Most surviving correspondence of the Civil War period was written by members of a literate; elite class; few collections exist in which the woman's letters to her soldier husband have been preserved. Here; in the exchange between William and Emily Moxley; a working-class farm couple from Coffee County; Alabama; we see vividly an often-neglected aspect of the Civil War experience: the hardships of civilian life on the home front.
#700383 in Books Univ Of Minnesota Press 2007-02-22Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .90 x 5.89l; 1.09 #File Name: 0816649200352 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A new horizon for thoughtBy T.N.This is a challenging; lyrical; pessimistic; impassioned work that I learned a great deal from. It takes on "globalization" from below; in this case; not the "below" of everyday life (as cheerleaders for globalization often do); but the "below" of the slave ship hold; the zero-point of the "affectable" and "engulfable" racialized body the author considers to be the basis upon which the West -- and Enlightenment reason -- has extended its hegemony over the globe. The book refutes the oddly pervasive notion that race is a US obsession that doesn't matter to the rest of the world; and develops an original hemispheric critique of race. In the end I believe the book is too harsh -- or is read as too harsh by its enthusiasts -- on the Enlightenment; which has a more mixed historical relationship to empire; slavery and racialization than many seem to now believe. But on the whole a valuable and needed book.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Essential ReadingBy Kim D.Denise Ferreira da Silva provides readers with a courageous; comprehensive; rigorous; and compelling critique of the reciprocity between race and globalism--as historically configured and deployed as well as its productive twenty-first century iterations. This book is; without any doubt; essential reading in the so-called; "post-racial" age.9 of 10 people found the following review helpful. An exciting bookBy A. MorrillIt is not an easy book but it is exciting. When I read several pages I find myself putting it down and writing because the ideas in this book are inspiring. For those interested; or passionate about social theory; ethnic studies and racial discourse; it is a must read.
