312 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 33 illus., 1 map, notes, index
Civil War America
Controversy and Conflict over the American Civil War
The twelve essays in Wars within a War explore the internal stresses that posed serious challenges to the viability of the opposing sides in the Civil War as well as some of the ways in which wartime disputes and cultural fissures carried over into the postwar years and beyond.
Comprised of contributions from leading scholars, this volume extends the discussion of controversies far past the death of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865. Contributors address, among other topics, Walt Whitman's poetry, the handling of the Union and Confederate dead, the treatment of disabled and destitute northern veterans, Ulysses S. Grant's imposing tomb, and Hollywood's long relationship with the Lost Cause narrative.
Reflecting a variety of approaches and methodologies, these essays provide a starting point for anyone interested in how Americans have argued about the prosecution, meaning, and memory of the war.
Contributors:
William Blair, The Pennsylvania State University
Stephen Cushman, University of Virginia
Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard University
Gary W. Gallagher, University of Virginia
J. Matthew Gallman, University of Florida
Joseph T. Glatthaar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Harold Holzer, Metropolitan Museum of Art
James Marten, Marquette University
Stephanie McCurry, University of Pennsylvania
James M. McPherson, Princeton University
Carol Reardon, The Pennsylvania State University
Joan Waugh, University of California, Los Angeles
"Provide[s] very thought-provoking insights. . . . Strongly and plausibly argued."
--Lection
"Provide[s] a different view of the war; one that military history ignores but can expand our horizons."
-- James Durney, independent Book Reviewer
"Like a brisk wind blowing away the dust from the archives and preconceived notions. . . . Remarkable."
--The Advocate
"Provide[s] a starting point for anyone interested in how Americans have argued about the prosecution, meaning, and memory of war. This is an excellent book that will leave the reader with something to ponder."
--The Lone Star
"The essays. . . are skillfully, often elegantly, composed. . . . Taken together, the pieces succeed in meeting the intent of the volume's editors to suggest 'some of the many forms of conflict that arose among civilians, soldiers, politicians, and military leaders during the war.'"
--America's Civil War
"An invaluable resource for both research and teaching, this dazzling book of essays illustrates, in ways sure to provoke debate and inspire new work, how far modern scholarship has come in integrating the Civil War battlefront and homefront. And it dramatizes that in history and in memory, 'North' and 'South' were not just implacable foes, but unstable and contested political constructs."
--Elizabeth R. Varon, Temple University
© 2009 The University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
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