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Haunted by Atrocity : Civil War Prisons in American Memory

By: Cloyd, Benjamin GMaterial type: TextTextSeries: eBooks on DemandMaking the Modern South: Publisher: Baton Rouge : LSU Press, 2010Description: 1 online resource (278 p.)ISBN: 9780807137383Subject(s): Memory - Social aspects - United States - History - 19th century | Military prisons - Confederate States of America - History | Military prisons - United States - History - 19th century | Prisoners of war - Confederate States of America | Prisoners of War - Confederate States of America | Prisoners of war - United States - History - 19th century | United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Atrocities | United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Prisoners and prisonsGenre/Form: Electronic books.Additional physical formats: Print version:: Haunted by Atrocity : Civil War Prisons in American MemoryDDC classification: 973.7/71 | 973.771 LOC classification: E615.C58 2010Online resources: Click here to view this ebook.
Contents:
Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1 "Our Souls Are Filled with Unutterable Anguish" ATROCITY AND THE ORIGINS OF DIVISIVE MEMORY, 1861-1865; 2 "Remember Andersonville" RECRIMINATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION, 1865-1877; 3 "This Nation Cannot Afford to Forget" CONTESTING THE MEMORY OF SUFFERING, 1877-1898; 4 "We Are the Living Witnesses" THE LIMITATIONS OF RECONCILIATION, 1898-1914; 5 "A More Proper Perspective" OBJECTIVITY IN THE SHADOW OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY WAR, 1914-1960
6 "Better to Take Advantage of Outsiders' Curiosity" THE CONSUMPTION OF OBJECTIVE MEMORY, 1960-PRESENT7 "The Task of History Is Never Done" ANDERSONVILLE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, THE NATIONAL POW MUSEUM, AND THE TRIUMPH OF PATRIOTIC MEMORY; Conclusion; Notes; Works Consulted; Index
Summary: Benjamin G. Cloyd deftly analyzes how Americans have remembered the military prisons of the Civil War from the war itself to the present, making a strong case for the continued importance of the great conflict in contemporary America. The first study of Civil War memory to focus exclusively on the military prison camps, Haunted by Atrocity offers a cautionary tale of how Americans, for generations, have unconsciously constructed their recollections of painful events in ways that protect cherished ideals of myth, meaning, identity, and, ultimately, the deeply rooted faith in American exceptiona
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Item type Current location Call number URL Status Date due Barcode
Electronic Book UT Tyler Online
Online 		E615.C58 2010 (Browse shelf) http://uttyler.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=570394 Available EBL570394

Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1 "Our Souls Are Filled with Unutterable Anguish" ATROCITY AND THE ORIGINS OF DIVISIVE MEMORY, 1861-1865; 2 "Remember Andersonville" RECRIMINATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION, 1865-1877; 3 "This Nation Cannot Afford to Forget" CONTESTING THE MEMORY OF SUFFERING, 1877-1898; 4 "We Are the Living Witnesses" THE LIMITATIONS OF RECONCILIATION, 1898-1914; 5 "A More Proper Perspective" OBJECTIVITY IN THE SHADOW OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY WAR, 1914-1960

6 "Better to Take Advantage of Outsiders' Curiosity" THE CONSUMPTION OF OBJECTIVE MEMORY, 1960-PRESENT7 "The Task of History Is Never Done" ANDERSONVILLE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, THE NATIONAL POW MUSEUM, AND THE TRIUMPH OF PATRIOTIC MEMORY; Conclusion; Notes; Works Consulted; Index

Benjamin G. Cloyd deftly analyzes how Americans have remembered the military prisons of the Civil War from the war itself to the present, making a strong case for the continued importance of the great conflict in contemporary America. The first study of Civil War memory to focus exclusively on the military prison camps, Haunted by Atrocity offers a cautionary tale of how Americans, for generations, have unconsciously constructed their recollections of painful events in ways that protect cherished ideals of myth, meaning, identity, and, ultimately, the deeply rooted faith in American exceptiona

Description based upon print version of record.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Cloyd (Hinds Community College, Mississippi) offers an outstanding history of how POWs during the US Civil War have been remembered popularly, politically, and historically. Beginning with journalistic accounts of prisoner of war camps during the war, Cloyd records the shifting changes in treatment as he takes his study to the present. Not surprisingly, the "waving the bloody shirt" era of Reconstruction differs dramatically from apathetic contemporary times, but also from the Progressive Era's embrace of reconciliation and the objectivism adopted during the world wars. Cloyd frequently focuses on the infamous Confederate prisoner of war camp in Andersonville, Georgia (since 1998, the home of the National Prisoner of War Museum), and its vilified commander Henry Wirz (the only man executed after the war for war crimes). Scrupulously fair to arguments from both the North and South, the book offers an insightful case study of memory and the political fights over how events should be remembered, recorded, and commemorated. Though occasionally slipping into editorializing, Cloyd ultimately provides a very valuable demonstration that history is not a collection of dry facts, but a perpetual debate over meaning. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. J. R. Edwards Grove City College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Benjamin G. Cloyd teaches history at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi.

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