When prize-winning war correspondent Tony Horwitz leaves the battlefields of Bosnia and the Middle East for a peaceful corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he thinks he's put war zones behind him. But awakened one morning by the crackle of musket fire, Horwitz starts filing front-line dispatches again this time from a war close to home, and to his own heart. Propelled by his boyhood passion for the Civil War, Horwitz embarks on a search for places and people still held in thrall by America's greatest conflict. The result is an adventure into the soul of the unvanquished South, where the ghosts of the Lost Cause are resurrected through ritual and remembrance. In Virginia, Horwitz joins a band of 'hardcore' reenactors who crash-diet to achieve the hollow-eyed look of starved Confederates; in Kentucky, he witnesses Klan rallies and calls for race war sparked by the killing of a white man who brandishes a rebel flag; at Andersonville, he finds that the prison's commander, executed as a war criminal, is now exalted as a martyr and hero; and in the book's climax, Horwitz takes a marathon trek from Antietam to Gettysburg to Appomattox in the company of Robert Lee Hodge, an eccentric pilgrim who dubs their odyssey the 'Civil Wargasm.' Written with Horwitz's signature blend of humor, history, and hard-nosed journalism, Confederates in the Attic brings alive old battlefields and new ones 'classrooms, courts, country bars' where the past and the present collide, often in explosive ways. Poignant and picaresque, haunting and hilarious, it speaks to anyone who has ever felt drawn to the mythic South and to the dark romance of the Civil War.
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"After waking up one morning at his Virginia home to the sounds of a Civil War reenactment, Tony Horwitz launches a search to find out how the Civil War is viewed and remembered in the American South. In his quest, he spent time with a band of really hard-core Confederate reenactors who went on crash diets to get the authentic look of starved soldiers who had been on lengthy campaigns. He also attended a Ku Klux Klan rally in Kentucky, an American history class in Selma, Alabama, and traveled from Antietam to Gettyburg, to Appomattox (a Civil Wargasm) with his friend, Robert Lee Hodge. Along his year-long investigation, he examined how the Civil War is remembered among white Southerners and African-Americans in that region. A funny, moving, and heartwarmingly informative book."
— Judy (4 out of 5 stars)
" The narrator did a great job, but there are large chunks, and even a whole chapter missing from the book. "
— Garrett, 12/8/2015" One of the best reads of all time. An interesting perspective about how the South still views the "War of Northern Aggression". "
— Benjamin, 2/19/2014" Rarely does a book merit 5 stars. This one does and is just fantastic. I learned more about the American Civil War in this read than in all my years in High School and college. "
— Dan, 2/9/2014" Too much emphasis on the most extreme elements in society. "
— April, 1/31/2014" Learning lots about the Civil War which of course is still alive and often discussed in the South. To them, the slavery issue was not as important as other issues. "
— Marialanni, 1/21/2014" I never thought this topic could interest me, which says a lot for the book/author. "
— Khaya, 1/16/2014" This is really fascinating so far--an unconventional look at the memory of the war, particularly in rural areas. I'm not all the way finished with it, but if his other books are anything to go by, this will only get better. "
— Kachina, 1/15/2014" Makes the history of the Civil War totally accessible. "
— Teresa, 12/23/2013" Someone lent me this book and made sure I read it before moving to the south from the midwest. Very eye-opening. "
— Megan, 12/9/2013" I read this book prior to my recent trip to Charleston and really enjoyed it. It's a fascinating look at southern people who are still obsessed with the Civil War. Some parts of the book were quite funny but reading how prejudiced many still are in the rural south was a bit depressing. "
— Nancy, 11/14/2013" I don't usually read non-fiction but I really enjoyed this book. The writing was journalistic and moved along very well and the stories were both fascinating and informative. "
— Nicola, 11/6/2013Tony Horwitz (1958–2019) was the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including Midnight Rising, A Voyage Long and Strange, Blue Latitudes, Confederates in the Attic, and Baghdad Without a Map. He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who worked for the Wall Street Journal and New Yorker. He had also been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and president of the Society of American Historians.
Michael Beck is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He is best known for his role in the 1979 film The Warriors. He has narrated numerous novels by John Grisham, as well as Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz and My Life by Bill Clinton. He lives in California.