Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular CultureUniversity Press of Kentucky, 2021 M10 21 - 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. |
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... 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 nobility of motive. The bowman, a common soldier, was important in ...
... period, the struggle of parliamentary bodies to limit the authority of the central state becomes a dominant theme in the Englishspeaking world. The contest was inextricably linked to control of the developing armed forces and to the ...
... period of the mid-nineteenth century, our fourth era of military history. The common soldier of this time came to be held up as a symbol of duty and sacrifice, engaging in war as a healthy antidote to the materialism and self ...
... 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 should get used to looking at even comparatively recent ...
... period when monarchs were the political and military heads of state; on them rested the stability and prosperity of the kingdom. William determined on an invasion of England and got the pope to bless his cause as a holy crusade, a ...
Other editions - View all
Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular Culture Michael C.C. Adams Limited preview - 2014 |
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 |