Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz

Jul 17, 2007 Brendan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In Confederates in the Attic, journalist Tony Horwitz explores the ways in which the Civil War is still present in Southern culture.

I was a Civil War re-enactor in junior high and high school, and I particularly appreciated his chapter on that very strange hobby: "A Farb of the Heart." (Farb, by the way, is re-enactor slang for all things inauthentic.)

I've not always been impressed with Horwitz's books (I thought Baghdad without a Map to be particularly slight), but here he really nails it. For...more In Confederates in the Attic, journalist Tony Horwitz explores the ways in which the Civil War is still present in Southern culture.

I was a Civil War re-enactor in junior high and high school, and I particularly appreciated his chapter on that very strange hobby: "A Farb of the Heart." (Farb, by the way, is re-enactor slang for all things inauthentic.)

I've not always been impressed with Horwitz's books (I thought Baghdad without a Map to be particularly slight), but here he really nails it. For instance, he perfectly captures the cliquishness of re-enacting: the overweight, middle-aged farbs wearing second-hand work boots and puffing innocently on Marlboros; the hardcores who feel "that crowds of spectators interfered with an authentic experience of combat"; the civilian sutlers, nurses, and Lee & Lincoln impersonators; the few embittered ex-Real Deal guys who like to massage their tattoos and grouse, "Just like the real military -- a continual fucking screw-up" -- everyone distrusting everyone else.

There's the phenomenon of way too many people (including yours truly) wanting to be Confederate: "When I play Northern, I feel like the Russians in Afghanistan," a guy from freaking New Jersey explained. (This was pre-9/11, of course. Would he now say that he feels like the Marines in Fallujah?) There's the usual griping over who has to die in battle. There's the mind-blowing romanticization of everything, right down to Hello: "It's an era lost that we're trying to recapture," a woman washing clothes in a tub told Horwitz. "Men were men and women were women. It was less complicated." When a guy ambles past and says, "Evening, ma'am," the woman practically faints at how Gone with the Wind it all is. "See what I mean? No one's that polite in real life any more."

This is where re-enacting starts to make me cranky. What's the matter with these people?! People are still polite! And today, we get the added bonus of NOT mowing each other down by the hundreds of thousands on backyard battlefields!

One objection to what I found in Horwitz: An accountant from Connecticut who was nevertheless "fighting" for the South argues, "We're not here to debate slavery or states' rights. We're here to preserve the experience of the common soldier, North and South." That's mostly true, but the guys in my unit debated states' rights endlessly. They honestly believed the North was wrong. They honestly believed the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery. This was hard to take, even in junior high school. "I hate to call it a hobby," continues the accountant, "because it's so much more than that. We're here to find the real answers, to read between the lines in the history books, and then share our experience with the spectators."

Real answers? There's a mystical element to re-enacting that I just don't get. These guys -- the hardcore ones, anyway -- know their history chapter and verse. But it's micro-history. They know their shirt buttons. The real answers -- whatever those are -- can't be found in shirt buttons I don't think.(less)

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Sep 08, 2012 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

An excellent exposé on the continuing history of the Civil War and the attitudes that persist. More importantly it (rightly) links the use of the rebel flag with the modern civil rights movement and discounts its Civil War usage. Horwitz also exposes the racist attitudes hidden within societies such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans who try to market themselves as legitimate and historical groups. For those who have not experienced first-hand the radical attitudes of these groups (such as the...more

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Edward "However, as someone who has seen the SVC at work, as well as other so-called heritage societies in action in my hometown, I am in the unfortunate pos...more "However, as someone who has seen the SVC at work, as well as other so-called heritage societies in action in my hometown, I am in the unfortunate position to be able to verify that such attitudes still prevail."

Yes, indeed! I know what you are talking about. Many people in the ACW reenacting community disparaged Horowitz for either exaggerating or for highlighting that they call "a few extremists". But the attitudes he describes are quie pervasive in "the Hobby" as well as the "heritage" groups. Here in NC a few years ago, the heads of rival factions in the SCV actually got into a fistfight at a reenactment. I dropped out of Civil War reenacting because of the prevalence of ACW reenactors to push their political ideology, and their generally nasty treatment of people who do not think as they do. Many of them seem to be unhappy with society and the government, and treat their participation as Confederate reenactors as some sort of "rebellion" by proxy that compensates in some way. As I told one organization, "Hey, I'm here to reenact what actually happened, not argue about who was right or wrong or revise history." If they wish to start a political party, fine, but to me politicizing has no place is historical reenacting. I agree that Horowitz sort of trailed off into the ether after presenting the evidence for a position.
You are quite right about the cost of fixating on a particular moment in time. On Civil War forums I have seen people spout vindictive diatribes about how much they "hate" Lincoln, Sherman, Grant, etc. As well as the old "next time we;re gonna do it right" mantra. But the vast majority of Confederate veterans moved on with their lives and became loyal citizens of the US. In my own ancestor's letters and those of many others, I see no hatred at all, simply a desire to finish and return to their families. Years later the veterans of both sides shook each others hands and called each other "brother" at many a reunion. It is amazing how they could get past the war, but so many people today, who are a century and a half removed from that conflict, are unable to do. so.
I'll close before I become too boring, but I just want to say that your review is a fine and cognizant one.(less)
23 de May 10:10

Aug 31, 2012 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, nonfiction

This is sort of a travelogue in which the author visits lots of Civil War sites, participates in reenactments, talks to groups that memorialize the confederate cause, pokes through museums, and so on. Having read this at the same time as The Known World, there were points in the book where the juxtaposition of an intimate story of the horrors of slavery and a nonfiction book about a few people who downplay slavery's importance or even romanticize it was too awful to contemplate. Sometimes, when...more

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Jan 17, 2008 Pattie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Yankees who want to understand the South

Shelves: travel, favorites

OK, so I'm on a Civil War road trip with my Significant Other, following the official Virginia state "Lee's Retreat" tour and reading to him from "Confederates in the Attic" to pass the time. The section we were reading dealt with the bigger-than-life owner of an old general store that he had turned into a museum (of sorts).

I said "this is really over-the-top -- Horowitz maybe exaggerated this guy to make a better story." S.O. said: "we should try to find the place" and just then, we pass an ol...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Spoonbridge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

This was a very interesting companion on my recent trip to North and South Carolina, my first time exploring a part of the American South. I always enjoy reading a travel account while traveling myself, as it provides a backdrop to my own experiences. As I followed Tony Horwitz's journeys around the South in 1998 searching for the remains of the Civil War in contemporary Southern culture, I compared and contrasted his experiences with my own as I visited historical museums and sites such as Fort...more

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Jan 07, 2008 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-social-commentary

A good read, if one believes (or wants to believe) that Southern boogeymen, dressed in woolen uniforms, their archaic muskets gleaming in the sun, are waiting to launch a second "War for Southern Independence" against the sacred Union.

O.K., maybe that's a bit extreme. But I think Horowitz treats the South the way travel writer Horace Kephart once treated Southern Appalachian mountaineers -- as a peculiar race of people, consumed by some sort of divine madness that sets them at odds with "mainst...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

"The past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and aspirations. Before you lies the future - a future full of golden promise; a future expanding national glory, before which all the world shall stand amazed. Let me beseech you to lay aside all rancor, all bitter sectional feeling, and to take your places in the ranks of those who will bring about a consummation devoutly to be wished - a reunited country." - Jefferson Davis

I see them every so often – the Confederate flag decorating the back o...more "The past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and aspirations. Before you lies the future - a future full of golden promise; a future expanding national glory, before which all the world shall stand amazed. Let me beseech you to lay aside all rancor, all bitter sectional feeling, and to take your places in the ranks of those who will bring about a consummation devoutly to be wished - a reunited country." - Jefferson Davis

I see them every so often – the Confederate flag decorating the back of a beat up old pickup truck. It always struck me as an odd if not completely insulting symbol to display yet recently I had heard more rumblings of it being a patriotic symbol, something that is truly “American”. I posed this thought to my dad, who instantly recommended this book.

“Read this,” he said, “and you’ll know why I think that idea is bull.”

I am so glad he did. The book addresses the misplaced reverence for the Confederate flag early but beyond that, Tony Horwitz had me hooked. He weaves together all aspects of the eponymous “South”: the historical facts from the biggest moments of the war – Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Antietam, Andersonville, Appomattox – and the current riffs befallen modern southern towns – the racial murders in small-town Kentucky, the progress of Georgia.

The book hit a stale point close to the end. Hearing so many white people whining about the war, claiming it was about states’ rights and that slavery wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of the war was tedious. After awhile, there are only so many small town hicks you can meet without feeling like yelling “GET OVER IT! YOU LOST YOU RASCIST ASS!” However, Horwitz wisely closed the book with his visits to southern schools and seeing what the kids today know and think of the Civil War while exposing how “normal” some people view the idea of segregation and the idea of “reverse racism”.

A fascinating read for anyone no matter your familiarity level with the Civil War.

Makes me want to go on my own Civil Wargasm.
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May 12, 2012 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: civil-war, american, history

Horwitz does an excellent job approaching the subject of the South's memory of the Civil War. As someone whose ancestors weren't in America at the time (I'm in the same boat), Horwitz manages to present an unbiased survey of the conflict's cultural, social, and political implications. I'm glad he didn't attempt to argue an explanation or justification of why some groups in the South continue to cling to the Lost Cause and hijack it for their own agenda. One of my favorite things he points out is...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Autumn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, historical, humour, memoir, non-fiction, travel

I've been meaning to read this book for a long time as I am currently on my own trip across the US and have very little experience in the Southern states. Horwitz is a great writer, guaranteed- otherwise why would I have all of these jumbled up feelings about what he is writing? His characterizations of individuals and indeed of entire towns did not exactly raise my level of thrill-dom to pass through the South, but alas I am a citizen of this country in all of it's glory and not-so-glorious fig...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Peregrinn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: elitist Yankees, cultural studies junkies, civil war buffs

Recommended to Peregrinn by: Mrs. Walker, history teacher

Shelves: non-fiction

My junior year american history teacher assigned this for the class, and for each chapter, we had to write a little diary entry of our reaction to the content. This is why I think everyone in my grade hated this book but me. Gee whiz, why are you making us think about the effect of history on modern day? It's horrible torture, I know.

Now, it's been about four years, but from what I remember? I loved this book. I wrote pages and pages and pages in my little response-journal. (I want to dig it up...more My junior year american history teacher assigned this for the class, and for each chapter, we had to write a little diary entry of our reaction to the content. This is why I think everyone in my grade hated this book but me. Gee whiz, why are you making us think about the effect of history on modern day? It's horrible torture, I know.

Now, it's been about four years, but from what I remember? I loved this book. I wrote pages and pages and pages in my little response-journal. (I want to dig it up but my teacher kept it because she wanted to mail it to the author, or something.) So this review is just going off of what has stuck with me through the years.

On one level, it just felt good to see a book about the South that was realistic. He neither glamorizes this aspect of Southern culture as tragically heroic and noble, or vilifies them all as ignorant hicks. The people he meets are just people. One little anecdote sticks out in my mind to this day, of Horwitz talking to this lady who was a KKK member, who is chatting about her membership and her motivations for it, while showing him pictures of her grandchildren, showing him her knitting. He never "others" anyone. Every person he profiles, from the neonazis to the weirdly obsessive Civil War re-enactors is portrayed as an actual human being. Very refreshing. I've spent most of my life thus far in south Jersey, the Pennsauken area, and the Philadelphia suburbs, and come from very Yankee blood--except for a two year stint in very rural North Carolina was I was nine and ten years old. And I mean rural--my fourth grade teacher was from Ohio, for example, and she had her dog kidnapped several times and "go home, yankee!" spraypainted on the side of her garage.

And I find that I'm always defending where I'm from to someone, you know? Being in the Philly area, people are always dumping on New Jersey, and I'm always busting heads over it. And being in the North, people always talk about the South as a caricature, endless country filled with gun-toting, trailer-dwelling, violent, illiterate racists with no teeth. And even when it's not that explicit, that's the attitude towards anything south of the Mason-Dixon line. I remember having to prove to someone a couple of years ago that the South had actually elected Democratic politicians several times, and he wouldn't believe me until I actually sent him links to webpages that showed the different Democratic senators and governors. It's just ridiculous to me. Not that there aren't such stereotypes walking around down there--I remember some classmates being absolutely flabbergasted that I lived in a house, not a trailer--but it's so convenient and easy to dismiss it all like that. But I digress.

On the other hand, Horwitz is from New England, so his perspective is definitely that of a Yankee, so dyed-in-the-wool Southerners probably won't like this book. And he never actually reaches any kind of conclusion about his experiences that I recall, but it is, I think, a portrait of the Civil War and slavery in modern day Southern culture. It's a snapshot, trying to reveal how the echoes of that war resonate through life there, and why it's such an important and ever-present fixture in the South and not so much in the North. Plus, I'm just a junkie for people's stories, and there's some absolutely fascinating little glimpses into people's lives. Like the KKK grandma mentioned above, but also a guy who peddles Confederate merchandise who's from Ohio and whose philosophy professor father named him Soren Kierkegaard, and the hardcore reenactors practicing bloating so they could look properly dead when they went down in mock battles. Talking to an African-American waitress about the Confederate flag over the Richmond, Virginia captial building. I really could go on.

I took a lot of great things away from me, and from that history course in general--the biggest one being that people, as always, are just people, and how deeply something, the Civil War for example, can shape and direct an entire culture, as well as how it can glue people together and give them solidarity and/or meaning, how history is glamorized and twisted to fit whatever your political whim happens to be. I don't know. Now I'm thinking about this book again and want to whip up some biscuits and sweet tea and reread it.

Read it: Mrs. Walker is a smart lady and this book is incredible for a reason.(less)

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Feb 05, 2008 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a fun, adventurous journey and I would recommend it but is also unnerved me in some respects. The Civil War still grips our interest but for many Horwitz encountered it certainly remains an unfinished war, one that continues and one desired to begin anew. I knew there were “re-enactors” but was ignorant that the hobby?? was practiced with such devotion and intensity and spread so far and wide across the South.
I did enjoy Horwitz’ dissection of the preponderance of several myths and...more This book was a fun, adventurous journey and I would recommend it but is also unnerved me in some respects. The Civil War still grips our interest but for many Horwitz encountered it certainly remains an unfinished war, one that continues and one desired to begin anew. I knew there were “re-enactors” but was ignorant that the hobby?? was practiced with such devotion and intensity and spread so far and wide across the South.
I did enjoy Horwitz’ dissection of the preponderance of several myths and his disclosures of what in fact actually occurred; Sherman's march to the sea a case in point.
But the battle sites where our brethren fought and died are currently being ploughed under in the name of progress, subdivisions and fast food chains. Having visited several sites myself, any new excursion would demand diligent planning so as not to end up at a burger joint!!
More disconcerting, a chapter near the end of the book frames a jeremiad against the forces of a cultural struggle of race that broils just beneath the surface. The war, after so many years yet bears a volatility that precludes intellectual dialogue between black and white students. The rejoinder of high school districts in many southern states is to consciously exorcise the Civil War from study, let alone ever mention it. Consequently, their text books in U.S. History begin in the year 1877 thereby erasing an event central to their own history. A retired Alabama high school teacher declared “No one really talks about true integration now.” Separateness is flourishing between the races wherein "Plessy vs Ferguson" is extended to everything and the hardening of these attitudes was the low point for Horwitz as well as for me.
And finally, from Robert Morgan’s Introduction to his 2007 Biography of Daniel Boone, "Boone" where a lady professor with a PHD in English and tenured at a major university once said to him, “I never realized Daniel Boone was an actual person; I thought he was a creation of folklore.”
With her incredulous comment in mind as a pulse of current higher education, vanishing battle sites and myopic reasoning of expunged history, what does the future portend for students in the South? Sadly, I foresee a time when students and teachers alike will adamantly proclaim “The Civil War never happened, it was just a MOVIE!!!!”

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May 08, 2007 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Civil War History - Current events

Shelves: non-fiction

A fantastic book from a credentialed journalist. When I wanted to learn about racism in America I started to read about the Civil War. I got caught up in the battles and the tactics and the personalities and forgot about the issues of why it started. This book helped remind me. Some Americans still feel it was the "War of Northern Aggression." The Civil War affects our country and race every day. At one point in the book, the author attends a community meeting where children are taught Civil War...more

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Mar 22, 2008 Joey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel-essays

I wasn't sure about this book at first but ended up really enjoying it. The author travels the Southeast experiencing re-enactments of Civil War battles; sounds strange but the characters he comes in contact with are interesting to say the least. Tony's humor is nothing like Bill Bryson, where Bryson is condescending and mean-spirited, Tony allows you to see the humor in the situations and characters while still liking them and the author. Give this one a shot, chances are you'll end up liking i...more

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Jan 19, 2009 Patrick Gibson rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like social commentary road trips

Shelves: history, road_trip, truth_sort-of

Robert Lee Hodge is the Marlon Brando of Confederate reenactors. He can swell his belly, fall to the ground, hand curled, cheeks puffed out, mouth contorted in a mask of pain and play dead. It’s what he does. And, he says, it’s a great ice-breaker. Interesting as this may be, I am not sure I would follow the author’s lead and spend nights ‘spooning’ with this guy.

Some people spend a year reading the Encyclopedia Britannica, or living Biblically. Tony Horwitz, a New England Jew spent a year trave...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Barksdale Penick rated it 4 of 5 stars

It took me a while to get going on this book, and for some reason I ended up reading it very slowly, but paying closer attention than I often do when I read super fast. There are several lines of discussion in the book, with the comedic aspect fronted by the re-enactors who show up at Civil War battlefields in varying degrees of authentic clothing and gear. This is tied into the South Shall Rise Again theme espoused in many causes (for example, the group that believes that the commander of the A...more

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Mar 18, 2013 David Bird rated it 4 of 5 stars

I often complain about the style in non-fiction that uses the first-person narration in a way that adds nothing to the subject. This book is a reminder that, properly deployed, the first person can be a powerful and effective tool.

Horwitz went with from a childhood fascination with the Civil War to being an adult war correspondent, and then returned to the war following an encounter with re-enactors. As a child, he was reflexively on the side of the underdog south. His first re-enactor encounte...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Keith Akers rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an old book and has gotten a lot of good reviews already, so I won't spend a lot of time on it. It's not about the Civil War, but about American attitudes towards the Civil War. Horwitz has done a great job. This is not just a random set of essays, but he really takes each topic and hangs on to it, investigating each one in some depth.

The book was funny, serious, and informative in different parts of the book. There were several times where I laughed out loud, especially at the descript...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Harry Rutherford rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, history, north-america

An examination of modern nostalgia for the Confederacy, and what it all means: how it ties in with issues of race, class, regional identity, and anti-government politics. And of people's apparent need to take sides and then vigorously defend their own side even when it might be better not to. And the wish for tidy historical narratives.

There's something fascinating and depressing about the fact that people seem unable to engage with history in a neutral way: they insist on reading history as a s...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Brandi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tony Horwitz has written a book that is very easy to read. His tone is casual and laidback, while still proving to be very informative. The book is a series of anecdotes related to his travels around the South where he describes his stint as a Confederate soldier during re-enactments as well as his dealings with those who are still deeply entrenched in a “Confederate” or “rebel” way of life. He looks at a court case where a black teenager shot and killed a white man because he was waving a Confe...more Tony Horwitz has written a book that is very easy to read. His tone is casual and laidback, while still proving to be very informative. The book is a series of anecdotes related to his travels around the South where he describes his stint as a Confederate soldier during re-enactments as well as his dealings with those who are still deeply entrenched in a “Confederate” or “rebel” way of life. He looks at a court case where a black teenager shot and killed a white man because he was waving a Confederate flag on his car in his chapter “Dying for Dixie.” Horwitz uses the situation to take a look at what the Confederate flag means to different groups. He looks at Southern pastimes, like the Stone Mountain Laser Show in Georgia, as well as the Andersonville POW Museum and examines them for their own attachment to the Civil War. The best thing about Hortwiz’s book is how easy it is to read and navigate. His writing flows and his tone is humorous at times while still holding respect for the subject matter.

Some of the book’s faults can be attributed to the same area, however. At times, Horwitz can seem overly critical of the South and its attachment to the Civil War. While he is humorous and respectful at times, on other occasions Horwitz can come off as if he is mocking some of the traditions and antics of those he met on his travels. Another fault that could be considered is the fact that the book does not seem to have a solid ‘point’ that it is supposed to be making. Horwitz is basically just telling the reader of his travels and the conclusions he came to while on that journey. There does not seem to be a greater purpose or argument that he is making. While that might not bother some readers (like myself), it could be problematic for others. If looked at from a critical and historical point of view, there are no citations and no endnotes, with no real mention of sources other than Horwitz’s own experiences and those he met. Again, while some might not be bothered by that (like myself, again), it is something that some might consider a fault. Overall, the book is very interesting and provides a great look into the South and how the Civil War continues to live on today through the actions and beliefs of some.(less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

My summer lighter reading. Horwitz enters the world of southern sentiment toward the civil war and, in turn, southern's own ideas about their identity and politics esp in relationship to the north, through the at first silly seeming gate of Confederate reenactors. The book gradually spirals outward as Horowitz interviews those still carrying the torch for the confederacy--United Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and other groups large and small formally and informally i...more My summer lighter reading. Horwitz enters the world of southern sentiment toward the civil war and, in turn, southern's own ideas about their identity and politics esp in relationship to the north, through the at first silly seeming gate of Confederate reenactors. The book gradually spirals outward as Horowitz interviews those still carrying the torch for the confederacy--United Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and other groups large and small formally and informally investing themselves in preserving, amending, distorting, instrumentalizing etc history of the Civil War.

In the first half of the book, Horwitz caters to his audience's sensibilities by poking mild fun at his southern subjects before taking seriously their motivations and values and cautiously extending his sympathies to some aspects of their thinking while also effortlessly debunking fallacies near and dear to those who romanticize the Confederacy. It is particularly interesting to see how neo-Confederate groups adopted the language of the civil rights movement when talking about their rights to free speech and expression, esp when it comes to the Confederate flag. Neo-cons have certainly extended this strategy to the larger political discourse. The book becomes particularly compelling as the final chapters find ways to use civil war remembrance to examine the civil rights movement, racial integration, and then the trend in the 80s and extending to the present day of defacto segregation (which on a larger scale, taking into account class and politics, has been called "The Big Sort"). This is exactly where the book blows it. After sitting in on a black classroom in Montgomery where the students demonstrate an equally funhouse understanding of the War, Horwitz steps back to basically say "Gee, I bet everyone wouldn't have these polarized views of the war if communities hadn't gone back to self-segregating." It is an easy liberal platitude to make but it also doesn't respect what the previous 360 pages of prose have unearthed in terms of the complex relationships between southern ideations of self, other, state, history, race, and community.

Still, I'd like to find ways to teach a chapter out of this--esp those which deal with suburbs being pasted over battlefields in Northern Virginia replacing out type of hell with another.(less)

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Jun 02, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction-history, non-fiction-real-life-adventure

It's been years since I read this...before I joined GoodReads...but since I continue to recommend it to people and often hear others talk about it, I decided to add it to my GoodReads list.

I believe this is a deceptively important book. By that, I mean the things I derived, learned, and took from it continue to bubble up, find relevance, and make me think. It was also an entertaining read and a fascinating glimpse into the world of extreme ("hardcore") Civil War re-enactors.

The title, as I reca...more It's been years since I read this...before I joined GoodReads...but since I continue to recommend it to people and often hear others talk about it, I decided to add it to my GoodReads list.

I believe this is a deceptively important book. By that, I mean the things I derived, learned, and took from it continue to bubble up, find relevance, and make me think. It was also an entertaining read and a fascinating glimpse into the world of extreme ("hardcore") Civil War re-enactors.

The title, as I recall, comes from the author's recollection of some toy Confederate soliders he played with in the attic. The story begins, however, with a noise on his front lawn that turns out to be some Civil War re-enactors in full attire and action. From his first conversation with them, Horwitz, a war correspondent from the fields of Bosnia and the Middle East, is fascinated enough to take a year to travel with a group and visit all the major Civil War battlefields in the country. Along the way he takes us on "an adventure into the soul of the unvanquished South, where the ghosts of the Lost Cause are resurrected through ritual and remembrance."

What Horwitz finds is both humorous and frightening, from the unhealthy extremes hardcore re-enactors will undertake to ensure an authentic experience (e.g., crash diets, no bathing) to his encounters with raging Civil War emotion and prejudice that still exists in pockets of America today. Along the way, readers learn about both historical and present-day cultural attitudes.

Some may say Horwitz focused too much on the negative aspects of the South's motivation to fight and on the most glaring examples of today's extreme racial prejudice. I disagree. I did not think he was trying to write a comprehensive treatise on the state of today's Civil War attitudes or say that the instances he observed were representative of the majority. Rather, he was telling us, in a highly readable way, what he saw and experienced and felt as he went on this unusual journey. If a reader is surprised or repelled by this, it should be a warning that our country is far from immune to divisive, dangerous, and destructive sentiment and activity. (less)

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Dec 05, 2011 Matthew rated it 5 of 5 stars

Tony Horowitz's fascinating Confederates in the Attic had me captivated from start to finish. It's an eye opening account at a part of American history that we still live with today. Touching on everything from Confederate reenacters to a modern day Scarlett that drives the Japanese crazy, Horowtiz tells a humorous tale filled with irony and to a certain degree sadness. I always find it fascinating how history can be interpreted in a way to suit a certain agenda. One particular chapter I was sup...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Sweetwilliam rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a good read and unlike the typical books I normally read (Military history and adventure). This book is about a war correspondent that returns to the USA after living 11 years abroad. During the years he traveled abroad, events such as the Ken Burns PBS series had rekindled an interest in the Civil War. Horwitz own interest lay dormant since high school (he used to draw murals of Rebels in his attic). Why would Horwitz, a self-confessed liberal Jew be a Rebel sympathizer? It seems afte...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Blake Gaudet rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can't quite tell if Horowitz was trying to find redeeming qualities in those who still worship Civil War era Southern Culture, or if he was trying to point out how backwards some things still are down there. Either way, while I think I have a better understanding of why many southerners still cling to the past, fly the rebel battle flag, and defend war criminals like Henry Wirz, I certainly don't have any more sympathy for them. This was a good read for any history buff, and often had me putti...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Alex Templeton rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this book, journalist Tony Horwitz travels around the South and tries to figure out just why they are still so danged obsessed with the Civil War. I forget where I heard about this book, but it seemed intriguing to me in light of all the news reports recently commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and the commentators putting the Tea Party movement in historical perspective. And, indeed, it was! Books like this are great, because they open up your eyes towards whole subgroups o...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Mark Fallon rated it 4 of 5 stars

“History is written by the victors.” – Winston Churchill

On the recommendation of my friend Rick, I just read "Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War", by Tony Horwitz. A Pulitzer Prize winner who covered the conflicts in Bosnia and the Middle East, Horwitz sets out on a multi-year journey to explore how people in the southern states view the Civil War. Along the way, he interacts with the Daughters of the Confederacy, the KKK, Civil Rights leaders, reenactors, and hi...more “History is written by the victors.” – Winston Churchill

On the recommendation of my friend Rick, I just read "Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War", by Tony Horwitz. A Pulitzer Prize winner who covered the conflicts in Bosnia and the Middle East, Horwitz sets out on a multi-year journey to explore how people in the southern states view the Civil War. Along the way, he interacts with the Daughters of the Confederacy, the KKK, Civil Rights leaders, reenactors, and high school history teachers.

For most people in the United States, the Civil War, while a watershed moment in our country’s history, is just that – history. In school, they may have learned about the key figures in the war – Lincoln, Davis, Grant and Lee – but little else. Additional “knowledge” was picked up by watching the Ken Burns series on PBS, or the movies "Glory" and "Gettysburg". However, it’s not something that most people give much thought.

That’s not true for a lot of people who live in the states that made up the Confederacy. For them, the “War of Northern Aggression”, isn’t necessarily over, but continues on today. They hold regular meetings and events celebrating their Confederate heritage, and teach different versions of the reasons for the war and the events during the war. They struggle to preserve the sites of famous battles and to keep the “rebel” battle flag flying over public buildings. These people remain loyal to the Lost Cause.

As Horwitz tries to reconcile facts from fiction, he gains a better understanding of why the Civil War has such a hold on these people. He also begins to understand why the Civil War has held his imagination – from painting murals in his attic as a boy, to taking part in “hardcore” reenactments. And he begins to explore his own attitudes towards race and racism.

While historical studies are supposed to be based in fact, opinion and prejudices often dictate what is presented as “fact”. "Confederates in the Attic" didn’t change my mind about the Civil War, or the major forces that started and ended the war. It did reinforce my belief that the slender ties that bind us together as a nation must bridge the large ideological rifts that divide us.(less)

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Apr 15, 2011 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

From the perspective of my urban Chicago experience this book is something of a culture shock. The memory of the "Lost Cause" rolling around in parts of the South are a long way from the things here, where I doubt most citizens are entirely clear on why Grant Park is named what it is. Though I suppose that is to be expected in any city where most of the citezens decend from people who came to America after the war, making it for them somebody else's heritage.

Horwitz tells the tale of his survey...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Alex Ford rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this novel, Confederates in the Attic, author Tony Horwitz demonstrates that the Civil War is far from over. After a Civil War reenactment takes place outside his Virginia home, Horwitz’s childhood fascination in the war is rekindled, and he takes off on a year-long, ten-state journey to find out how the war still affects the United States. His actions take him all throughout the South, from Mississippi to North Carolina, where he gets a firsthand look at how the Civil War is still alive tod...more In this novel, Confederates in the Attic, author Tony Horwitz demonstrates that the Civil War is far from over. After a Civil War reenactment takes place outside his Virginia home, Horwitz’s childhood fascination in the war is rekindled, and he takes off on a year-long, ten-state journey to find out how the war still affects the United States. His actions take him all throughout the South, from Mississippi to North Carolina, where he gets a firsthand look at how the Civil War is still alive today. Horwitz’s travels show him the polarized views of South – those who choose to remember and honor the war and those who’d rather forget it – and ultimately lead to him feeling connected to history in a way that he never had before.
As Horwitz discovers, many Southerners take pride in their heritage, some even taking part in groups such as The Sons of Confederate Veterans, or United Daughters of the Confederacy, if they have ancestors who were Confederates. Similarly, there is a Children of the Confederacy, where kids are introduced to the Civil War at very young ages. These groups center their lives around the civil war, quizzing each other on war trivia and celebrating the birthdays of generals, such as of Lee and Jackson. Southern pride goes so deep that a school’s mascot in Guthrie, Kentucky is a rebel. As he tours from state to state, he realizes that these people feel a connection to their land, to their ancestors who fought there – despite being known as The Lost Cause, southerners took pride in their forefather’s part in the Civil War.
For those who chose to live in the past, there were also those who wanted to forget it. There was a movement in Guthrie to drop the school’s rebel motif to ease racial tension, although nothing ever came of it. The rebel flag, associated into the mascot, is also a source of conflict – says one Guthrie resident for the change in mascot, “That flag opens up a racial door we’ve been keeping closed for so many years. It’s a way of saying what white people have kept bottled up.” Michael King, a preacher in North Carolina, says that worship of the confederacy offends him. “Your great-grandfather fought and died because he believed that my great-grandfather should stay a slave.” Despite this war having occurred over a century ago, mentions of it still cause disagreements.
By taking this journey through the South and seeing both sides of the story, Horwitz was able to make a connection to the history he found so interesting. Being Jewish, he didn’t have the correlation to a piece of American land like so many Southerners did, and delving into the Civil War gave him that association. He even made it a yearly thing to attend a conference on Civil War medicine with this father, who was the one who first got him interested in the war as a child.
Overall, I feel that Horwitz was successful in creating an informative, interesting book about the Civil War. He managed to hold your attention through his telling of his journey to discover how the war is alive today, and made you question what you had previously known about the Civil War.
(less)

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Nov 24, 2010 Livy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
“Abraham Lincoln, King of the Jews, Pinchebeck britches and cowbelly shoes.” A tune sung by a woman named Haynes, just one of the view characters that are met in this story. King of Jews to signify that he was like Moses because he led slaves to freedom. Tony Horwitz author of Confederates in the Attic, takes readers on a journey where he travels all around the South to find out more information on the civil war based on interviewing proud Southerners and hard-core reanactors of the civil war it...more
“Abraham Lincoln, King of the Jews, Pinchebeck britches and cowbelly shoes.” A tune sung by a woman named Haynes, just one of the view characters that are met in this story. King of Jews to signify that he was like Moses because he led slaves to freedom. Tony Horwitz author of Confederates in the Attic, takes readers on a journey where he travels all around the South to find out more information on the civil war based on interviewing proud Southerners and hard-core reanactors of the civil war itself. He keeps an open mind to what each person has to say regardless of what their view on the civil war is and how it still is a conflict citizens are still facing today. He engages his readers by transitiononing from one place to another.

From North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, all they way to Alabama Horwitz takes us all over to hear stories of the civil war because of his great passion and interest for it. In chapter one he meets hardcore reenactors to the point where they don’t even want to be called actors. “How did you become a reenactor?” He grimaced. The professionals as they liked to call themselves felt more alive when they played the role of Confederates in the civil war it was a way of life to them it was like a rush in reality their jobs were as simple as being a pharmacist or nurse but when they “fought” in the civil war they were more than your average joe. Horwitz himself didn’t mind reenacting because he himself was very interested in the civil war.

A chapter that I read in class was chapter 5 and we had a class discussion based on what we thought was the root cause for the dilemma that went on. Here were my thoughts. Michael Westerman asked for a death wish when he drove to an area that was strongly against the rebel flag and he waved around the rebel flag on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And this started recently, way after the civil war. I believe the root cause for this was ignorance and jealousy for black people having the same rights as them because they no longer felt special, when he waived around that flag he felt a sense of power. "That same weekend, a nineteen-year-old named Michael Westerman drove through Guthrie with a rebel flag flying from his pickup." I liked this chapter because it got me thinking about how ridiculous that despite the war being over, its something that some Southerner's cant just let go.

Another character whom caught my interest was in found in chapter 6. Foote was an author who wrote about the civil war and unlike most famous authors he didn’t have someone answering his phones instead he would always answer his own phone, he felt as if it was unnecessary for someone to answer it for him. He supported the rebel flag but at the same time he knew it was misused because he believed that white supremacists groups misused the flag to support slavery. Foote admired Nathan Forrest, the Klan’s first imperial wizard. He felt like Forrest’s klan was right because even though it was anti-black it wasn’t meant to attack all blacks. “It was trying to keep illiterate blacks from occupying positions like sheriff and judge.” After reading this chapter I felt disappointed on still how ignorant people are today because all I thought was how do you think they became illiterate in the first place?. I felt like I was with Foote and Horwitz without really being there in person.

I learned a lot about the civil war from a different point of view from a group of interesting but unusual people who defend having Dixie being played at their schools. Horwitz did a fine job by getting every exact detail of the characters in this book however as I read the story I felt it going by very slowly and a few time I was bored but I’m not a big fanatic of the civil war but nonetheless it was an alright book.(less)

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Oct 11, 2010 Cody Cornelison rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author of this book is Tony Horwitz. The setting is all over the eastern United States. The main character travels from Georgia to Mississippi and back to Virginia. The point of view is first person so the main character is never known. None of the characters mention his name either. From clues and actions you can find out some about the main character. He dresses like the unions and confederates did in the war. He even eats like they did. He doesn't mind to travel alot either. The main char...more

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