In a disturbing encounter, he sat in on a Civil War lesson in a Selma, Alabama classroom filled with black students who could not acknowledge race played a part in the Civil War.
His thesis involves the true absence of historical accuracy in much of their thinking, including the denial of racial tensions as part of the reason the war was fought in the first place. Ultimately, his thesis may not be only the importance history plays in the lives of the southerners he met, but the real absence of true history in their playacting and reenactments. It is easy for those who do not live there to say, "the war is over," but for many in the South, the war will never be over, and this permeates the book with a deep feeling of sadness and wasted lives. The people he meets on his journey through the South are people just like you and me, and yet, they have some glaring differences, and these differences are what Horwitz uses to create a lasting impression of people who simply cannot let go of their legacy and get along with their lives. His book is sometimes funny, sometimes depressing, and sometimes almost unbelievable. However, there is more to his book than just searching for reasons. Specifically, he is searching for the reason why reenacting the Civil War, particularly in the southern United States, has become such a common and undeniable lure for so many people. Tony Horwitz clearly had several reasons for writing his compelling book, "Confederates in the Attic," but the most important reason seems to be his own fascination and interest in the Civil War. His book therefore, is more than a history text, or even a modern look back with sentimentality and nostalgia, it is a look into the hearts and minds of people who live vicariously through the history of their ancestors, and what that really says about all of us in America today. Horwitz attempts to discover just why the Civil War is so compelling to so many people, and in the process, learns more about the sociology and culture of the South.
"Confederates in the Attic" is not just a history book, it is an intriguing look into the hearts and minds of modern Southerners, and their continuing absorption in the Civil War and reenacting its battles in great detail. Specifically, it will answer several questions regarding the book. ¶ … Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War, by Tony Horwitz.
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