Synopses & Reviews
In 1943, Bell Wiley's groundbreaking book
Johnny Reb launched a new area of study: the history of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War. This anthology brings together landmark scholarship on the subject, from a 19th century account of life as a soldier to contemporary work on women who, disguised as men, joined the army.
One of the only available compilations on the subject, The Civil War Soldier answers a wide range of provocative questions: What were the differences between Union and Confederate soldiers? What were soldiers' motivations for joining the armytheir "will to combat"? How can we evaluate the psychological impact of military service on individual morale? Is there a basis for comparison between the experiences of Civil War soldiers and those who fought in World War II or Vietnam? How did the experiences of black soldiers in the Union army differ from those of their white comrades? And why were southern soldiers especially drawn to evangelical preaching?
Offering a host of diverse perspectives on these issues, The Civil War Soldier is the perfect introduction to the topic, for the student and the Civil War enthusiast alike.
Contributors: Michael Barton, Eric T. Dean, David Donald, Drew Gilpin Faust, Joseph Allen Frank, James W. Geary, Joseph T. Glaatthaar, Paddy Griffith, Earl J. Hess, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Perry D. Jamieson, Elizabeth D. Leonard, Gerald F. Linderman, Larry Logue, Pete Maslowski, Carlton McCarthy, James M. McPherson, Grady McWhiney, Reid Mitchell, George A. Reaves, Jr., James I. Robertson, Fred A. Shannon, Maris A. Vinovskis, and Bell Irvin Wiley.
Review
“Understanding what convinced Civil War soldiers to lay down their lives for “the cause,” North AND South, is perhaps the hardest part of teaching about making sense of the war. This excellent collection of selections from leading scholars on who the soldiers were, how they lived, and why they fought is a fine introduction to years of research that seeks to answer that question.”-Janet Coryell,Western Michigan University
Review
"Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees." -Booklist,August 2002
Review
"This type of work would be especially valuable for assignment in the classroom." -North and South,
Review
"This is a fine collection which lends itself to classroom use and to the edification of non-specialists."-Indiana Magazine of History,
Review
"This exploration of Latin American religious history is broad yet detailed. Like the region, religious views in this compilation are varied and diverse. Ranging from indigenous and colonial times to contemporary forays into Buddhism and Mormonism, the book explores all of the region's major religious movements to provide a thorough introduction and summary. . . . this work's scope and breadth likely will make it an important textbook for Latin American studies as well as an excellent introduction to the topic for any reader."
-Choice,
Review
"A truly impressive achievement. Peterson and Vásquez have focused unfailingly on the most important trends and turning points in over a half a millennium of Latin American religious history. The volume is that rarest of things: a work of scholarship that is both broad and deep."
-John Burdick,author of Legacies of Liberation: The Progressive Catholic Church in Brazil at the Start of a New Millennium
Review
"Historically, religions all too often have been understood as a side bar to political, social, economic, and historical contexts. Before this reader, no book existed to introduce students to the complex sweep of religions and religious history in Latin America. Latin American Religions fills this yawning gap admirably. Gone is the idea that all Latin Americans are Catholic. . . . We learn about indigenous traditions, the African diaspora, Catholicism, Protestantism, other alternative Christianities, and various world religions. This book should prove a must for any introductory course on Latin America, or for any individuals—beginning or advanced—who wish to deepen their knowledge of the continent."
-Kay A. Read,Saint Vincent DePaul Professor of Religious Studies, DePaul University
Review
“Peterson and Vasquez are not just experts on Latin America but also masters of cutting-edge theoretical issues in the study of religion.”
-Catholic Historical Review,
Synopsis
An anthology of landmark scholarship on the histories of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War
In 1943, Bell Wiley's groundbreaking book Johnny Reb launched a new area of study: the history of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War. This anthology brings together landmark scholarship on the subject, from a 19th century account of life as a soldier to contemporary work on women who, disguised as men, joined the army.
One of the only available compilations on the subject, The Civil War Soldier answers a wide range of provocative questions: What were the differences between Union and Confederate soldiers? What were soldiers' motivations for joining the army--their will to combat? How can we evaluate the psychological impact of military service on individual morale? Is there a basis for comparison between the experiences of Civil War soldiers and those who fought in World War II or Vietnam? How did the experiences of black soldiers in the Union army differ from those of their white comrades? And why were southern soldiers especially drawn to evangelical preaching?
Offering a host of diverse perspectives on these issues, The Civil War Soldier is the perfect introduction to the topic, for the student and the Civil War enthusiast alike.
Contributors: Michael Barton, Eric T. Dean, David Donald, Drew Gilpin Faust, Joseph Allen Frank, James W. Geary, Joseph T. Glaatthaar, Paddy Griffith, Earl J. Hess, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Perry D. Jamieson, Elizabeth D. Leonard, Gerald F. Linderman, Larry Logue, Pete Maslowski, Carlton McCarthy, James M. McPherson, Grady McWhiney, Reid Mitchell, George A. Reaves, Jr., James I. Robertson, Fred A. Shannon, Maris A. Vinovskis, and Bell Irvin Wiley.
Synopsis
This excellent collection of selections from leading scholars on who the soldiers were, how they lived, and why they fought is a fine introduction to years of research that seeks to answer that question.
Synopsis
Before Columbus, the Americas were populated by many indigenous cultures, with a great diversity of religions. After 1492, European governments and churches dominated religious life. While Roman Catholicism was the official religion, great religious hybridization occurred, mixing European, indigenous, and often African traditions into distinctly New World forms.
Latin American Religions provides an introduction through documents to the historical development and contemporary expressions of religious life in South and Central America, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. A central feature of this text is its inclusion of both primary and secondary materials, including letters, sermons, journal entries, ritual manuals, and ancient sacred texts. These documents provide readers with direct access to the voices of adherents, enabling them to act as academic investigators, experiencing and interpreting the same texts on which historians draw. The documents are framed by substantive introductions which provide both historical context and theoretical insights for the study of these religions traditions and the ways in which they have developed over time.
From the religious traditions of the Mayas and Aztecs and of the African diaspora, to official and popular Catholicism, to liberation theology, the rise of Pentecostalism, and emerging trends and new religious movements in Latin America, this new work offers a concise overview of this fascinating field.
About the Author
Anna L. Peterson, Professor at the University of Florida, is the author of
Martyrdom and the Politics of Religion and
Seeds of the Kingdom: Utopian Communities in the Americas.
Manuel A. Vasquez, Associate Professor at the University of Florida, is the author of The Brazilian Popular Church and the Crisis of Modernity and co-author of Globalizing the Sacred: Religion Across the Americas.
Together Peterson and Vasquez have co-edited Christianity, Social Change, and Globalization in the Americas.