Book Review: Confederates In The Attic
A review of the Pulitzer Prize winning book Confederates In The Attic (1999) by Tony Horwitz
Confederates In The Attic
By Tony Horwitz
Confederates In The Attic is a lengthy and rambling book which purports to be a documentary on the increasingly popular hobby of American Civil War re-enacting, as practiced all over the USA and even in some locations in Canada. It is smoothly written and engrossing, so much so that it won the Pulitzer Prize for its author last year. In my view however, the most important qualities in a “documentary” are objectivity and impartiality, something the author apparently has no grasp of.
Admitting a life-long interest in the War Between the States, Horwitz chronicles his investigation into the growing phenomenon of re-enactments, first as a spectator and eventually as a participant. The activity has literally become a mania and there are enough re-enactment units in the US to literally re-fight the Civil War. Battles are staged in dozens of locations on every weekend during the summer months. We are introduced to enthusiasts through innumerable interviews and narratives. Some of them are just musket owners out for a lark, others are so dedicated to their authentic portrayal of living history that they starve themselves for weeks in advance and march barefoot for miles to achieve the perfect look of authenticity. In this respect the book is well done, but slowly the author’s smarmy condemnation of the Confederacy builds to a crescendo until it degenerates into almost hysterical ranting. Horwitz mocks the re-enactors behind their backs, pillories the Sons of The Confederacy and dumps such vitriol upon anything having to do with Dixie that one is tempted to regard the book as nothing more than racist. The race issue is prominent throughout the book, even though it was almost a non-issue in the Civil War itself.
In my estimation, the author’s lopsided editorializing has ruined what could have been the definitive guide to re-enacting in North America. It is replete with battlefield tour observations, inside information and advice from re-enactors, little known period facts and trivia. As such, it can serve as valuable and informative reading before travelling to one of these events. The price is having to witness the author make a mockery of journalistic impartiality and see him rewarded with a Pulitzer for it.
Liked it
Very insightful!
dude shut up please
“…the author’s lopsided editorializing has ruined what could have been the definitive guide to re-enacting in North America.”
I am better sure the author’s aim was not to create a definitive guide to re-enacting.
“The race issue is prominent throughout the book, even though it was almost a non-issue in the Civil War itself.”
What, are you kidding me? Even if you try to rationalize that the race issue was just used as propaganda during the Civil War in order to paint the South as the quote/unquote ‘bad guys’, the fact remains that race was such an issue that it caused the civil war. The North called for an end to slavery, and the South threw the states rights flag. Horwitz briefly touches on this, and goes on to show how people in the South still cling to a conflict they lost (much like the way some complain about the elections in 2000 and 2004).
Race did NOT start the Civil War, but rather the election of Abraham Lincoln caused the secession of North Carolina and later the other southern states. Lincoln stated that he would not attack the institution of slavery, but later brought it into the civil war to keep out foreign help. Yes slavery was one aspect that was fought for, but it was more politics than anything that STARTED the war.