Book Talk: Confederates in the attic: dispatches from the unfinished Civil War

This month's Book Talk features book, Confederates in the attic: dispatches from the unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz.
For all who remain intrigued by the legacy of the Civil War—reenactors, battlefield visitors, Confederate descendants and other Southerners, history fans, students of current racial conflicts, and more—this ten-state adventure is part travelogue, part social commentary and always good-humored.
When prize-winning war correspondent Tony Horwitz leaves the battlefields of Bosnia and the Middle East for a peaceful corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he thinks he's put war zones behind him. But awakened one morning by the crackle of musket fire, Horwitz starts filing front-line dispatches again this time from a war close to home, and to his own heart.
Propelled by his boyhood passion for the Civil War, Horwitz embarks on a search for places and people still held in thrall by America's greatest conflict. In Virginia, Horwitz joins a band of 'hardcore' reenactors who crash-diet to achieve the hollow-eyed look of starved Confederates; in Kentucky, he witnesses Klan rallies and calls for race war sparked by the killing of a white man who brandishes a rebel flag; at Andersonville, he finds that the prison's commander, executed as a war criminal, is now exalted as a martyr and hero; and in the book's climax, Horwitz takes a marathon trek from Antietam to Gettysburg to Appomattox in the company of Robert Lee Hodge, an eccentric pilgrim who dubs their odyssey the 'Civil Wargasm.'
Join us to discuss themes, questions, and what resonated with you during a discussion facilitated by Mary Fox. If you plan to attend, please come to the circulation desk for a free copy (while supplies last).
La Conversación Literaria de este mes presenta: “Confederates in the attic: dispatches from the unfinished Civil War” (Confederados en el ático: envíos desde la inconclusa Guerra Civil), libro escrito por Tony Horwitz.
Para todos aquellos que permanecen intrigados por el legado de la Guerra Civil (recreadores históricos, visitantes de los campos de batalla, descendientes de soldados confederados y otros sureños, entusiastas de la historia, estudiantes con conflictos raciales actuales, etc.) esta aventura a lo largo de 10 estados es, en parte, un diario de viaje; y en parte, comentario social; pero siempre amena.
Cuando el galardonado corresponsal de guerra Tony Horwitz abandona los campos de batalla de Bosnia y el medio oriente para dirigirse a una esquina pacífica en las Montañas de Cresta Azul, él piensa que ha dejado atrás las zonas de conflicto. Pero al despertar una mañana con el crepitar del fuego de los mosquetes, Horwitz comienza a hacer envíos desde la primera línea nuevamente, y esta vez, desde una guerra cercana a su hogar y a su propio corazón.