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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... Knights joust three times daily during the annual Renaissance festivities in Harveysburg, Ohio. Courtesy of the Ohio Renaissance Festival, Harveysburg, Ohio. Cartoonist Steve Benson suggests one possible result of Disney's interest. x ...
... knight. He dominated military and social life in the medieval period and so we remember him as an important historical figure of that time. But he also has contemporary meaning for us as a potential symbol of strong character and ...
... knight and the break-up of Christendom with the Protestant Reformation, war itself was stigmatized as a pestilence. A clear change of view becomes apparent in the early Victorian period of the mid-nineteenth century, our fourth era of ...
... knights are assumed to have been elaborated over a great period from a simple beginning. Now, however, an event like My Lai can enter the household vocabulary overnight and might stay in our cultural inventory as a usable myth. Thus, we ...
... valuable comments upon the manuscript. Finally, my wife, Susan, continues to be my closest friend and colleague, listening to and commenting on all of my ideas. ONE +++ Knights on Horseback n this chapter, we shall xviii Preface.
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 |