Confederates In The Attic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Confederates in the Attic |
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| Author | Tony Horwitz |
|---|---|
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical, Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Pantheon |
| Released | 3 March 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| Pages | 432 pp |
| ISBN | 067975833X |
Confederates in the Attic is a work of non-fiction by Pulitzer Prize winning author Tony Horwitz. This, his third book, Horwitz looks to rediscover his childhood obsession with the American Civil War and uncover America's obsession with the war that ended over 140 years ago. In a conversational, travelogue style that covers his adventure across the American South, Horwitz encounters and interprets a war that seems to still be going on.
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[edit] Overview
Tony Horwitz returned from years of traipsing through war zones as a foreign correspondent only to find that his childhood obsession with the Civil War had become a national interest, most notably piqued by Ken Burns' PBS documentary, The Civil War (documentary). Near his house in Virginia, Horwitz encountered people who reenact the Civil War--men who dress up in period costumes and live as Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks. Intrigued, he wound up having some odd, and at times intense, adventures with the "hardcores," the fellows who try to immerse themselves in the war so authentically, from bare-footed marches to day long starvations, hoping to have a "period rush," or as they say, a "Civil War-gasm."
Horwitz spent two years reporting on why Americans are still so obsessed with the war, and the ways in which it resonates today. In the course of his work traveling through South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and the rest of the old Confederate States of America, he made a sobering side trip to cover a murder that was provoked by the display of the Confederate flag. He spoke to people seeking to honor their ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. He encountered daughters, sons, even cats of the Confederacy, some believing the South to be under military occupation. Notably, Horwitz had the opportunity to interview Civil War historian Shelby Foote. Horwitz has a flair for odd details that spark insights, and Confederates in the Attic is a thoughtful and entertaining book that does much to explain America's continuing obsession with the Civil War.
[edit] Personal Life
Horwitz is married to fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Geraldine Brooks.
[edit] Other Works by Horwitz
One for the Road (book)
Baghdad Without A Map
Blue Latitudes
Horwitz is set to release his newest book, A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World in October, 2007.
