Synopses & Reviews
If, as many have argued, the Civil War is the most crucial moment in our national life and Gettysburg its turning point, then the climax of the climax, the central moment of our history, must be Pickett's Charge. But as Carol Reardon notes, the Civil War saw many other daring assaults and stout defenses. Why, then, is it Pickett's Charge at Gettysburgand not, for example, Richardson's Charge at Antietam or Humphreys's Assault at Fredericksburgthat looms so large in the popular imagination?
As this innovative study reveals, by examining the events of 3 July 1863 through the selective and evocative lens of 'memory' we can learn much about why Pickett's Charge endures so strongly in the American imagination. Over the years, soldiers, journalists, veterans, politicians, orators, artists, poets, and educators, Northerners and Southerners alike, shaped, revised, and even sacrificed the 'history' of the charge to create 'memories' that met ever-shifting needs and deeply felt values. Reardon shows that the story told today of Pickett's Charge is really an amalgam of history and memory. The evolution of that mix, she concludes, tells us much about how we come to understand our nation's past.
Review
[A] splendidly lively study of the manipulation, not necessarily deliberate or malign, of public opinion.
Atlantic Monthly
Review
This fine book provides vivid evidence of just how far we will go to alchemize fantasy into fact.
Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
Review
Thought provoking and highly interesting, Reardon's book is a pleasure to read.
Orlando Sentinel
Review
[Brings] together the various threads of most of the contemporary and historical arguments surrounding the charge.
Journal of Military History
Review
"This is a skillful and compelling example of the way an event whose story we
think we know turns out to be as mobile as quicksilver when we try to put a finger down for certain."
-Allen C. Guelzo, The Barnes and Noble Review
About the Author
Carol Reardon is associate professor of history at Pennsylvania State University.
Table of Contents
A fresh look at the disastrous assault.
New Yorker [A] splendidly lively study of the manipulation, not necessarily deliberate or malign, of public opinion.
Atlantic Monthly This fine book provides vivid evidence of just how far we will go to alchemize fantasy into fact.
Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Thought provoking and highly interesting, Reardon's book is a pleasure to read.
Orlando Sentinel [Brings] together the various threads of most of the contemporary and historical arguments surrounding the charge.
Journal of Military History