The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song That Marches On

by John Stauffer, Benjamin Soskis

It was sung at Ronald Reagan's funeral, and adopted with new lyrics by labor radicals. John Updike quoted it in the title of one of his novels, and George W. Bush had it performed at the memorial service in the National Cathedral for victims of September 11, 2001. Perhaps no other song has held such a profoundly significant--and contradictory--place in America's history and cultural memory than the "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

In this sweeping study, John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis show how this Civil War tune has become an anthem for cause after radically different cause. The song originated in antebellum revivalism, with the melody of the camp-meeting favorite, "Say Brothers, Will You Meet Us." Union soldiers in the Civil War then turned it into "John Brown's Body." Julia Ward Howe, uncomfortable with Brown's violence and militancy, wrote the words we know today. Using intense apocalyptic and millenarian imagery, she captured the popular enthusiasm of the time, the sense of a climactic battle between good and evil; yet she made no reference to a particular time or place, allowing it to be exported or adapted to new conflicts, including Reconstruction, sectional reconciliation, imperialism, progressive reform, labor radicalism, civil rights movements, and social conservatism. And yet the memory of the song's original role in bloody and divisive Civil War scuttled an attempt to make it the national anthem. The Daughters of the Confederacy held a contest for new lyrics, but admitted that none of the entries measured up to the power of the original.

"The Battle Hymn" has long helped to express what we mean when we talk about sacrifice, about the importance of fighting--in battles both real and allegorical--for the values America represents. It conjures up and confirms some of our most profound conceptions of national identity and purpose. And yet, as Stauffer and Soskis note, the popularity of the song has not relieved it of the tensions present at its birth--tensions between unity and discord, and between the glories and the perils of righteous enthusiasm. If anything, those tensions became more profound. By following this thread through the tapestry of American history, The Battle Hymn of the Republic illuminates the fractures and contradictions that underlie the story of our nation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Music

392 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

John Stauffer is chair of the History of American Civilization and professor of English and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazingly well researched, well written and very readable, as well as interesting...but I have too many other books going right now so I am setting it aside for later.

[Dana Kraft · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 100 pages of this book are quite interesting as you learn about the origins of the tune and its connection to American culture in the 19th century. After that, the attempts to link the song to most major social movements of the past 100 years is a bit of a stretch. The fact that the song was used by evangelical preachers, progressive leaders, civil rights advocates, etc doesn't mean they're part of the song's history. I certainly don't want to read a detailed history of those movements. Get this one from the library, read the first 100 pages and be done.

[Becky]

I probably ought not to list it as "read" because I read only half. I kept getting bogged down and picking up other books, so I finally took that as a sign that it wasn't worth it for me to slog through the rest. It's an interesting premise (writing a biography for a song), and the song is of course very weird theologically and very influential culturally, but I just had a hard time caring about every blessed detail that was remotely related to the "Battle Hymn."

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked most of this book and enjoyed learning much about the historic events this song was involved with. I am glad I ventured past the first 100 pages as was suggested by another reviewer. He missed out on the most life changing parts of its ever changing role in American history.