Mystic Chords of Memory"Illustrated with hundreds of well-chosen anecdotes and minute observations . . . Kammen is a demon researcher who seems to have mined his nuggets from the entire corpus of American cultural history. . . . Insightful and sardonic."—Washington Post Book WorldIn this groundbreaking; panoramic work of American cultural history; the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Machine That Would Go of Itself examines a central paradox of our national identity. How did "the land of the future" acquire a past? And to what extent has our collective memory of that past—as embodied in our traditions—been distorted; or even manufactured? Ranging from John Adams to Ronald Reagan; from the origins of Independence Day celebrations to the controversies surrounding the Vietnam War Memorial; from the Daughters of the American Revolution to immigrant associations; and filled with incisive analyses of such phenonema as Americana and its collectors; "historic" villages and Disneyland; Mystic Chords of Memory is a brilliant; immensely readable; and enormously important book."Fascinating . . . a subtle and teeming narrative . . . masterly."—Time"This is a big; ambitious book; and Kammen pulls it off admirably. . . . [He] brings a prodigious mind and much scholarly rigor to his task. . . . An important book—and a revealing look at how Americans look at themselves."—Milwaukee Journal
#507525 in Books 1995-08-08 1995-08-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.60 x 1.00 x 5.10l; .84 #File Name: 0679601708368 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Readable storyBy MunseyfloraShelby Foote is a legendary Civil War historian; and describes history as if he's telling a story; making the book very readable. Unfortunately; as an historical reference this book is problematic as it has no index; and cites no sources. The twelve maps provided were drawn by Foote. There are no "good" battles and Vicksburg was no exception. Both the Union and Confederacy suffered terribly; that is to say; the soldiers suffered terribly. It was even more horrific for the residents of the city who found themselves in the middle of the conflict; enduring the chaos by living in caves. Foote's work focuses on Vicksburg and its surroundings; for a more widespread perspective of the battle I suggest the book by Winston Groom; "Vicksburg; 1863". I read both books prior to visiting the battlefield and they each made the battle more real for me. If you were to pick just one; I would suggest Groom's.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Not a bad book...By John Paul SassoneI enjoy Shelby Foot's writing; even though it is slanted to the Confederacy. This book about the Vicksburg campaign is also slanted but even Foote couldn't change the outcome of the the battles. A pretty concise book and well worth reading; I enjoyed it.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. It's by Shelby Foote -- Whom else?By John DurkeeThe man was a writer. The South; and particularly the Civil War; was about what he wrote as a historian; and story-teller. I think he could write about bees mating; and I would find buzz in it.In the 1990s; the publisher Modern Library reproduced and edited two chapter-size parts of the three-volume Foote masterpiece "The Civil War" written two decades earlier. One part was "The Beleaguered City" about Grant's Vicksburg campaign; the other was "Stars in their Courses" about another event which climaxed on the same day of 1863 - the Gettysburg battle.I own all three volumes of "The Civil War" in addition to owning both chapter-size parts. I bought the latter because I thought they were Foote's writings about the turning points of the American Civil War. When I want to read about the Civil War; I can read what the best writer on that topic wrote about the climatic day of it.In my view; this is five-star stuff!
