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edzee_lcnm 's review for:
Yet another puzzle piece in my "re-education" of American history. I hesitate to use that word, as it is exactly what a too high of a percentage of this country (and certain media giants) weaponize when presented with whenever there is a critical (there I go again!) look at this country that was built on the literal backs of slavery and went to war against each other to maintain. A war, that I recall my Mom saying on a family car trip from NJ to Disney World back in the 1970s, that the South are "still fighting." (And spoiler alert: still true.)
Most of my recent-ish history awakening has come via books by African American authors and historians, so I have to admit it was a bit odd to start one written by a Southern white military man - but this "fresh" perspective (go figure!) ended up being as eye-opening as any other book of this sort that I have read over the past few years. While I was not nearly as entrenched in Southern heritage and the Confederacy and deification of Robert E. Lee as Seidule was growing up in the South, it is safe to say growing up that I held a "there were good people on both sides" view of the Civil War and most certainly a fondness for both the book and film versions of "Gone With the Wind" (in fact, I bought a Kindle copy of GWTW just a few years back with the intention of re-reading it... but like many a book I buy, I never did).
Again, forgive a politically correct/awkward moment, but it was fascinating to read about this journey -- which the book blurb above quite accurate calls "part history lecture, part meditation on the Civil War and its fallout, and part memoir" -- in continued silliness, I kept wondering (hoping! praying!) that maybe this book coming from a straight white Southern military man would fall on less deaf ears for those with nostalgia for the Confederacy and its symbols. But with the continuing fights over the Confederate flag and monuments and the current "Stolen Election"- a "Lost Cause" myth on social media and 24-hour "news" steroids - I think it is, for lack of a better phrase - a lost cause. So yeah, nice try Seidule - but there is still an iota in me who think this book could be impactful/persuasive if put into the right hands -- to again, these days I am losing hope and faith of how many and who those people would be.
Minor nags: the book is a bit repetitive (tho again, with this type of book it's more forgivable as reinforcement is totally necessary/welcome), it is strung along by notes/citations (the Kindle version ends in the mid-70%s, the rest is bibliography), and written in a very straightforward, matter-of-fact, lecture-y manner. But again, none of this detracting at all from the overall intent/message of the book - which again, explains so much of our country's past and present (and sadly, probably future).
Most of my recent-ish history awakening has come via books by African American authors and historians, so I have to admit it was a bit odd to start one written by a Southern white military man - but this "fresh" perspective (go figure!) ended up being as eye-opening as any other book of this sort that I have read over the past few years. While I was not nearly as entrenched in Southern heritage and the Confederacy and deification of Robert E. Lee as Seidule was growing up in the South, it is safe to say growing up that I held a "there were good people on both sides" view of the Civil War and most certainly a fondness for both the book and film versions of "Gone With the Wind" (in fact, I bought a Kindle copy of GWTW just a few years back with the intention of re-reading it... but like many a book I buy, I never did).
Again, forgive a politically correct/awkward moment, but it was fascinating to read about this journey -- which the book blurb above quite accurate calls "part history lecture, part meditation on the Civil War and its fallout, and part memoir" -- in continued silliness, I kept wondering (hoping! praying!) that maybe this book coming from a straight white Southern military man would fall on less deaf ears for those with nostalgia for the Confederacy and its symbols. But with the continuing fights over the Confederate flag and monuments and the current "Stolen Election"- a "Lost Cause" myth on social media and 24-hour "news" steroids - I think it is, for lack of a better phrase - a lost cause. So yeah, nice try Seidule - but there is still an iota in me who think this book could be impactful/persuasive if put into the right hands -- to again, these days I am losing hope and faith of how many and who those people would be.
Minor nags: the book is a bit repetitive (tho again, with this type of book it's more forgivable as reinforcement is totally necessary/welcome), it is strung along by notes/citations (the Kindle version ends in the mid-70%s, the rest is bibliography), and written in a very straightforward, matter-of-fact, lecture-y manner. But again, none of this detracting at all from the overall intent/message of the book - which again, explains so much of our country's past and present (and sadly, probably future).