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
Results 1-5 of 39
... sense of the mass. I shall also suggest by example ways of analyzing critically the various versions of the past presented to us. The book is arranged in six chapters, each of which takes a significant past era of military history and ...
... sense. The notion survives today in, for example, the election of school boards and lay governing bodies of universities. In military terms, the idea meant faith in the utility of the citizen bearing arms versus the regular soldier, a ...
... sense of remorse led the troopers to be recast as examples of unfairness to non-white peoples. At the start of the twenty-first century, a further symbolic use was seen, particularly in the Little Bighorn battle, as illustrating the ...
... 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 historians who participate in public discussions of war. Grouping and ...
... sense to hire mercenary soldiers directly from funds in the royal treasury, rather than trusting to the feudal bond to hold good. Thus, feudal flaws promoted capitalist hiring practices in both government and the army. Of course, the ...
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 |