The Tangled Web of the Civil War and Reconstruction : Readings and Writings from a Novelist's Perspective

This unique collection of writings by the celebrated author David Madden provides a multitude of reflections on the Civil War and Reconstruction, from nonfiction to fiction. Included are Madden’s examination of key works by historians James McPherson and Fletcher Pratt, the story of the effort to simultaneously burn nine bridges by nine unionist guerrilla bands in the most complicated and coordinated guerrilla tactic of the war, and rediscoveries of both classic and contemporary works of Civil War fiction from William Faulkner, Joseph Stanley Pennell, and more. Alongside these essays are pieces from Madden’s Civil War novel, Sharpshooter, which illustrate the interconnectedness of fiction and nonfiction. This meshing of iconoclastic and controversial pieces includes varied perspectives on every aspect of the war and reconstruction, from culture and civilian life to an imagining of Abraham Lincoln’s critique of how historians have recorded the war and its aftermath. By exploring this web of perception, we can better understand the war and, in turn, shed greater light on the present and the future. Introduction: "The vibration ripples to the remotest perimeter" Part I. Essays For the new millennium, new perspectives on the Civil War and Reconstruction Fletcher Pratt's A short history of the Civil War: ordeal by fire On James McPherson's for cause and comrades: why men fought in the Civil War Classics of Civil War fiction William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!: Quentin! Listen! Rediscovering a major Civil War novel: Joseph Stanley Pennell's The history of Rome Hanks and Willis Kindred Matters The innocent stare at the Civil War: Madison Jones's Nashville 1863, the dying of the light O. Henry's Civil War surprises The last American epic: the Civil War novels of father and son, Michael and Jeff Shaara The simultaneous burning of nine bridges in East Tennessee Lincoln's Second Gettysburg Address The sinking of the Sultana: a meditation on loss and forgetfulness Part II. Fictional meditations on the Civil War Willis Carr, sharpshooter, at Bleak House, Knoxville Willis Carr meditates on the act of sketching: hair trigger pencil lines Willis Carr, sharpshooter, meditates on photographs A fever of dying: Henrietta Ramsey Lenoir and General William Price Sanders The incendiary at the forks of the river Fragments found on the field: Parson Brownlow and Dr. James Gettys Ramsey.