Civil War Soldiers by Reid Mitchell

Civil War Soldiers by Reid Mitchell

The soldiers on both sides of the Civil War were united by a common history, and yet the legacy of this past was ambiguous, upholding both rebellion and union. Union and Confederate men went to war as Americans, convinced they fought an un-American, savage enemy. The war they fought was as emotional and catastrophic as any in history, a violent crucible that forged a new national identity. Civil War Soldiers is a fresh and compelling attempt to fathom the war's significance--then and now--and makes immediate the charged issues and bitter ironies of a nation torn by a conflict over the common ideals of liberty and justice.

Drawing on diaries and letters, the focus of this pioneering study is on the men who fought, caught up in a conflict whose causes and consequences seemed as complex and contradictory to the soldiers themselves as they do to us. Reid Mitchell re-creates their experience and discusses the questions one would have most wanted to ask them: Why did you fight? How did you feel about slavery and race? What did you take home from the war? What legacy have you left us?

Fresh insights, startling descriptions, and poignant human detail about the war from the men who fought it.--Chicago Tribune

Mitchell, Reid: - Reid Mitchell is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780140263336
ISBN 10	0140263330
Title	Civil War Soldiers
Author	Reid Mitchell
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Random House Australia
Year published	1997-07-01
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable