Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War
by Tony Horwitz
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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...more
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...more
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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 ...more
I did enjoy Horwitz’ dissection of the preponderance of several ...more
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The author and his wife awoke one morning to the sounds of a mock Civil War battle being filmed in front of their Virginia home. Subsequent conversations with the participants rekindled his childhood enthusiasm and launched Horwitz on a year-long quest to determine why the Civil War continues to enthrall so many Americans. He journeyed throughout the Old South, visiting battlefields and museums. He joined super hardcores such as Robert Lee Hodge, learning about farbs, spooning, and period rushes. ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Transplants to South wondering why the heck the local highway is named after Jefferson Davis
A very thought-provoking book--I would especially recommend for a transplant to the South. I grew up in San Diego, CA and in my 11th grade American history class, we spent approximately a week on the Civil War. This was in spite of the fact that roughly a third of our thick textbook was on the Civil War period. I wondered what sort of high school American history class would focus so much attention on one war.
Fast-forward seven years and I move to the Washington DC/ Northern Virginia area fo...more
Fast-forward seven years and I move to the Washington DC/ Northern Virginia area fo...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
First part to non-Southerners; last 100 pages to Southerners
This book hits its stride towards the end, which is unfortunate for a nearly 400 page work with small typeface. Throughout the first couple hundred pages, I became increasingly annoyed with Horowitz's characterization- it seemed that every kooky southern character spoke in Horowitz's voice. And I often found myself muttering "No shit Sherlock" with his observations on Civil War fanatics/neo-Confederate culture. Horowitz periodically reminds us of his urban, Jewish upbringing, and th...more
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Horwitz presents a balanced and very readable account of his travels around the states of the Confederacy in a book that covers race relations, regional identity, and historical memory in the American South. The Civil War buffs he encounters are all looking for something: a connection to their ancestors, a sense of pride, a tie to the land, a time when the South was prosperous, a way to make sense out of the vicious and bloody battles that raged in their backyards. Many of the Southern white C...more
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recommends it for:
Yankees who want to understand the South
OK, so I'm on a Civil War road trip with my Significant Other, following the "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 was 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. says "we should try to find the place" just about ...more
I said "this is really over-the-top -- Horowitz maybe exaggerated this guy to make a better story." S.O. says "we should try to find the place" just about ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Civil War nerds
I read a chapter of this book in a class - somewhere between high school and college, but I can't for the life of me remember why I read it or what the context was.
At any rate, going back and reading the book - as a Civil War nerd - was fantastic. Particularly living in such a history rich area, it's fun to recognize many of the spots I am so familiar with - the battlefield I worked at (Manassas/Bull Run), Petersburg and Dinwiddie, Fredericksburg, the valley near Winchester, all of the battl...more
At any rate, going back and reading the book - as a Civil War nerd - was fantastic. Particularly living in such a history rich area, it's fun to recognize many of the spots I am so familiar with - the battlefield I worked at (Manassas/Bull Run), Petersburg and Dinwiddie, Fredericksburg, the valley near Winchester, all of the battl...more
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Read in May, 2008
Very entertaining, although at times somewhat repetitive, observations on the un-reconstructed South. I was greatly amused by Horowitz's adventures with hardcore Civil War re-enactor Rob, and Rob's endless quest for the "period rush", a zen-like state reached only by total immersion in Civil War culture, dress, mannerisms, and customs.
Horowitz's descriptions of others he met as he probed the attitudes of the new South toward the Civil War were often not as lighthearted. Running...more
Horowitz's descriptions of others he met as he probed the attitudes of the new South toward the Civil War were often not as lighthearted. Running...more
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I loved this book. I can't say enough good about it.
Tony Horwitz starts out by recalling his great-grandfather's fascination with the Civil War. Nothing strange about that; 150 years after it happened, plenty of people are still fascinated by the Civil War. I'm among them. But what sets apart Horwitz's great-grandfather's interest is the fact that he wasn't born in the US. He arrived long after the war was over, and didn't live in the South, where interest would, presumably, be higher. What...more
Tony Horwitz starts out by recalling his great-grandfather's fascination with the Civil War. Nothing strange about that; 150 years after it happened, plenty of people are still fascinated by the Civil War. I'm among them. But what sets apart Horwitz's great-grandfather's interest is the fact that he wasn't born in the US. He arrived long after the war was over, and didn't live in the South, where interest would, presumably, be higher. What...more
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Read in January, 2006
This book is really fun, but a tad long. You might find this comment/theme with me on some other reviews. It seems that no one wants to have their work edited anymore, so we get books that are much longer than they need to be (or movies that are too long). Call me simple or having a short attention span, but I just think these authors (directors) are self-indulgent and need someone (an editor) to say “no” or “that doesn’t quite work.” Having ranted a bit there this book is not real...more
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Got this as a present from my wife a few years ago, who well knows my interest in Civil War history. I grew up in the Deep South and my father's family has lived in various parts of the South for well over 200 years now, so I found more than a few things here to relate to. It's a fun read and occasionally thought provoking, but don't expect a deep or profound understanding of the Southern psyche. Horwitz is no Faulkner, but he is a much lighter read.
Actually, I liked the re-enactor segments...more
Actually, I liked the re-enactor segments...more
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Read in June, 2004
recommends it for:
damn yankees
I read this while on vacation in Arkansas a few years ago. This is one of those books I finished and then went around for a month or two literally shaking people, while frothing at the mouth and screaming in their faces: "YOU HAVE TO @#$&ING READ THIS! HA HA HAH HAH!"
Then I completely forgot it existed. But, that has more to do with me than with this book, which is great, and still highly recommended. It's about the meaning and legacy of the Civil War, and about the South today...more
Then I completely forgot it existed. But, that has more to do with me than with this book, which is great, and still highly recommended. It's about the meaning and legacy of the Civil War, and about the South today...more
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Read in January, 1999
recommends it for:
people into Civil War or the South
super entertaining and educational, but kind of peters out towards the end. The author is cuuute
It’s a ten-state travelogue detailing ways the South still identifies with the Civil War. The North may have moved on, but you’ll still see plenty of the “Fuck You” flag in grit territory. Horwitz goes on a Civil Wargasm with the guy on the cover of the book, which involves hitting as many Civil War sites and battlefields in a one-week period as possible. In period attire, of course.
Th...more
It’s a ten-state travelogue detailing ways the South still identifies with the Civil War. The North may have moved on, but you’ll still see plenty of the “Fuck You” flag in grit territory. Horwitz goes on a Civil Wargasm with the guy on the cover of the book, which involves hitting as many Civil War sites and battlefields in a one-week period as possible. In period attire, of course.
Th...more
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Read in April, 2007
This book is written by a journalist investigating modern southerns still hung up on the Civil War, and not all of it in a negative way. Not really a part of the South that I've experienced personally here in Atlanta so I was really interested to find out what may be going on around me unaware. One of the most interesting things I learned about were "reenactors", these guys who get dressed up in full confederate regalia and reenact civil war battles MINUTE BY MINUTE. I'm not talking...more
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Read in April, 2008
Though I was always intrigued by the Civil War, being from Southern California I always vaguely classed it with the other great wars (Revolutionary, Crimean, First World War) that took place in eras I find generally fascinating. I never could and still can't understand the legacy it holds in the south, much of which never occurred to me until I read this book.
I found it highly amusing- I mean seriously, he hangs out with guys who pee on their buttons to get the right patina, as well as disturb...more
I found it highly amusing- I mean seriously, he hangs out with guys who pee on their buttons to get the right patina, as well as disturb...more
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Read in July, 2008
This is one of the best non-fiction books that I have ever read, although I spent probably half of the book being appalled at the lack of real human understanding by Southerners of the causes and consequences of the Civil War. I have a healthy appreciation for Southern "culture" and Civil War history, but I revere both the good AND the bad and know when to call a spade a spade. The South was wrong and the war was about slavery and mythogolizing it away hurts more than it helps. Of c...more
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Read in June, 2003
I'm *finally* done reading Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War . A one-sentence description from an SDMB post I made: "A cultural travelogue through the South, exploring attitudes towards the War Between The States" Another quickie description: "the author uses his childhood interest in the Civil War as a springboard for exploring the American South & examining attitudes as well as historical sites.".
As a Yankee - I found this book to p...more
As a Yankee - I found this book to p...more
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Read in January, 2002
...uh, wow. This book is an absolute adventure. The genius and the main point of tension in this book is Horwitz's super-human withholding of commentary on what he is experiencing. If you don't feel strangely conflicted reading this, there's something wrong with your insides.
He explores the subculture(s) of American Civil War remembrance south of the Mason-Dixon line. There's more to it than meets the eye. He also befriends one of those guys who dresses up and does Civil War scenes. He...more
He explores the subculture(s) of American Civil War remembrance south of the Mason-Dixon line. There's more to it than meets the eye. He also befriends one of those guys who dresses up and does Civil War scenes. He...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
history lovers
When I moved to Virginia in 1968, I found it more "foreign" in some ways than our previous home in the Philippines. Particularly unsettling was the cult of the Confederacy. My best friend in eighth grade was moved to tears by "Gone With the Wind." A standard project in high school was a paper on how the South could have won the Civil War. The pep band played "Dixie" at football games. In college, we hosted visiting student journalists from Washington & Lee who m...more
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