In his book “Confederates”, Tony Horwitz gives his personal experiences of his fascination with Confederacy during the Civil War. Tony’s fascination began when he was at a very tender age in the New Haven Connecticut. He narrates to his reader his personal account as a child, how he read, wrote and painted the mural in the attic, during his time. The mural was an indication of the various wars which were fought during the civil war. The dominant theme in Tony Horwitz’s "Confederates in the Attic" is war in the contemporary American history as he takes a tour in the towns where there was war.
Later after twenty-five years, Tony traveled to every state where there were great battles and came across very interesting people. Among them was the Civil War reenactor, Robert Lee Hodge, commonly referred to as “Hardcore”. He described himself as a “Civil War Bum” who only ate foods at the time when there was war. Robert or “Rob” used to sleep in the fields wearing uniforms similar to the uniform of the Confederates as he bloated in case he was requested like a dying soldier in the war front[1]. Hodge appears to be crazy but his extreme character makes the story more interesting and captivating. Tony calls Rob on “The Civil Wargasm” during the tour of the wars in the significant areas. The tour lands him at the holiest civil war site and to some of the false-hearted towns and people.
Tony’s way of writing gives the book the unique characteristic, as he introduces the reader to a fascinating journey of colorful people and takes them to interesting people. one of the most notable places is the Charleston, South Carolina, a place where he describes as “the most agreeable piece of the urban real estate I ever visited in America”[2]. He goes on to describe the Battery District, which was the most famous city and was made up of old mansions, old families, with their families falling apart since the owners were very poor to make good paintings and were too proud to apply whitewash.
“Confederates in the Attic” gives an incredible story by the author as he visits the town famed by wars. The book is a good remembrance since it gives the outer perspectives of the common practices of people in their daily lives. Tony Horwitz comes to the realization that there are different sides of the argument as evidenced by the people he encounters in the tour of the various towns he visits in the post-war era. He comes to respect some of the moments from what he learns from the tour. His closing statements call out the Americans to see why conflicts are important parts of their lives, from the lessons learned in the Civil war[3]. He quotes Robert Penn Warren work as he concludes by saying a larger part of the population was not even in America when the war was taking place. His sentiments do not rule out the grandsons from encountering the imaginative appeal of the civil war.
The book is worth reading and creates the imaginative history of the readers. The author narrates stories in his written works, which makes the book more interesting. The reflection of the civil war era associates the citizens with ritual or native American culture, which is the most important aspect of the American history. I liked the book since it gives an encounter of the civil war as part of the ideologies in the book and contains many stories on the history of America which most people are not aware. The main points were supported by the stories and experiences of the author as he goes on a tour of the cities which experienced the war.
Bibliography
Horowitz, Tony. "Confederates in the Attic." Pantheon, New York (1998).
[1]
Horowitz, Tony. "Confederates in the Attic." Pantheon, New York (1998)
[2] Horowitz, Tony. "Confederates in the Attic." Pantheon, New York (1998)
[3]
Ibid, 78
