Battle Scars: Gender and Sexuality in the American Civil War

by Catherine Clinton (Editor), Nina Silber

Over a decade ago, the publication of Divided Houses ushered in a new field of scholarship on gender and the Civil War. Following in its wake, Battle Scars showcases insights from award-winning historians as well as emerging scholars. This volume depicts the ways in which gender, race, nationalism, religion, literary culture, sexual mores, and even epidemiology underwent radical transformations from when Americans went to war in 1861 through Reconstruction. Examining the interplay among such phenomena as racial stereotypes, sexual violence, trauma, and notions of masculinity, Battle Scars represents the best new scholarship on men and women in the North and South and highlights how lives were transformed by this era of tumultuous change.

Genres: History, Civil War, American History, Gender

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Professor of history at Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Specializes in American history, African-American history, the Civil War, and women's history. Previously taught at Brandeis and Harvard universities. Born in 1952, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. Studied sociology and history at Harvard, earned a master's degree from Sussex and a doctorate from Princeton.

Reviews

[Alondra Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never really enjoyed learning about the Civil War until I read this book. It present the views of all different types of women during the war, emphasizing their contributions and their struggles which are different from one and other based on race, religion and social class.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays on different aspects of gender studies in relation to the Civil War. The topics range from abolitionist manhood, Civil War nuns, prostitution, women and children left destitute by the war, and memorialization in the South.

Dr. Catherine Clinton and Dr. Nina Silber include their own essays, as well as those by noted Civil War historians such as Jim Downs and John Stauffer. This book provides a good cursory review of issues faced by women of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.