Book: Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz
We Civil War aficionados know—There’s a romanticism to the Civil War that transcends all the cold, real facts. We know that boys by the thousands died. We know that disease and the weather took numbers greater than those claimed by bullets. We know about the serious issues that were and still are at stake.
Nevertheless, for those who feel the draw, it’s undeniable. Confederates in the Attic resonates with that magic.
The book is part travelogue, part societal examination, part personal history, and part historical adventure. Over the course of several years, Tony Horwitz traveled the South to see why and in what ways the Civil War, or the War Between the States, lives on. I spent a summer as a historical intern at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia. I know exactly what he means.
He meets reenactors, Daughters of the Confederacy, locals dependant on Civil War tourism, and fellow pilgrims. For these people, the past has a thoroughfare into the present. Tony Horwitz is able to describe that connection tangibly.
As he begins each escapade, my rational mind may scoff, wince, or think, “That’s crazy.” But as he continues, my heart will take over and say, “I want to go there. I want to do that.”
It’s the romanticism of the war. Even with all the unthinkable hardships in that generation’s lives, it still seems like they lived a grand adventure. They got to be bigger than themselves for a couple of years. And that made them special for a lifetime.
Notably, the most unsettling chapter for me is the one set in Alabama. The Civil Rights movement presides significantly with the Civil War there. The intrusion of the more modern world was stomach churning. We haven’t moved past these problems yet, and they are not fun to consider. But consider them we must.
For this, I’m glad to have had Tony Horwitz as my guide for this trek. He has a clear and easy-to-read writing style. He allowed me to see the humor of situations without making fun of the participants. I actually learned some new historical facts too. (Did you know that the first shots of the war were not fired at Fort Sumter?)
This book makes me want to travel—to set out right now and explore those battlegrounds still yet unvisited, to return to the ones already experienced and see them with new eyes. Don’t let the unique cover design throw you off. If you love the Civil War, I think you’ll really enjoy this book. Afterwards, you’ll enjoy the cover too.