Confederates in the Attic

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Summary: I am so glad I don't live down south!
Review: This book was wonderful, and sucked me in emotionally. Although Horwitz tended to gravitate to seeking out the fringe of eccentrics in the south, he certainly showed that there is an overwhelming sense of not letting this damn war feel finished there. GET OVER IT! YOU LOST! It's nice to have a hobby, but you people that are so wrapped up in this Civil War thing are losers and obviously have gone overboard. Spending all your money on clubs and authentic pieces of history which represent slavery is mind-boggling to me. Sad to say, but I was grateful in reading the last chapters about how ignorant the youth were in the two classrooms, it gave me hope that someday this will no longer be the "national pasttime" of the former Confederate States. And the children being brainwashed was frightening. Can you not compare it to Hilter Youth? And the one southerner commenting on how the English live in "the north" and the Scottish/Gaelic live in "the south" of today? Please, obviously you've never left your isolated village before. The whole deal about the confederate flag is hilarious...talk about taking a convenient, well-publicized symbol and using it as a flagship to represent something completely different. Many argue that it doesn't represent racism, yet question those that have them flying, and you'll see that they probably are. So the flag has continued to live a life over a hundred years riding a reputation that may not have been the original intention. I wanted to throw up at the idol worship of Nathan Bedford Forest. Although some people may feel bigger by excluding others that are different from them, luckily not everyone is such an idiot. I also enjoyed his explanations about the disparate views of history (north vs. south, etc.), it makes this obsession even more sad because of how inaccurate the passed-down-from-generation-to-generation "fables" really are. And they are nothing more than that. Everyone in our book club loved this book, and it is our favorite to date! Keep up the great work, Tony! The only unfortunate consequence of this book is that people who read it that have never been to the US might jump to the conclusion that we are all this nuts, and decidedly we are not! Or at least the people that don't live down south...

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Summary: Great Take from Across the Big Divide
Review: Being a Northerner whose ancestors fought for the Union, I've always struggled to understand the tenacity the South holds onto the Civil War. Living for a year in Charleston, S.C. didn't provide any illumination, but did leave me with a bitter taste towards Confederate culture.

Tony Horwitz's glimpse into the South provides a great read. Anyone looking for easy and unambigious answers should look elsewhere. But the author like myself seems to struggle to come to grips with the Southern peculiarities and is always clear and honest with his approach to his subjects and also the reader. His emotions are clearly communicated, at times hopeful, at times frusturated, at times frightend.

I recommend this to anyone with an interest in either modern American culture or the Civil War.

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Summary: Author's Ambiguous Stand
Review: I had mixed feelings about this book. I dont doubt that the civil war re-enactors and Confederacy worshippers exist and are thriving in the US southern states, and Horwitz has reported on them, and their activities factually.

I personally find this yearning for a bigotted, restricted, elitist and cruel society pretty repellant, and the refusal of most of those Horwitz interviewed to accept that African-Americans and other minority groups had any social rights hypocritical, at the very least.

Horwitz seems to have this sneaking admiration for all these people merely because they are so dedicated to their cause - as though that is enough to gain respect - irrespective of what the cause espouses. He constantly mentions how neatly these people dress and how well-ordered and organised they are - as if admiring the orderliness of their prejudice.

I dont even know if Horwitz visited Atlanta - his perceptions are so far off. He talks about the number of multi-racial couples to be seen and easy friendships between blacks and whites there - I dont know what parts he was in - I saw no such thing in my visit there for almost a month.

There is even a part about southern Jews who were accepted as part of the Confederacy - as if this made the Confederacy tolerant - ignoring the fact that orthodox jews have always tended to be conservative and racist (note Israels strong support for apartheid and white racist regimes in Africa).

I found this book generally distasteful as an attempt to put a veneer of humour and admiration on bigotry and race-hatred. Horwitz' interviews with blacks seem to be as an after-thought, and asides to his main theme of respecting people for their dedication to a cause, not the harm it does to wider society.

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Summary: Those hardcores really do smell
Review: This book was fabulous and really opens a "world" to its readers.
My brother and I read this book together. When I went to his re-enactment on July 4th, I met one of the hardcores. I could tell he was a hardcore from 20 yards--the stench was overpowering. My hard core friend even removes his bridge work and his one, lone snaggle tooth was a nice touch.
I thought the cover photo was the author--but this gentleman says that it is Hodges--the founder of the Civil Wargasm! He also said that Hodges has yet to wash the shirt.
I must confess, I kind of felt like gagging when I stood to close.
A wonderful read!

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Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Simply one of the best books I've ever read. Humorous,factual and a darn good read.

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Summary: "The Guy on the Cover"
Review: In response to the June 6, 2003 inquiry by Phillip Gilkey regarding the identity of the person on the cover of Tony Horowitz's fabulous book....it is none other than Robert Lee Hodge, decidedly "non-Farb" re-enactor extrordinaire with whom the author became acquainted in the writing of the book (or perhaps even a catalyst for the journey which became the book?) Photo credit and I.D. of Hodge is printed on the back of the book if memory serves.
Now for the review: read it. You will be vastly entertained. I was most amused with the "Civil Wargasm"...something I have done myself in moderated form as an interested tourist and Civil War buff, not with the fanatical purity of the true believer. But my journeys wouldn't have made a very good book. Horowitz's have.

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Summary: Who is that guy?
Review: Does anybody have any information on who that guy is on the cover of Confederates in the Attic?

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Summary: What a Civil Wargasm !
Review: This is a wonderful read, especially if you are Southern, or if you have ever wondered just what this fixation Southerners have on the Civil War is all about. Horowitz combines some Civil War 101 with a travelogue of the South and Civil War battlefields.
In the process he introduces the reader to a whole bunch of memorable characters, and you learn what a Civil Wargasm is.

James McPherson author of the Battle Cry of Freedom ( my choice as the best book on the Civil War ) says, " If you want to know why the war isn't over yet in the South, read Confederates in the Attic to find out" I agree, and would add that Horowitz's style that combines humor with indepth writing makes this one of those books you just don't want to see end.

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Summary: A Mystery Solved
Review: As an African-American born and raised in the north I have always been mystified both by the south and by this love of identifying with the losing side of a war.

Mr. Horwitz's book answered many of my questions but left me wanting more. I would have liked more interviews with black southerners and tougher questioning of Shelby Foote's comments about the Klan and reconstruction.

I have concluded that hardcore reenactors and others who worship the battle flag are suffering from an acute case of inferiority. Why don't white southerners take pride in the great writers from that region or music and folk art admired around the world? The first presidents were all Virginians, and half of the 13 original states were southern. Why can't southerners take pride in these things instead of living up to the stereotypes of racism and ignorance imposed on them by others?

Confederates in the Attic is a great beginning for a national discussion that must take place about our history and about the many world views that Americans hold.

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Summary: Experiencing a wargasm . . .
Review: The event of national self-abuse that sundered the American republic in the 1860s was once relegated to the realm of history. Horwitz declares that the Civil War/War Between the States has been restored to the status of current events. With the majority of battles occurring in the South, this is his venue as he travels from battle site to battle site, recalling, interviewing, reflecting. Horwitz, an outstanding journalist, has given us a stimulating picture of war as it was and the South as it is.

"The South is a place. North, East and West are only directions." Thus declaims a letter to a Richmond newspaper, summarising nicely Horwitz' findings during two years of touring the former Confederacy. As a descendent of Russian Jewish immigrants to America, Horwitz, as he confesses, seems an unlikely Civil War "buff." Yet as a child he possessed the ten-volume photographic record of the conflict, read widely in the many works available and awoke one morning to the sounds of battle. The battle was a modern expression of a group of "reenactors," men playing soldiers. At one point, the constraints of time led to a rapid, exhausting tour of several battle sites in but a few days - a "Civil Wargasm." Following their lead, Horwitz began a tour of former Confederate states which resulted in this excellent volume. In it he demonstrates how the War Between the States has become a foundation for the resurgence of the Southron identity.

Horwitz's earlier career as a war-time journalist in Iran, Bosnia and other conflict areas provide him with a fine sense of what soldiering entails. His tours with reenactors and encounters on 1860s battlefields reveal a welcome sensitivity in his accounts. He joins the reenactors without submerging himself in their artificial existence. Yet he can sympathise with their feelings in recapturing the sense of history and dedication that many of the combatants felt. Few were conscripts, and however, ephemeral, both sides felt they were defending a Cause.

But this is far more than a recapitulation of military history. The real value of this book lies in its portrayal of the modern, or "New" South. Horwitz examines why there is a renewed interest in Civil War memorabilia and how it is manifested in society, education and politics. In the Union, the Cause was maintaining the national identity. In the South, "a place," it was the protection of local customs - "states' rights." Once thought to be a dead issue, Horwitz makes clear the notion has returned with new strength. "Big government," "affirmative action," and "Black power" are the same or similar topics fought over at Shiloh, Sharpsburg, or Shelbyville. "The South" still reflects a separation of the races, which Horwitz reports as happening by mutual consent in some Southern schools. Tradition dies hard, and nowhere is the demise more lingering than in the former Confederacy. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]