Why read Civil War Monuments and the Militarization of America?

Book cover of Civil War Monuments and the Militarization of America

Book description

This sweeping new assessment of Civil War monuments unveiled in the United States between the 1860s and 1930s argues that they were pivotal to a national embrace of military values. Americans' wariness of standing armies limited construction of war memorials in the early republic, Thomas J. Brown explains, and continued…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Civil War Monuments and the Militarization of America as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Matthew Dennis

Author

Civil War statues have long been the gold standard for America’s monumental public landscape.

They are the public sculptures and architectural features we are now rediscovering, sometimes with horror, and arguing over, after years of mute service as park furniture and pigeon roosts. Brown’s book is a definitive history of these classic, heroic monuments.

Beautifully written, perceptive, and illuminating, it explains their history, offering readers an engaging and invaluable background and context for understanding how and why they were erected, and how they’ve not only reflected American culture but have propelled it, particularly (as the title suggests) towards militarization and…

From Matthew's list on The best books for understanding how and why U.S. public monuments have become so controversial.