry sense of humor truly makes the book what it is.
Confederates in the Attic was written in the late 90s, but really feels like it could have come out any time since 2015 and the rise of the 'alt-right.' The chapters about the killing in Kentucky, and the schools in Alabama are riveting, even if they are horrifying. I think the book is redeemed by those two chapters into being worth reading.
I say redeemed because much of it is a meandering travelogue through the Southeast US. Anecdotes and random bar conversations can be interesting at times, but it feels likes its spinning its wheels for the middle third-to-half. I'd fully recommend skipping the middle chapter about the 'Civil Wargasm.' This book sets itself up sectionally. Pick the good sections and you'll enjoy it.
I say redeemed because much of it is a meandering travelogue through the Southeast US. Anecdotes and random bar conversations can be interesting at times, but it feels likes its spinning its wheels for the middle third-to-half. I'd fully recommend skipping the middle chapter about the 'Civil Wargasm.' This book sets itself up sectionally. Pick the good sections and you'll enjoy it.
Horwitz embarked on an odyssey through Civil War sites tottery to understand the pull that the war still has on many people, especially people in the South. But what he found was so much more.
Funny, sad, infuriating, full of intrigue and insight, reading this book is one of the best literary choices I have ever made. Anyone who is interested in the Civil War, the major players involved, why it's history is so ingrained on so many southerners today, and why that war, among all others, is still the most famous, infamous, controversial, and personal event in American history, absolutely must read this book.
I can't recommend it highly enough.
I can't recommend it highly enough.