They Are Dead and Yet They Live

“This is a book of history like few others—a bold step in the evolution of our understanding of the Civil War. Courageous and sometimes provocative, these essays push us to consider the past in the present—how the tendrils of myth and memory have touched every corner of our social and political community and shape the everyday conversation we have about the nature and future of our nation.”—John Hennessy, National Park Service historian (retired) and author of Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas “Filled with extraordinary research and superb writing, They Are Dead and Yet They Live provides a necessary reckoning with the power the American Civil War still holds over contemporary politics. Moving beyond the well-trod subject of Confederate monuments, the essays cover a range of topics, from renaming U.S. military bases to romance novels, reminding us along the way that the battles to control and leverage the war’s meaning continue to have profound and sometimes even deadly consequences.”—Caroline E. Janney, author of Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation “Brilliantly argued with passion and conviction, They Are Dead and Yet They Live is a timely and provocative reminder of the profound ways the memory of the Civil War influences present-day America. A powerful and riveting read, the book helps explain our recent political and cultural life.”—Ty Seidule, author of Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause