The generals' Civil War : what their memoirs can teach us today / Stephen Cushman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cushman, Stephen, 1956- author.

Series:

Civil War America (Series)

Civil War America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Generals--United States--Biography--History and criticism.

Generals.

Biography as a literary form.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Biography.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages)

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill, North Carolina : The University of North Carolina Press, [2021]

Summary:

"In this book, Stephen Cushman considers Civil War generals' memoirs as literary works of art and examines how they remain vital to understanding the interaction of memory, imagination, and the writing of American history. Drawing on methods from history and literary studies, Cushman analyses how generals Ulysses S. Grant, Joseph E. Johnston, George B. McClellan, Philip H. Sheridan, William T. Sherman, and Richard Taylor crafted memoirs that shaped the practice of Civil War writing generally. Cushman particularly assesses how nineteenth-century market forces shaped the production of memoirs and, therefore, memories of the war itself; how audiences have engaged with the memoirs to create memories that continually change with time and circumstance; and what these texts tell us about current conflicts over the history and meanings of the Civil War"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Why generals?

Surrender according to Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman

Destruction and reconstruction in Richard Taylor's Happy Valley

Ulysses S. Grant and the achievement of simplicity

George B. McClellan's many turnings

The merit of Philip H. Sheridan's memoir campaign

Coda: Mark Twain and the Mississippi of memory.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

979-88-908619-1-7

1-4696-6503-4

OCLC:

1268361286