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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... social factors then, that have resonance for us also. For example, chapter 1 considers the rise of the mounted knight. He dominated military and social life in the medieval period and so we remember him as an important historical figure ...
... social power of the mounted soldier or knight. The battle was brought into popular focus by science historian James Burke in his television series and 1978 book, Connections. In these he suggests that Hastings taught medieval soldiers ...
... social status and military significance, they are drawn midget size and often appear only in the borders, as footnotes to the magnificent feats of the cavalry. The second artwork is The Song of Roland, an epic poem recounting Hastings ...
... social status. Panel from the Bayeux Tapestry, courtesy of the City of Bayeux, France. the last stand against the Saracens made by Count Roland of Brittany, a knight of the Frankish king Charlemagne. Although written about the Battle of ...
... social orders, and it is punished brutally: Ganelon, the man who betrays Roland into an ambush, is pulled apart by wild horses. We shall return later to the theme of betrayal as a weakness of the feudal system. A key consequence of ...
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 |