Sherman's March; cutting a path through Georgia and the Carolinas; is among the most symbolically potent events of the Civil War. In Through the Heart of Dixie; Anne Sarah Rubin uncovers and unpacks stories and myths about the March from a wide variety of sources; including African Americans; women; Union soldiers; Confederates; and even Sherman himself. Drawing her evidence from an array of media; including travel accounts; memoirs; literature; films; and newspapers; Rubin uses the competing and contradictory stories as a lens into the ways that American thinking about the Civil War has changed over time. Compiling and analyzing the discordant stories around the March; and considering significant cultural artifacts such as George Barnard's 1866 Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign; Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind; and E. L. Doctorow's The March; Rubin creates a cohesive narrative that unites seemingly incompatible myths and asserts the metaphorical importance of Sherman's March to Americans' memory of the Civil War. The book is enhanced by a digital history project; which can be found at shermansmarch.org.
#1968626 in Books Ingramcontent 2016-03-21 2016-03-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x .31 x 6.50l; .4 #File Name: 1467115754128 pagesVirginia in the Civil War Images of America Arcadia Publishing
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Wonderful traveling companion.By CiceroFascinating pictures and very informative historical information. A must-have for any Civil War history buff. I have purchased many of these books of new places I have traveled through the years. Thoroughly enjoyed every one of them; highly recommend. Will truly enhance and educate any traveler.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy MarthaInteresting0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Good photos; mediocre text; focusing primarily on northern Virgina.By lyndonbrechtThis is a typical book from this publisher; good to excellent photos and so-so text. I'd rate it a 5 for the photos and 3 for the writing; so 4 overall. The book's biggest weakness is that it focuses mostly on the area between Richmond and the Potomac; with little from western or southwestern Virginia; although the volume on West Virginia in the war may have something (Virginia included all of what is now West Virginia until 1863). There is a bit about the Shenandoah campaigns.Some of the images are double; from old stereopticon photos (the two would merge to form one image giving a real 3-D effect). Cameras of the day were not capable of capturing movement; so the photos tend to be of static elements; such as battlefields (in the sense of "field"); woods; wagon parks; men in line; battle dead; damaged homes and damaged Richmond. Some of them are almost generic about the horrors of war--decaying unburied battle dead; graves; woodland areas shot to splinters.The book perhaps unavoidably weak in some of the negative aspects of the war; such as guerillas hanged (it does mention Mosby; a famed sort of guerilla leader); and most particularly mentions little about slavery. Black slaves were a quite sizable portion of Virginia's population; but this book is not aimed at black folks interested in Virginia's war. The text also skirts the issue of slavery as a cause of the Civil War; instead noting multiple causes; as if an economic and social system based on slavery could have existed much longer in a democracy (obviously I think the war was primarily over this).I had hoped for more from this book; having ancestors in Confederate units from Virginia; and having family in western Virginia since the 1780s.
