Product Description

The controversies in South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas over the display of Confederate symbols illustrate the power and saliency of the myth of the Lost Cause (the Confederacy was doomed from the start in its struggle against the superior might of the Union, but its forces fought heroically against all odds for the cause of states' rights). In reality, this was and is an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of Southerners to rationalize the secession and the war itself. In this volume, nine historians describe and analyze the Lost Cause, identifying the ways in which it falsifies history. They have created a thoughtful and provocative volume that makes a major contribution to Civil War historiography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196168 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

From Booklist
The South lost the Civil War, but southerners have certainly held their own in the postwar battle to shape historical interpretations of the conflict. Southern politicians, war veterans, and historians successfully promoted the "Lost Cause" view of the origins and results of our national nightmare. The South, so the story goes, wanted to preserve its unique culture, and slavery was not a fundamental basis of that culture. Led by valiant gentlemen-officers (e.g., Robert E. Lee) and brave, defiant common soldiers, the Confederacy struggled against insurmountable odds, eventually succumbing to numerically but not morally superior forces. This collection of essays by nine Civil War scholars shows how the myth was consciously propagated by southerners, often in an attempt to rationalize the physical and social carnage left by the war. These essays are well reasoned and timely, given current controversies raging over the display of the Confederate battle flag. This will be a valuable addition to Civil War collections. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
GARY W. GALLAGHER is Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He has written and published numerous books on the Civil War, including Lee and His Generals in War and Memory,Lee the Soldier, and The Confederate War.

ALAN T. NOLAN is author of Lee Considered and The Iron Brigade and is editor of Giants in Their Tall Black Hats, the latter two books published by Indiana University Press.

Customer Reviews

Interesting Essays about Southern Civil War History
Having just finished this book, I see why some of the essays have caused some controversy. It takes a hard look at the facts of the war, versus what has been presented as accurate history by many Southern leaders and writers. Simply put, some of the authors openly question many commonly held views, particularly those proposed by people interested in justifying the South's loss, or reasons for leaving the Union.

Overall, the essays are solid: some great, some good, and a few are only okay. I found Alan Nolan's, Gary Gallagher's, and Jeffrey Wert's essays to be most compelling. They are all well written, researched, and argued. Also, the topics they cover are interesting. Although I do not agree with Alan Nolan's low opinion of General Lee as a soldier, the rest of his essay takes many of the myths of the "Lost Cause" head-on, and dispells them convincinly.

Two of the essays I did not find very exciting: Keith Bohannon's, or Charles Holden's. The topic were too narrow for my taste. The other essays are all good, and helped add to my understanding of the war.

I recommend this book to anyone who is a Civil War "buff", or student of the war. If you think that the war was not fought over slavery, but only states rights, you should explore the discussion of this topic in numerous essays.

Consistently interesting
I do not claim to be an expert on the Civil War, but I have always had a great interest in the events leading up to the war, and still think The Impending Crisis 1848-1861, by David M. Potter completed by Don E. Fehrenbacher (which book I finished reading May 15, 1976) is the best book on that era. I greatly enjoyed the essays in this book, and I agree that the best of the nine is Alan T. Nolan's "The Anatomy of the Myth." He effectually annihilates arguments of neo-Confederates, especially the one that secession was not about slavery. Anyone interested in Southern history should read this book.

The Lost Cause revisited
The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History, edited by Gary Gallagher, is an excellent collection of essays, illustrating various perspectives on that much debated phenomenon, the Lost Cause school of Civil War history. These essay writers, including Gallagher himself, bring fresh thinking to the subject. Must reading for the Civil War student.The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History