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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... Modern period, the struggle of parliamentary bodies to limit the authority of the central state becomes a dominant theme in the English-speaking world. The contest was inextricably linked to control of the developing armed forces and to ...
... modern war and that they need to be well educated in the broadest sense about this most costly of human activities. Thus, society benefits from the many citizens engaged by the study of war and the increasing number of professional ...
... happening; otherwise it may never leave obscurity. With modern communications, the artist can create an instant legend. Traditionally, myths seem to have developed slowly, over centuries. For example, the stories of King Arthur Preface xv.
... modern people, and helped frame their identities, even down to our own technological age. Although knighthood as a dominant military institution was waning by 1500, its images continue to live in our everyday culture, largely but not ...
... modern inheritor of the knighterrant's mantle. And the Ewoks are a somewhat whimsical evocation of Robin Hood and his merry men. This brings us to the longbowmen, who ranked below the knight in the military hierarchy but also helped to ...
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 |