Rating: 
Summary: The Civil War lives on!
Review: Confederates in the Attic is a book I just re-read, and it gave me a huge interest in the Civil War as a whole. Horowitz explores how the war and its issues continue to resonate with many people. By far the most interesting part of the book is the "Civil Wargasm", with the appropriately named Confederate "hardcore" re-enactor Robert Lee Hodge. The fascinating tales of the war are juxtaposed with the housing developments and fast food strips which have overrun many historical areas. Horowitz examines the attitudes of people who are still touched by the war, whether it be the debate over the Confederate flag or the current racial divisions in modern America. I pegged Horowitz as a typical northeastern liberal writer at the start, but he surprised me with his evenhanded portayals. In the hands of someone else this book could have been dogmatic and politically correct, but Horowitz lets the various characters in the book speak for themselves. Humorous at times, serious as well, Horowitz does a great job captivating the reader. It awakened my interest in the Civil War itself, and the volumes of Shelby Foote especially.
Rating:
Summary: Hillarious Funny
Review: This book is amazingly funny, yet poignant. It is a genius acount of the modern south, and the unforgettable haunting shadows of the past.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I've been a Civil War buff for many years, and this book eloquently and fascinatingly bridges the gap between then and now. There are some disturbing portraits of people who seem trapped by the war's issues and conflicts even 140 years later, as well as people who simply enjoy this time in our history. This trip through time and the American South makes you feel as though you are there with the author, and even perhaps a bit of what the re-enactors call the "period rush". A great read!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Farbs!
Review: "Farbs" is a Civil War re-enactor who wimps out by wearing modern clothes or details such as modern zippers, machine-sewed pants etc... The intriguing book is full of many similar funny details, peculiar to the American South. I picked up because I am a native Midwesterner and was studying in North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I wanted to understand the whole "Southern" thing. This book was exactly the ticket...explaining the fascination with the Civil War and "Southernness." Howortz gave realistic views of prejudice and comprehensive first-hand accounts from Southern "characters" who add flavor to the tales. After breezing through Horwitz's book, I convinced my UNC classmates in "The American South" class to read it for discussion. My fellow students (who were also non-Southerners) really enjoyed it. I've since become a dedicated fan of Horwitz, enjoying his other journalistic style books. If you want to understand that bizarre geographic entity called the "South" which actually covers most of the Southeast, than try this tome. You don't have to be a history buff to love it.
Rating:
Summary: Just loved it
Review: History lives and Tony Horwitz shows it does in this witty, funny, and touching book. I wish I had written it. I used to live in the Shenandoah Valley and had many of the same questions he had about the people who kept history alive. Horwitz listens to all sides and presents a compelling case for why history matters. It shapes everything about today...even when students (and their parents) shrug it off. I couldn't put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Lady Horwitz Travelogue
Review: Hullo, my name is Traveller. I was Marse Robert's most reliable mount throughout that Uncivil War (Richmond of course would fight me on that statement, but Lucy Long would certainly agree). And I just hate to be PC'd (PC standing for politically correct, dear reader) by one Tony Horwitz who set out to write a quickie to sell. Yes, it's obvious, just look at the National Geographic travellogue style it's written in. Well, I need to state here, clearly and for all of you more enlightened souls to see: I, Traveller, am a gelding (and I should know, shouldn't I?), not a mare, as Horwitz states. On page 283. Look it up if you don't believe me. I'm not really that riled about this misrepresentation. But after reading the book, I realize that it is symptomatic of others ... and a horribly superficial, arrogant, and essentially ignorant attitude on LADY Horwitz' part. I'm sure she believes also that Massa Liccoren was genuinely interested in the welfare of the slaves, so genuinely so that he freed those he couldn't touch, and not those he (personally, by family relation, and as head politico of the North) held in bondage himself ... check the Todd plantation, or the 3000 'servants' in DC. 'employed' by 2 percent of the population. In closing, I'll let you in on a definition issue which clarifies this little inconsistency in the holier-than-thou attitude of the North: Yankees did not have slaves, they merely had servants with a life term. Thank you then, for allowing me to point this out to you. Oh, and yes, Marse Robert emancipated his darkies in the 50s, before the war. Some Southerners are at least as human as everyone else. Whiiiiiiie.
Rating: 
Summary: Yet More Rebel-Bashing
Review: Horowitz gets two stars instead of one for one reason, the man knows how to write! Even I had difficulty putting the book down. Insofar as its content is concerned, "one-sided" would be a good description for a start. At the end of the book, Horowitz "thanks" a number of people who helped him with "research". Among them is the infamous "Crawfish", an internet entity who is all-consumed with eradicating all things Confederate. You won't pick up on that fact unless you've been following the "Confederate Flag Flap" as long as I have. Horowitz relates a variety of experiences in his travels through the South. In one instance, he's almost mauled when he strolls into an outlaw-biker bar, sits down and proceeds to write his memoirs!? Somehow we are left with the impression that this only happens in the South. If Mr Horowitz would come up to my neck of the woods, (New York), I could happily show him several such places here where the same thing would occur. Most disturbing is his portrayal of the killer of Michael Westerman, a 19 year old who was killed because he was flying a Confederate flag from his truck. The nauseatingly sympathetic portrayal of Westerman's killer will be one for the history books, assuming that the history books all don't get re-written. Save your money. Wait until Horowitz writes another book. Just make sure he categorizes it under "Fiction".
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Summary: Humorous/Thoughtful Look at Modern Views of the Civil War
Review: "Confederates in the Attic" is the first hand account of the author's attempt to understand our modern (c. 1998) views of the Civil War, and how they stack up against the actual war. This is done in a well-written, very humorous, fast-paced travel log style that is highly entertaining and difficult to put down. It is written in the same spirit as Bill Bryson's books, a light hearted, honest description of the events the author, Mr. Horwitz manages to get himself into, portrayed alongside honest factual histories of the Civil War. This couldn't be a better book. The author wanders through the South, mainly because that is where all of the battles were fought, interviewing authors of well-known Civil War books, re-enactors, the last widow of a Civil War veteran, pro-Rebel Flag supporters, and participants in the civil rights movement. This is all interwoven to a tell a gripping story of our interpretation of the past, modern American race relations, motivations behind the war, and how many of the issues behind the war remain bitter to this day. I particularly enjoyed the sections with Mr. Robert Lee Hodge, a re-enactor who provides the author with some of his best material, both humorous, dramatic and touching. Also, as I currently live in Atlanta, the chapter on the "Capital of the South" was very interesting, providing a surprisingly accurate and pointed description of the way which the war is viewed. Amid all of these descriptions the author inserts just the right amount of actual Civil War history, allowing even those who aren't up to speed on the activities of the war to reflect on what it has become. This book is very well written and I could not recommend it more.
Rating:
Summary: A GEM
Review: This book was a wonderful find. It is both very funny and very insightful. I have given it to many others and all have enjoyed it. One I'll keep on the shelf and re-read.
Rating:
Summary: This is a good book. Two thumbs up!!
Review: i am proud of Mr. Horwitz for getting BOTH sides of the story and getting it right. finnally we have a voice in literature that portrays the south in a good light.
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