Confederates in the Attic

By Tony Horwitz

About 150 years ago, the United States fought a war over whether states had the right to continue practices that had been outlawed by the Federal government and the right they wanted to continue to practice was the enslavement of their fellow human beings. (Never mind the irony of a society that claimed to be Christian and yet ignored the Golden Rule.)They lost that war and the right they fought and died for to keep people in bondage. Surprisingly, they are still bitter about that. You'd think any decent person would be glad that slavery was ended because it was a foul blot on American history. But NO! The South is still pissed!
This is what Tony Horwitz discovered on his odyssey through the south tracing the progress of that old war by visiting battlefields, partaking in battle reenactments, and just plain talking to folks about the subject. It's a fascinating journey, full of local color and surprising and often disturbing details. One such detail: the Civil War isn't taught much in many parts of the South, the history classes pretty much concentrate on US history dating from 1877 and on. Which explains a lot if you have ever watched Jay Leno's Jaywalking where young people can't even tell him who George Washington was.
Bottom line, many in the South are still wallowing in the past, and like those nutty people in Europe who are still upset about things that happened 500 years ago, they are bound and determined to hang on to their grievances.

Over all, this was a very interesting book and I enjoyed it a lot. There were a few parts that kind of dragged, but mostly it was a pleasure to read and certainly very informative, especially the parts about those people who like to dress up like soldiers and pretend to refight the old battles. I never realized the degree to which they go to get the details just so. I was also surprised to find out how angry Southerners still are about the Civil War and how they still feel put down by the North and how they still tend to blame the North for their problems. That was rather shocking and disturbing. Also disturbing to read about was the race hatred that still exists in many places in the South. This book is a revelation.