Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular CultureUniversity Press of Kentucky, 2014 M10 17 - 296 pages Americans are often accused of not appreciating history, but this charge belies the real popular interest in the past. Historical reenactments draw thousands of spectators; popular histories fill the bestseller lists; PBS, A&E and The History Channel air a dizzying array of documentaries and historical dramas; and Hollywood war movies become blockbusters. Though historians worry that these popular representations sacrifice authenticity for broad appeal, Michael C.C. Adams argues that living history—even if it is an incomplete depiction of the past—plays a vital role in stimulating the historical imagination. In Echoes of War, he examines how one of the most popular fields of history is portrayed, embraced, and shaped by mainstream culture. Adams argues that symbols of war are of intrinsic military significance and help people to articulate ideas and values. We still return to the knight as a symbol of noble striving; the bowman appeals as a rebel against unjust privilege. Though Custer may not have been the Army's most accomplished fighter, he achieved the status of cultural icon. The public memory of the redcoated British regular soldier shaped American attitudes toward governments and gun laws. The 1863 attack on Fort Wagner by the black Fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment was lost to public view until racial equality became important in the late twentieth century. Echoes of War is a unique look at how a thousand years of military history are remembered in popular culture, through images ranging from the medieval knight to the horror of U.S. involvement in the My Lai massacre. |
From inside the book
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... French and Indian War of 1755–1763 and the 1836 Texan War of Independence, when gifted amateurs appeared to beat the best professional armies on the continent. Chapter 3 suggests that this view was largely myth, but a myth that has had ...
... French a language of England. Thus, the English tongue, already enriched by Celtic, Latin, Greek, and AngloSaxon influences, was further enhanced by French idioms and words, such as county for a shire, and ville for a burgh. Less ...
... French knights who paid for the poem to be sung by the great fire in the main hall. It is said that William's minstrel, Taillefer, may have recited the poem before battle was joined at Hastings. The common soldiers, bowmen and such, do ...
... , aspiring to be captains or even knights. The professionalization of the armies allowed for some social mobility within the ranks. Thus a French knight, Jean de Bueil, began his career by stealing laundry to make himself a 10 Echoes of ...
... French chronicler said that English arrows were like hail and obscured the sun; another compared them to snow falling. The English bowfire was said to be so rapid that when the French showed their backsides as a taunt, their breeches ...
Other editions - View all
Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular Culture Michael C.C. Adams Limited preview - 2021 |
Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular Culture Michael C. C. Adams No preview available - 2002 |
Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular Culture Michael C.C. Adams No preview available - 2002 |