Synopses & Reviews
In an era that produced Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert E. Lee, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest emerged as a legend in his own right a notorious character of mythic proportions even in his day. In the twenty-first century, his legacy continues to polarize the South: as a symbol of the Lost Cause and hero to working-class Southerners on one hand, and emblem of slavery and lingering racial tensions on the other. In this brisk and lively new book, Paul Ashdown and Edward Caudill explore the creation of this relentless Forrest myth. Scrutinizing literature, art, cinema and popular culture over the past 150 years, the authors contend that the legend is a creation of the nation's literature, its obsession with the Civil War, and its press. Enthralling and informative, this book will captivate readers with the enigma that was Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Synopsis
Ashdown and Caudill explain how one of the Civil War's most colorful and controversial characters became a legend during the war and evolved into a mythical figure after the war and into the 21st century through literature, art, cinema, and TV. As Tony Horwitz discovered in Confederates in the Attic, the legacy of Nathan Bedford Forrest continues to polarize the South even today: as a symbol of the Lost Cause and hero to working-class Southerners on one hand, and emblem of slavery and lingering racial tensions on the other.
Synopsis
In this new book, Paul Ashdown and Edward Caudill explore the creation of the relentless Forrest myth. Scrutinizing literature, art, cinema, and popular culture over the past 150 years, the authors contend that the legend is a creation of the nation's obsession with the Civil War, and its press. This book will captivate readers with the enigma that was Nathan Bedford Forrest
Synopsis
An insightful exploration of the relentless myth of the famous Civil War general, this volume scrutinizes the collective public memory of Nathan Bedford Forrest as it has evolved through the press, memoirs, biographies, and popular culture.