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. |
From inside the book
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... that we have reached an almost absurd level of detail in trying to turn the war into a diverting board game (Company A of Regiment B in the fourth hour of the third day at Gettysburg). True as all this may be, it overlooks the fact.
... regiment was initially memorialized by leading artists, then lost to public view, only to resurface when racial equality became an issue in the late twentieth century. The coupling of racial and military issues leads.
... regiments of European armies, into which the sons of the most aristocratic houses sought entrance. All British officers were expected to ride and play saddle games—polo, fox hunting, and pig-sticking with spears in India—the expense of ...
... regiments in every army continued to carry lance and saber and to wait behind the front lines for the galloping breakthrough that never came. The French even continued to wear metal breastplates and ornately-crested brass helmets in a ...
... regiment to the front as like being trapped in a moving box, a good metaphor for the anonymity of modern war, perhaps of modern life, especially during rush hour. Under these circumstances, the concepts of knighthood served to reassure ...
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 |