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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... side effect of the Industrial Revolution, which generated wealth at such an unprecedented level that people feared for the moral corruption of society. Two incidents reflect the positive view of the soldier, the 1854 Charge of the Light ...
... side, pointing at the enemy, and then ran his horse full tilt at his victim, making maximum use of the horse's collision speed to ram the lance home in the opponent's breast. The knights were convinced that this offensive tactic was an ...
... side, were the retainers of the Stanleys, seemingly committed to neither cause. Norfolk advanced down the hill to start the battle and Oxford moved forward to engage him. After some skirmishing, many of Norfolk's southern vassals ran ...
... side see the opponent clearly, or even at all, and individual targets are not chosen. It is the weight of fire that ... sides of the Atlantic. And probably the most famous work of England's poet laureate at the time, Alfred Lord Tennyson ...
... sides in the American Civil War strove to place a chivalric veneer on the fighting. George Freeman Noyes, a Union captain, in his ... side in the war, which had to hope that superior character might offset inferior material resources. In.
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 |