Confederates in the Attic (1998) is a work of non-fiction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tony Horwitz. Horwitz explores his deep interest in the American Civil War and investigates the ties in the United States among citizens to a war that ended more than 130 years previously. He reports on attitudes on the Civil War and how it is discussed and taught, as well as attitudes about race. Among the experiences Horwitz has in the book:
Horwitz's first day with reenactors, led by Robert Lee Hodge, a particularly hardcore reenactor (who is featured in a photo on the cover of the book). He is a waiter. Lee-Jackson Day in North Carolina Touring Charleston, South Carolina, including Fort Sumter National Monument Studying a Union soldier on a monument celebrating Confederates in Kingstree, South Carolina The aftermath of the murder of Michael Westerman, a Todd County, Kentucky man murdered by a gunshot fired …
Confederates in the Attic (1998) is a work of non-fiction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tony Horwitz. Horwitz explores his deep interest in the American Civil War and investigates the ties in the United States among citizens to a war that ended more than 130 years previously. He reports on attitudes on the Civil War and how it is discussed and taught, as well as attitudes about race. Among the experiences Horwitz has in the book:
Horwitz's first day with reenactors, led by Robert Lee Hodge, a particularly hardcore reenactor (who is featured in a photo on the cover of the book). He is a waiter. Lee-Jackson Day in North Carolina Touring Charleston, South Carolina, including Fort Sumter National Monument Studying a Union soldier on a monument celebrating Confederates in Kingstree, South Carolina The aftermath of the murder of Michael Westerman, a Todd County, Kentucky man murdered by a gunshot fired from a car containing black teenagers, for having a Confederate flag on the back of his pickup truck A reenactment of the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia A visit with the historian and novelist Shelby Foote, author of The Civil War: A Narrative (1958, 1963, 1974). He had become more widely known after appearing in Ken Burns's Civil War documentary Visiting Shiloh National Military Park during the anniversary of the battle. Exploring the "truth" about Gone with the Wind Visiting Andersonville National Historic Site, where prisoners of war were held Visiting Fitzgerald, Georgia, a town founded by union veterans in Georgia which became notable for reconciliation between Union and Confederate veterans Touring Vicksburg, Mississippi Going on Robert Hodge's "Civil Wargasm", a week-long journey to various battle sites in Virginia and Maryland, remaining in authentic uniform and sleeping on the battlefields An off-and-on chat with Alberta Martin, believed at the time to be the last surviving widow of a Confederate soldier. Confederate heritage in Selma, AlabamaWhen published, Confederates in the Attic became a bestseller in the United States. The New York Times described it as intellectually honest and humorous, saying Horwitz seemed uncomfortable placed between two sides, seeking peace between the factions.Toward the end of the chapter on Alberta Martin, Horwitz claims that Martin's Confederate husband was a deserter. In response, in 1998 the Southern Legal Resource Center sued Horwitz on Martin's behalf, with encouragement from the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It noted that two other William Martins were on the rolls of the same company as Alberta's husband. In addition, the SLRC claimed that Horwitz had ridiculed her in his book.In 2000 the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus added Confederates in the Attic to its freshman reading list.
Explains a lot about the state of our country
These "neo-Confederates" are absolutely MAGA acolytes today, and nothing about their obsessions makes sense without the explanatory variable of racism. Some of the other people he meets are just plain lovely, though, and reading about them makes the whole thing worth it
"Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War" by Tony Horowitz is part travel book, part meditation on the power of historical memory. Centered around trips the author took around the American South to sites associated with the American Civil War, the author examines how the war continues to exert an oversized role on the American psyche, even among people whose ancestors would have never have had any role in the conflict. Horowitz was a journalist willing to become close to his subjects and one of the best parts about this book are his interactions with groups of hardcore Civil War reenactors striving to capture the authentic experience of the war in increasingly elaborate fashion. At first, I thought the book might be a little outdated (written in late 1998) but as I went on, I really felt that he capture something quite unique about American identity and …
"Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War" by Tony Horowitz is part travel book, part meditation on the power of historical memory. Centered around trips the author took around the American South to sites associated with the American Civil War, the author examines how the war continues to exert an oversized role on the American psyche, even among people whose ancestors would have never have had any role in the conflict. Horowitz was a journalist willing to become close to his subjects and one of the best parts about this book are his interactions with groups of hardcore Civil War reenactors striving to capture the authentic experience of the war in increasingly elaborate fashion. At first, I thought the book might be a little outdated (written in late 1998) but as I went on, I really felt that he capture something quite unique about American identity and the idea of remembrance that would make this book interesting for students of American history and society but also for anyone interested in the idea of history generally.
Couldn't put this down. Horowitz has an engrossing narrative style and really makes all of his interactions come alive,especially the hardcore reenactors.
I found the Children of the Confederacy horrifying. But I came away with a better understanding of the place the Lost Cause has in southerners' memories.
