Synopses & Reviews
Childrenwhite and black, northern and southernendured a vast and varied range of experiences during the Civil War. Children celebrated victories and mourned defeats, tightened their belts and widened their responsibilities, took part in patriotic displays and suffered shortages and hardships, fled their homes to escape enemy invaders and snatched opportunities to run toward the promise of freedom.
Offering a fascinating look at how children were affected by our nation's greatest crisis, James Marten examines their toys and games, their literature and schoolbooks, the letters they exchanged with absent fathers and brothers, and the hardships they endured. He also explores children's politicization, their contributions to their homelands' war efforts, and the lessons they took away from the war. Drawing on the childhoods of such diverse Americans as Jane Addams, Booker T. Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt, and on sources that range from diaries and memoirs to children's "amateur newspapers," Marten examines the myriad ways in which the Civil War shaped the lives of a generation of American children.
Review
[A] valuable addition to the historiography of the period.
Journal of Southern History
Review
Through his absorbing, first-rate social history, Marten sheds much-needed light on a previously neglected aspect of Civil War history.
Publishers Weekly
Review
[The book] directs our attention to some previously overlooked casualties and consequences of the Civil War.
American Historical Review
Review
[A]n engaging, masterful, nuanced, and readable study that will not quickly leave the reader's mind or heart.
American Studies
Review
Thoroughly researched and nicely illustrated,
The Children•s Civil War will be a touchstone for historians and generalists.
Civil War History
Synopsis
Adding an important dimension to the literature on the Civil War, this book examines the wartime experiences of childrenwhite and black, northern and southern. Marten examines letters, games, books, and toys of the period, and includes the experiences of some famous individuals including Booker T. Washington, Jane Addams, and Theodore Roosevelt to reveal the war's impact on children's lives.
Synopsis
[A] valuable addition to the historiography of the period.
Journal of Southern History [The book] directs our attention to some previously overlooked casualties and consequences of the Civil War.
American Historical Review Through his absorbing, first-rate social history, Marten sheds much-needed light on a previously neglected aspect of Civil War history.
Publishers Weekly Thoroughly researched and nicely illustrated, The Children•s Civil War will be a touchstone for historians and generalists.
Civil War History [A]n engaging, masterful, nuanced, and readable study that will not quickly leave the reader's mind or heart.
American Studies
About the Author
James Marten is professor of history at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He is director of the Children in Urban America Project: A Digital Archive.
Table of Contents
Introduction. Children of War
Chapter 1. War Ain't Nuthin' but Hell on Dis Earth: Children, Society, and War
Chapter 2. Fighting against Wrong, and for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful: The War in Children's Literature and Schoolbooks
Chapter 3. When I Come Home Again, I Won't Go Away Any More: Fathers, Brothers, and Children
Chapter 4. We Lived Years in As Many Days: The War Comes to Children
Chapter 5. Rabid Partisans among Their Playmates: Children Respond to the Civil War
Chapter 6. Childhoods Lost and Found: Civil War Children as Adults
Notes
Bibliography
Index