Rating: 
Summary: This book is amazing.
Review: I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who is even minimally interested in the Civil War. I cannot believe that people still engage in birthday parties for Lee and Davis as if they were still alive. Horwitz did a great job in showing how far people will go when they become obsessed over the Civil War. But I definitely agree that it's time to GET OVER IT.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful!!
Review: Most of the reviews I've read here give Horwitz' book four or five stars. I am rating it a resounding FIVE, and I'm recommending it to anyone who is curious about the past, worried about the present as it reflects the state of racial relations in the country - and who are maybe hopeful for the future. I notice that most of the less-than-wonderful reviews come from the South - or from people who were raised in the South and have since moved elsewhere. Well, what do you expect? I don't sense that Horwitz has exaggerated; in fact it seems to me he's taken great pains and has made a huge effort to be (and sound) even-handed and fair. Face it: the Civil War has been over for 130+ years and my first instinct is to echo the time-worn sentiment of many: "Get over it!" But you do still keep a sense of regional pride and we here in the upper Midwest face a similiar phenomenon. The rest of the world sees us as farm-raised, naive, insular yokels and it's difficult sometimes to dispel the myth. Tell someone you're from Minnesota - or North Dakota - and you get a derisive snort in reply. So I understand the feeling of loyalty those who love the South and live there still carry. But. The War's over. I think Horwitz has done a wonderful thing in researching and writing this book. I was especially fascinated with the chapter on Shelby Foote. It's a must-read for anyone who's curious about the Civil War.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read!!!!
Review: This book was funny, extremely well-written, full of fascinating people, thought-provoking and engaging--but, when I closed the last page of this outstanding book, my overall impression was one of sadness. From the neo-Confederates Horwitz spoke with throughout the book who identify only with white southerners to the black activists in Alabama who don't like whites (especially Jewish people) to the feeling of many southerners that northerners look down on them, are evil, etc., you realize that, in their everyday lives, people are still fighting wars against those who are different from them--and, given the lessons we apparently haven't learned from history, that these wars of difference probably always will be fought. What particularly impressed me about Horwitz's writing was that, every time he seemed about to go too bleeding heart liberal about things, he would step back, take a look at or interview someone from the other side and end up with what I felt was a fair and balanced view of things. (All the "neo" this and "neo" that groups will, of course, disagree!)
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK ON THE UNFINISHED WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
Review: TONY HORWITZ TAKES YOU ON A TOUR OF THE SOUTH AND SHOWS HOW PEOPLE TODAY FEEL ABOUT THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. EVEN THOUGH IT HAPPENED OVER 135 YEARS AGO IT WAS AN ISSUE THAT NEVER GOT CONCLUDED. SO MANY OPEN SOURS STILL FESTER RESENTMENT TOWARDS BOTH THE NORTH AND SOUTH. ONE CAN SEE WHY OUR COUNTRY IS IN THE SHAPE IT IS IN NOW. PATTON SAID "AMERICA HAS NEVER LOST A WAR" THIS BOOK HELPS SHOW JUST HOW WRONG HE WAS. IT GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT...........
Rating:
Summary: funny and insightfull, a must
Review: i love it. i love it. i love it!!! 'Confederates in the Attic' is a very funny book as well as a very insightfull one into the way that people in the south are still effected by the war. I thought it was amazing that people still fly the confederate flag, anywere, let alone over state capitals! i'm reading it in conjuntion with 'gone with the wind' and it is amazing how similar some of the values are onehundred and thirty years later! =)
Rating:
Summary: A bold, funny, contentious account of historical memory.....
Review: As a thrilling supplement to more scholarly studies of the Civil War, I would recommend this joyous romp of a book. Combining data, interviews, and first-hand accounts, this book presents a side of history rarely seen: those who believe that the only road to authenticity lies in "hardcore" re-creations. While the people are sources of charm and humor, they are never mocked. If anything, the author presents these folks as the last bastion of "true" historical study left in America. At the very least, he believes, these people are passionate, involved, and are willing to keep memory alive in an age of apathy and ignorance. While there are several points that will bring about feelings of anger and sadness (especially when the author journeys to the schools of Alabama), the author is always fair and attempts to discover why it is that the Civil War provokes such strong feelings even today. While the war was a complex mix of politics, race, power, leadership, law, and sectional rivalry, it has been, especially in our age of political correctness, reduced to oversimplified "movements" and self-serving slogans. Thanks to this book, we can hopefully reclaim the war and return it to more academic, intellectual circles where it belongs.
Rating: 
Summary: The Civil War Continued..
Review: I am an English reader, with a long held fascination for Civil War history. A frequent visitor to places of US historical interest, I found this book very engrossing (it was recommended me by a Battlefield Park Ranger, whom I now realise must have faced Mr Horwitz's experiences many times over). Readers who may have enjoyed BBC journalist Gavin Esler's 'The United States of Anger' should be equally fascinated with Mr Horwitz's accounts of passionate disaffection within a country with such a stirring past. Highlights for this reader were the chapters covering a thought provoking revisonist's view of the battle of Shiloh, and the excellent piece of straight-cut journalism - with sharp-tailed sting - telling the tale of the last Conferderate widow. I'm quite glad I may be called a 'neutral'in my travels!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!!!
Review: I found this book crutial for my own understanding of how the Civil War has and stilll affects our country. Tony takes you there in a way that you feel you are part of his journey.
Rating: 
Summary: Much too interested in race relations
Review: The author seemed to want to come back time and time again to the issue of race...which played little or no part in the real war). This book would have been better if he had stuck to the issue of Southern Independence and the fact that we of the South would be much better off today hasd the South achieved her much deserved Independence.
Rating:
Summary: The most entertaining read I have had in 1999!!!
Review: I had the pleasure of listening to this novel on Audio tape narrated by the brilliant Michael Beck. Each character came to life through his diverse range of voices, I found myself totally enthralled. In my opinion, Tony Horwitz has written a masterpiece. I can scarcely remember a time when I rewound a tape just to re-hear the line I just heard. I laughed aloud so many times, It is impossible to count. Just returning myself, from a "Civil Wargasm" of sorts in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. I not only re-lived those precius memories, but learned more about the places I had visited. Each time Robert Lee Hodge was present, my ears perked up as even though he is a real person, I cannot remember a character in a book that has stuck with me long after its conclusion than Mr. Hodge. The "Gasm" is brilliant, along with the discoveries of Confederate present life in Tennessee and the tensions still prevelant in Mississippi. I will say this with the utmost confidence, If someone asked me to recommend the best book I have read in some time to them, I would not hesitate a moment to say "Confederates in the Attic". Bravo Mr Horwitz, I sincerely hope that perhaps some day to will follow this up with something in the likes of "Federals in the Basement" :-)
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