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Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era
Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War
More than 60,000 books have been published on the Civil War. Most Americans, though, get their ideas about the war—why it was fought, what was won, what was lost—not from books but from movies, television, and other popular media. In an engaging and accessible survey, renowned Civil War historian Gary Gallagher guides readers through the stories told in recent film and art, showing how they have both reflected and influenced the political, social, and racial currents of their times. Too often these popular portrayals overlook many of the very ideas that motivated the generation that fought the war. The most influential perspective for the Civil War generation, says Gallagher, is almost entirely absent from the Civil War stories being told today.Gallagher argues that popular understandings of the war have been shaped by four traditions that arose in the nineteenth century and continue to the present: the Lost Cause, in which Confederates are seen as having waged an admirable struggle against hopeless odds; the Union Cause, which frames the war as an effort to maintain a viable republic in the face of secessionist actions; the Emancipation Cause, in which the war is viewed as a struggle to liberate 4 million slaves and eliminate a cancerous influence on American society; and the Reconciliation Cause, which represents attempts by northern and southern whites to extol "American" virtues and mute the role of African Americans.
Gallagher traces an arc of cinematic interpretation from one once dominated by the Lost Cause to one now celebrating Emancipation and, to a lesser degree, Reconciliation. In contrast, the market for art among contemporary Civil War enthusiasts reflects an overwhelming Lost Cause bent. Neither film nor art provides sympathetic representations of the Union Cause, which, Gallagher argues, carried the most weight in the Civil War era.
This lively investigation into what popular entertainment teaches us and what it reflects about us will prompt readers to consider how we form opinions on current matters of debate, such as the use of the military, the freedom of dissent, and the flying of the Confederate flag.
Gallagher traces an arc of cinematic interpretation from one once dominated by the Lost Cause to one now celebrating Emancipation and, to a lesser degree, Reconciliation. In contrast, the market for art among contemporary Civil War enthusiasts reflects an overwhelming Lost Cause bent. Neither film nor art provides sympathetic representations of the Union Cause, which, Gallagher argues, carried the most weight in the Civil War era.
This lively investigation into what popular entertainment teaches us and what it reflects about us will prompt readers to consider how we form opinions on current matters of debate, such as the use of the military, the freedom of dissent, and the flying of the Confederate flag.
288 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2008
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157 people want to read
About the author
Gary W. Gallagher
106 books98 followersGary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia, is the author or editor of many books in the field of Civil War history, including The Confederate War; Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War; and The Union War.
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January 5, 2009
I heard Dr. Gallagher speak at a symposium on "New Perspectives on the American Civil War" (http://inauguration.richmond.edu/symp...). His summary of this book made me eager to read it.
Full disclosure: although I went to school in California and Ohio, I was raised with a distinctly Southern take on what I was taught to call the War between the States. I was a teenager before I learned that one could say "Yankee" without a preceding "damn"--and we weren't talking about the baseball team. Maintaining that the War was about "states' rights" was very difficult in my US history classes, and somehow all of the in-class debates were about slavery, which I certainly couldn't defend. I only knew that my mother's family couldn't have been fighting to keep slaves; they were far too poor to have any. That this book explains some of what I experienced made it all the more interesting.
A major theme of this well-documented (about a third of the book is footnotes) but readable book is that the most important aspect of the War when it happened--the preservation of the Union--has been lost in popular representations of the War. This is the 'forgotten' cause of the title. As an historian, Gallagher draws on the letters and memoirs of the combatants themselves to show that the majority of the Union participants fought not for emancipation but to keep the country together. In other words, the political differences between North and South--between indivisible union and the right of states who had voluntarily joined that union to leave it--are very clear in history but ill-served in popular culture, particularly in the movies. He also reminds us that the "Lost Cause" was seen by many Southerners as a continuation of the Revolution, a second war of independence. (That's what my mother was taught in school.)
Gallagher traces how four themes are represented in film and graphics: the 'Lost Cause' of the South, the preservation of the Union, abolition and emancipation, and reconciliation. (The last refers to the idea that the War's participants were honorable people defending differing ideals and picks up Lincoln's "with malice towards none and charity for all.") A fascinating thread traces the impact of the Vietnam War on the representation of soldiers, particularly on the representation of the Union troops. The author is interested as well in how political correctness affects the portrayal of characters in these films, e.g., Nicole Kidman's character in "Cold Mountain."
For most readers, the section on film will be the most interesting. Certainly, Hollywood has had a significant impact on how Americans view the War; "Gone with the Wind," the classic "Lost Cause" movie, is still shown regularly on TV. Most of us are unfamiliar with popular art about the War, and we have probably never even thought about how U.S. postage stamps are marketed. Gallagher's discussion, however, points out how these images represent the four themes and contribute to the popular mythology of the War. He wonders how Lee would react to seeing himself at the center of this mythology.
Gallagher ends by recounting the dispute over the placing of a statue of Lincoln at the Civil War Center in Richmond, Virginia. That this dispute took place in 2003 illustrates the symbolic importance of art in representing the war. (The book was published before the latest episode in the dispute: the proposal to place a statue of Jefferson Davis at the Center, too.) I once heard Ken Burns say that he made his Civil War miniseries because "the War seemed so long ago." Clearly, Burns wasn't brought up in the South.
Full disclosure: although I went to school in California and Ohio, I was raised with a distinctly Southern take on what I was taught to call the War between the States. I was a teenager before I learned that one could say "Yankee" without a preceding "damn"--and we weren't talking about the baseball team. Maintaining that the War was about "states' rights" was very difficult in my US history classes, and somehow all of the in-class debates were about slavery, which I certainly couldn't defend. I only knew that my mother's family couldn't have been fighting to keep slaves; they were far too poor to have any. That this book explains some of what I experienced made it all the more interesting.
A major theme of this well-documented (about a third of the book is footnotes) but readable book is that the most important aspect of the War when it happened--the preservation of the Union--has been lost in popular representations of the War. This is the 'forgotten' cause of the title. As an historian, Gallagher draws on the letters and memoirs of the combatants themselves to show that the majority of the Union participants fought not for emancipation but to keep the country together. In other words, the political differences between North and South--between indivisible union and the right of states who had voluntarily joined that union to leave it--are very clear in history but ill-served in popular culture, particularly in the movies. He also reminds us that the "Lost Cause" was seen by many Southerners as a continuation of the Revolution, a second war of independence. (That's what my mother was taught in school.)
Gallagher traces how four themes are represented in film and graphics: the 'Lost Cause' of the South, the preservation of the Union, abolition and emancipation, and reconciliation. (The last refers to the idea that the War's participants were honorable people defending differing ideals and picks up Lincoln's "with malice towards none and charity for all.") A fascinating thread traces the impact of the Vietnam War on the representation of soldiers, particularly on the representation of the Union troops. The author is interested as well in how political correctness affects the portrayal of characters in these films, e.g., Nicole Kidman's character in "Cold Mountain."
For most readers, the section on film will be the most interesting. Certainly, Hollywood has had a significant impact on how Americans view the War; "Gone with the Wind," the classic "Lost Cause" movie, is still shown regularly on TV. Most of us are unfamiliar with popular art about the War, and we have probably never even thought about how U.S. postage stamps are marketed. Gallagher's discussion, however, points out how these images represent the four themes and contribute to the popular mythology of the War. He wonders how Lee would react to seeing himself at the center of this mythology.
Gallagher ends by recounting the dispute over the placing of a statue of Lincoln at the Civil War Center in Richmond, Virginia. That this dispute took place in 2003 illustrates the symbolic importance of art in representing the war. (The book was published before the latest episode in the dispute: the proposal to place a statue of Jefferson Davis at the Center, too.) I once heard Ken Burns say that he made his Civil War miniseries because "the War seemed so long ago." Clearly, Burns wasn't brought up in the South.
January 8, 2022
Of all wall art about American history, the Civil War is the most popular subject. There Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson outsell by many times Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. Even Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, commander of the 20th Maine infantry regiment and defender of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg, is a more popular subject of popular prints than Grant, victor of Appomattox, not to mention Chamberlain's own commander at Gettysburg, General George Gordon Meade.
Blame Michael Shaara's 1974 novel "The Killer Angels" and the film it inspired in 1993, "Gettysburg" by Ron Maxwell. Novels and films influence ordinary Americans' knowledge of history in general and the Civil War in particular far more than the work of historians.
Looking at pop cultural depictions of the events and people of the Civil War shows how what the public today cares about differs both from what Americans thought in the nineteenth century and what historians today say were the facts of the period.
Loyal Americans of the time knew that slavery was the cause of the war, even though white people in the North fought to save the Union first and end slavery second. Black people in both sections were overjoyed to find a chance to seize their freedom and for them, the war was always about emancipation.
But many white Southerners were sore losers who grudgingly accepted the fact of defeat but not its moral or legal consequences. They came up with the story of the "Lost Cause of the Confederacy" to justify secession, find honor in defeat and deny the role of slavery.
Finally, leaders like Lincoln and Grant offered a lenient peace to rebels who would lay down their arms, helping to set the stage for a story of the war that was about reconciliation. Later, this story became a way for white Northerners and Southerners to clasp hands as long as neither side talked about race.
The most important leaders of the war for loyal Americans were Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. Their faces were on prints all across the North well into the 20th century.
The first Civil War movies, especially the two blockbusters "Birth of a Nation" and "Gone with the Wind," celebrated the Lost Cause, with a bit of reconciliation thrown in. After the civil rights movement, movies switched over to a narrative of emancipation, with "Glory" in 1989, or merely a post-Vietnam malaise, where both sides fight brutally for no good reason, as seen in "Cold Mountain."
As to wall art, since the late 20th century, the top selling subjects of Civil War art from such historical painters as Mort Kunstler, Don Troiani and Dale Gallon are mostly Confederate -- Lee, Jackson, Longstreet, Pickett, and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Lincoln still moves merchandise, but Grant and top Union generals do poorly among collectors of Civil War art.
Today, the Civil War remains the most popular topic in American history for the ordinary person. But it's more popular among Southerners and even non-Southerners who romanticize the Confederacy as more dashing or sympathize with them as underdogs. Civil War fans remain generally lukewarm on Union leaders and the Union story.
But BLM and related efforts to remove Confederate statues and flags have spoiled some of the romance for the ordinary Civil War enthusiast. So, it's a question whether the Civil War will remain popular or if it will start to fade away if Confederate images become less acceptable in polite society. As ordinary white people from Georgia to California take down their Kunstler print of Stonewall Jackson entering Winchester bedecked in Confederate flags or William L. Maughan's portrait of Robert E. Lee reading the Bible to a child asleep on the general's lap, they probably won't replace them with prints of Grant at Vicksburg or Sherman on his March to the Sea.
Blame Michael Shaara's 1974 novel "The Killer Angels" and the film it inspired in 1993, "Gettysburg" by Ron Maxwell. Novels and films influence ordinary Americans' knowledge of history in general and the Civil War in particular far more than the work of historians.
Looking at pop cultural depictions of the events and people of the Civil War shows how what the public today cares about differs both from what Americans thought in the nineteenth century and what historians today say were the facts of the period.
Loyal Americans of the time knew that slavery was the cause of the war, even though white people in the North fought to save the Union first and end slavery second. Black people in both sections were overjoyed to find a chance to seize their freedom and for them, the war was always about emancipation.
But many white Southerners were sore losers who grudgingly accepted the fact of defeat but not its moral or legal consequences. They came up with the story of the "Lost Cause of the Confederacy" to justify secession, find honor in defeat and deny the role of slavery.
Finally, leaders like Lincoln and Grant offered a lenient peace to rebels who would lay down their arms, helping to set the stage for a story of the war that was about reconciliation. Later, this story became a way for white Northerners and Southerners to clasp hands as long as neither side talked about race.
The most important leaders of the war for loyal Americans were Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. Their faces were on prints all across the North well into the 20th century.
The first Civil War movies, especially the two blockbusters "Birth of a Nation" and "Gone with the Wind," celebrated the Lost Cause, with a bit of reconciliation thrown in. After the civil rights movement, movies switched over to a narrative of emancipation, with "Glory" in 1989, or merely a post-Vietnam malaise, where both sides fight brutally for no good reason, as seen in "Cold Mountain."
As to wall art, since the late 20th century, the top selling subjects of Civil War art from such historical painters as Mort Kunstler, Don Troiani and Dale Gallon are mostly Confederate -- Lee, Jackson, Longstreet, Pickett, and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Lincoln still moves merchandise, but Grant and top Union generals do poorly among collectors of Civil War art.
Today, the Civil War remains the most popular topic in American history for the ordinary person. But it's more popular among Southerners and even non-Southerners who romanticize the Confederacy as more dashing or sympathize with them as underdogs. Civil War fans remain generally lukewarm on Union leaders and the Union story.
But BLM and related efforts to remove Confederate statues and flags have spoiled some of the romance for the ordinary Civil War enthusiast. So, it's a question whether the Civil War will remain popular or if it will start to fade away if Confederate images become less acceptable in polite society. As ordinary white people from Georgia to California take down their Kunstler print of Stonewall Jackson entering Winchester bedecked in Confederate flags or William L. Maughan's portrait of Robert E. Lee reading the Bible to a child asleep on the general's lap, they probably won't replace them with prints of Grant at Vicksburg or Sherman on his March to the Sea.
December 21, 2016
Review title: History maybe written by the winners, but popular culture by the losers
The American Civil War was the most dramatic and influential period of American history, and it continues to shape our culture, politics, and literature over a century later. In fact these influences are so strong on the popular culture (movies and art) that they threaten to rewrite the history, as Gary Gallagher documents in this lively and scholarly study focusing on recent Civil War movies and art.
Gallagher starts by describing the four traditional interpretations of the war:
1. The Lost Cause of the gallant but outmanned South attempting to preserve the American Revolutionary tradition of liberty and States Rights against the invading North.
2. The Union Cause to preserve the union by forcing the secessionists back into the Union at any cost. In this view, slavery is not the cause of the war and abolition is not essential for victory.
3. The Emancipation Cause that the war would not be victorious unless and until slavery was abolished throughout the whole Union.
4. The Reconciliation Cause focused on reuniting and "binding the wounds" of the war, welcoming the prodigal South and her soldiers back to restore the common ground of American life as before the war (minus slavery but without disruption to the white majority way of life).
He then outlines how the generation in living memory of the war (from 1865 to approximately 1915) established these traditions in writing--histories and memoirs--and culture--art, monuments, and eventually film. D. W. Griffith's classic "The Birth of a Nation" portrayed the Lost Cause, including the rise of the Klan, with a racist fervor, while 30 years later the blockbuster "Gone with the Wind" combines Lost Cause sentiments with a "what's in it for me" individualism personified by Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.
The main body of Causes is taken up by Gallagher's assessment of recent Civil War movies and art against the four interpretive traditions. After "Gone With the Wind", the war as a movie subject or backdrop fell out of favor until "Glory" in 1989 told the story of black Union soldiers, followed by a dozen or so movies in the next 20 years, including mostly notably the adaptations of Michael Shaara's bestselling historical novels "Gettysburg" (1993) and "God's and Generals" (2003). Gallagher documents the shift away from the Lost Cause to varying mixes of Emancipation and Reconciliation, but an almost total absence of the Union Cause which predominanted among much of the living memories of the northern veterans.
While Gallagher prefaces the study with the disclaimer that he is a professional historian and not a movie critic, his writing is both historically rigorous and artistically engaging. Readers approaching from either perspective will find Causes satisfying from both. "Gettysburg" is a favorite of mine, and Gallagher highlighted some of my favorite scenes while showing how the movie's storytelling fits into the four interpretive traditions and how that has influenced my perception of the history of the War.
When Gallagher turns his attention to the modern Civil War collectible art, he shows how Gettysburg's strong influence has been felt in the artwork: battlefield scenes from the three days in Pennsylvania now predominate over other battlefields, and many of the numerous paintings that depict Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet look more like the actors from the movie than the photographs and portraits of the actual men! In fact, the analysis of artwork from 1962 to 1996 shows a large numerical superiority (both absolute and relative) of Confederate subjects, often in Lost Cause settings. Lee and his eccentric partner in arms Stonewall Jackson are represented in such large numbers in such positive settings that viewers of the artwork could be forgiven for assuming that they represented the winning side in the war, and that they weren't fighting for the Confederacy and therefore for preservation of human slavery. I am no art collector or aficionado, but the numerous reproductions of the art which Gallagher describes clearly buttresses his argument.
The Civil War is the most intensely documented period of American history, so it is both amazing and frightening that representations of the war in popular culture can so influence Americans perceptions and "knowledge" of it. And the topic is of more than mere academic interest; witness the virulent and sometimes violent disagreements over symbols like the Confederate battle flag (which were almost completely absent from art of the 19th century but have become central to modern art). I was born and lived several years in Pennsylvania less than an hour drive from Gettysburg, and I have lived for 12 years in Raleigh, North Carolina, so I can assure you that many people on both sides of the border are still fighting the Civil War. Gallagher has done a great job showing how that interpretive battle is still be waged on movie screens and artists' canvases.
The American Civil War was the most dramatic and influential period of American history, and it continues to shape our culture, politics, and literature over a century later. In fact these influences are so strong on the popular culture (movies and art) that they threaten to rewrite the history, as Gary Gallagher documents in this lively and scholarly study focusing on recent Civil War movies and art.
Gallagher starts by describing the four traditional interpretations of the war:
1. The Lost Cause of the gallant but outmanned South attempting to preserve the American Revolutionary tradition of liberty and States Rights against the invading North.
2. The Union Cause to preserve the union by forcing the secessionists back into the Union at any cost. In this view, slavery is not the cause of the war and abolition is not essential for victory.
3. The Emancipation Cause that the war would not be victorious unless and until slavery was abolished throughout the whole Union.
4. The Reconciliation Cause focused on reuniting and "binding the wounds" of the war, welcoming the prodigal South and her soldiers back to restore the common ground of American life as before the war (minus slavery but without disruption to the white majority way of life).
He then outlines how the generation in living memory of the war (from 1865 to approximately 1915) established these traditions in writing--histories and memoirs--and culture--art, monuments, and eventually film. D. W. Griffith's classic "The Birth of a Nation" portrayed the Lost Cause, including the rise of the Klan, with a racist fervor, while 30 years later the blockbuster "Gone with the Wind" combines Lost Cause sentiments with a "what's in it for me" individualism personified by Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.
The main body of Causes is taken up by Gallagher's assessment of recent Civil War movies and art against the four interpretive traditions. After "Gone With the Wind", the war as a movie subject or backdrop fell out of favor until "Glory" in 1989 told the story of black Union soldiers, followed by a dozen or so movies in the next 20 years, including mostly notably the adaptations of Michael Shaara's bestselling historical novels "Gettysburg" (1993) and "God's and Generals" (2003). Gallagher documents the shift away from the Lost Cause to varying mixes of Emancipation and Reconciliation, but an almost total absence of the Union Cause which predominanted among much of the living memories of the northern veterans.
While Gallagher prefaces the study with the disclaimer that he is a professional historian and not a movie critic, his writing is both historically rigorous and artistically engaging. Readers approaching from either perspective will find Causes satisfying from both. "Gettysburg" is a favorite of mine, and Gallagher highlighted some of my favorite scenes while showing how the movie's storytelling fits into the four interpretive traditions and how that has influenced my perception of the history of the War.
When Gallagher turns his attention to the modern Civil War collectible art, he shows how Gettysburg's strong influence has been felt in the artwork: battlefield scenes from the three days in Pennsylvania now predominate over other battlefields, and many of the numerous paintings that depict Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet look more like the actors from the movie than the photographs and portraits of the actual men! In fact, the analysis of artwork from 1962 to 1996 shows a large numerical superiority (both absolute and relative) of Confederate subjects, often in Lost Cause settings. Lee and his eccentric partner in arms Stonewall Jackson are represented in such large numbers in such positive settings that viewers of the artwork could be forgiven for assuming that they represented the winning side in the war, and that they weren't fighting for the Confederacy and therefore for preservation of human slavery. I am no art collector or aficionado, but the numerous reproductions of the art which Gallagher describes clearly buttresses his argument.
The Civil War is the most intensely documented period of American history, so it is both amazing and frightening that representations of the war in popular culture can so influence Americans perceptions and "knowledge" of it. And the topic is of more than mere academic interest; witness the virulent and sometimes violent disagreements over symbols like the Confederate battle flag (which were almost completely absent from art of the 19th century but have become central to modern art). I was born and lived several years in Pennsylvania less than an hour drive from Gettysburg, and I have lived for 12 years in Raleigh, North Carolina, so I can assure you that many people on both sides of the border are still fighting the Civil War. Gallagher has done a great job showing how that interpretive battle is still be waged on movie screens and artists' canvases.
July 20, 2009
I have reviewed quite a few Civil War books before. This is another of the genre--but with an interesting difference. This is not so much about the conduct of the war itself as about how Hollywood and popular art have treated the Civil War and how their portrayals might be related to what people know about the Civil War. The methodology of this study is pretty straightforward: Gallagher explores a limited number of movies about the conflict--from "Birth of a Nation" and "Gone with the Wind" to "Gettysburg," "Glory," "Red Badge of Courage," "Cold Mountain," "The Horse Soldiers," with passing references to other movies such as "The Outlaw Josie Wales." In addition, he examines the art of such well known Civil War artists as Dan Troiani.
He begins by positing four images of the Civil War--(a) The Lost Cause (the Confederacy as doomed by superior Union resources, while fighting for Constitutional purity; (b) The Union Cause (the attempt by the North to preserve a national republic in the face of secession); (c) The Emancipation Cause (an interpretation of the Civil War as attempting to end slavery); (d) the Reconciliation Cause (emphasizing the common traditions and values of both parties in the struggle). In addition, he notes how coverage sometimes emphasizes heroes/actions that may overplay some actors and underplay the work of others.
This is an interesting book to consider. Gallagher does a nice job examining each of the movies that he discusses (and the art that he considers, many pieces of which are displayed in the penultimate chapter). He also makes a strong case that the recent focus on Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain may be explainable by three events: Ken Burns' PBS series on the Civil War, the book "The Killer Angels," and the movie "Gettysburg." He suggests that there were other Union units facing even more difficult circumstances at Gettysburg--and did not get half the acclaim as the stand of the 20th Maine. Indeed, there are those who claim that Chamberlain did a nice job of self-promotion with his various books and speeches after the Civil War (personally, given his entire body of work as an officer, I think he had an estimable record--but I do understand the argument very well, exemplified by his rather churlish response to his opponent, Colonel Oates, years later).
Still, how much can one claim based on a small set of movies? What is the evidence that these selected movies and objets d'art have had much impact on our view of the Civil War? I think that Gallagher raises important issues and questions. I'm not so sure that he attains the goals he set for himself. Nonetheless, an interesting view of the Civil War through the prism of popular art.
He begins by positing four images of the Civil War--(a) The Lost Cause (the Confederacy as doomed by superior Union resources, while fighting for Constitutional purity; (b) The Union Cause (the attempt by the North to preserve a national republic in the face of secession); (c) The Emancipation Cause (an interpretation of the Civil War as attempting to end slavery); (d) the Reconciliation Cause (emphasizing the common traditions and values of both parties in the struggle). In addition, he notes how coverage sometimes emphasizes heroes/actions that may overplay some actors and underplay the work of others.
This is an interesting book to consider. Gallagher does a nice job examining each of the movies that he discusses (and the art that he considers, many pieces of which are displayed in the penultimate chapter). He also makes a strong case that the recent focus on Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain may be explainable by three events: Ken Burns' PBS series on the Civil War, the book "The Killer Angels," and the movie "Gettysburg." He suggests that there were other Union units facing even more difficult circumstances at Gettysburg--and did not get half the acclaim as the stand of the 20th Maine. Indeed, there are those who claim that Chamberlain did a nice job of self-promotion with his various books and speeches after the Civil War (personally, given his entire body of work as an officer, I think he had an estimable record--but I do understand the argument very well, exemplified by his rather churlish response to his opponent, Colonel Oates, years later).
Still, how much can one claim based on a small set of movies? What is the evidence that these selected movies and objets d'art have had much impact on our view of the Civil War? I think that Gallagher raises important issues and questions. I'm not so sure that he attains the goals he set for himself. Nonetheless, an interesting view of the Civil War through the prism of popular art.
June 27, 2019
A book worth reading just for Gallagher's insights into how influential the film Gettysburg (1993) has been on the zeitgeist - from making Civil War soldiers look more like their Hollywood counterparts in contemporary artwork, to shifting how and what we deem "important" at the battlefield. Eye-opening to say the least.
June 25, 2020
This was interesting enough but I have to admit that it kind of dragged in places.
This book describes the various competing narratives of the American Civil War as filtered through movies and art though the years.
Apparently a lot of people get their history from movies.
I honestly never guessed it could be so boring, especially the chapter about art. Who knew that endless paintings of Confederate generals gallantly losing the Civil War and failing to prevent the end of slavery would be so popular. I don’t care how chivalrous they looked, I’m just glad they lost.
Good source material if you’re doing research, I suppose.
This book describes the various competing narratives of the American Civil War as filtered through movies and art though the years.
Apparently a lot of people get their history from movies.
I honestly never guessed it could be so boring, especially the chapter about art. Who knew that endless paintings of Confederate generals gallantly losing the Civil War and failing to prevent the end of slavery would be so popular. I don’t care how chivalrous they looked, I’m just glad they lost.
Good source material if you’re doing research, I suppose.
July 7, 2019
Causes Won, Lost and Forgotten by Gary Gallagher.
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
This book makes a nice companion to Edward Bonekemper’s the Myth of the Lost Cause. Historian Gary Gallagher examines the last 100 years of popular depiction of the Civil War. He divides these depictions into four traditions: the Lost Cause Tradition (“LCT”), the Emancipation Tradition (“ET”), the Reconciliation Tradition (“RT”) and the Union Tradition (“UT”).
Without a doubt, the LCT has held predominance with movies like Gone with the Wind and Birth of a Nation and other movies. The LCT presents the South as a lost civilization filled with nobility and grace, conveniently ignoring slavery, except where supportive slaves can be presented.
The ET has taken the lead in recent years, starting with the movie “Glory.” The ET makes emancipation the defining issue of the Civil War.
The UT actually was the issue that initially motivated most Northerners to fight. Gallagher argues that modern Americans do not respond to appeals to “the mystic chords of memories” like our ancestors did because Union is not a contested concept.
Finally, the RT promotes the notion of a common bond that underlay both Northerners and Southerners.
Gallagher exemplifies these different traditions by citing movies and artwork. The predominance of the LCT is shown to continue in the sale of Civil War art as part of which the overwhelming interest is in depictions of Southern generals and Southern war scenes.
I enjoyed this book in part because of the discussion of movies that I haven’t seen, but now want to see. Likewise, Gallagher’s presentation of the four traditions offers a way of examining the presuppositions by which we understand the Civil War.
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
This book makes a nice companion to Edward Bonekemper’s the Myth of the Lost Cause. Historian Gary Gallagher examines the last 100 years of popular depiction of the Civil War. He divides these depictions into four traditions: the Lost Cause Tradition (“LCT”), the Emancipation Tradition (“ET”), the Reconciliation Tradition (“RT”) and the Union Tradition (“UT”).
Without a doubt, the LCT has held predominance with movies like Gone with the Wind and Birth of a Nation and other movies. The LCT presents the South as a lost civilization filled with nobility and grace, conveniently ignoring slavery, except where supportive slaves can be presented.
The ET has taken the lead in recent years, starting with the movie “Glory.” The ET makes emancipation the defining issue of the Civil War.
The UT actually was the issue that initially motivated most Northerners to fight. Gallagher argues that modern Americans do not respond to appeals to “the mystic chords of memories” like our ancestors did because Union is not a contested concept.
Finally, the RT promotes the notion of a common bond that underlay both Northerners and Southerners.
Gallagher exemplifies these different traditions by citing movies and artwork. The predominance of the LCT is shown to continue in the sale of Civil War art as part of which the overwhelming interest is in depictions of Southern generals and Southern war scenes.
I enjoyed this book in part because of the discussion of movies that I haven’t seen, but now want to see. Likewise, Gallagher’s presentation of the four traditions offers a way of examining the presuppositions by which we understand the Civil War.
January 6, 2020
Gallagher's book neatly divides treatment of the Civil War into four major categories. He also explores how backlash from the Vietnam War has influenced the way Americans view the Civil War and the behavior by the Union forces. He also examines the treatment of Civil War leaders in art and two things clearly emerge from this book. One is that the Lost Cause philosophy is the most prevalent of the schools of thought concerning the Civil War, certainly where Hollywood is concerned. The notion of Christian and gallant Confederates standing up to insurmountable odds from the Federals seems in conflict with actual historical evidence. Yet this is the version Hollywood has most consistently embraced. Secondly, the artistic portrayals of Confederate generals and battles dwarfs the number of portrayals of the "victors" of this conflict. This fact echoes the deep feelings regarding the Civil War well over a hundred years after its close. The book is well-argued and organized and certainly provides more food for thought about this eternal conflict between the North and the South.
June 23, 2011
Generally good review of how the Civil War has been treated in movies and popular art. Gallagher focuses on four themes that seem to be the most prevalent in popular art - The Southern Lost Cause, Emancipation, Reconciliation between North and South, and the North's fight for Union. He comes to the conclusion that the South predominates the public perception of the War and that the motives of the North in fighting of the war have been obscured in the media and thus in the minds of the general public. The biggest quibble I have with the book is that apart from discussions of Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind, the films he analyzes are almost exclusively from the last 20 years or so. A more thorough analysis over time would have been welcome, although honestly, I don't know if any conclusion would have been different
October 12, 2015
I put this on my to-read list after seeing it at a Civil War battlefield gift store some years ago that we were visiting with the kids on a family Spring Break. I like Civil War history and film, so I was intrigued.
The book wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. I didn't really care about the popular art portion, although it is interesting how popular Confederate themes still are. I liked the film discussion, but I found myself wishing for a more in depth discussion of the different "interpretations" of the war: Lost Cause, Reconciliation, Emancipation, and Union. The author did a good job with the film examples, but I wanted more.
Still, I had to round up to 4 stars. The book made me want to re-watch several of these films with a more critical eye as to which interpretation is being presented.
The book wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. I didn't really care about the popular art portion, although it is interesting how popular Confederate themes still are. I liked the film discussion, but I found myself wishing for a more in depth discussion of the different "interpretations" of the war: Lost Cause, Reconciliation, Emancipation, and Union. The author did a good job with the film examples, but I wanted more.
Still, I had to round up to 4 stars. The book made me want to re-watch several of these films with a more critical eye as to which interpretation is being presented.
July 26, 2011
Prof. Gallagher provides an excellent summary of what I have found to be an interesting (and disturbing) phenomenon - the disappearance of the preservation of the Union as a motivating force for the North in the Civil War and the continuing prevalence of elements of the "Lost Cause" view and negative portrayals of Federal soldiers - and idealistic portrayals of Confederate ones - in film and in art. Having recently visited three Civil War sites with my children, and observed the National Park Service interpretations as well as materials in the visitors' centers and bookstores, his book was very timely for me. This work is clear, succinct, and very well-sourced and footnoted.
May 17, 2016
This is a must-read for anyone who enjoys Civil War movies and art. As with practically everything, Hollywood's take on the Civil War is almost always wrong. As Gallagher demonstrates, in no way is this fact more evident than the lack of attention paid to "the Union" as the main cause for which most Northerners fought. The problem is not so much that people buy Civil War artwork and films (in many ways we "need" them to make sense of the conflict) but that they learn their "history" from those sources, alone. As always, Gallagher did his research well! The book is engaging and among the most satisfying and worthwhile Civil War books I have recently read!
February 29, 2020
This was great insight as how the war impacted the memories of Americans after the war and into future generations. It specifically deals with the Lost Cause, Emancipationist, Reconliationist, and Union views of how the war is remebered through film, books, and art. A very good analysis of hiw the Civil War is impacting American society today in the twenty-first century!
August 11, 2022
f you are interested in how the Civil War is presented in film and art then this is definitely a book you should check out. The book examines the evolution of historical memory in film and art and provides a unique way of thinking about historical concepts. Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know About the Civil War examines the four popular traditions of interpreting the Civil War in popular culture (the Lost Cause, the Union Cause, the Emancipation Cause, and the Reconciliation Cause). Gallagher examines how each of these distinctive ideologies has been portrayed in film and art and how this has evolved over time. While each of the four ideologies are examined a large amount of time is spent examining the Lost Cause and the Union Cause. Gallagher argues that film and art have done more to shape the idea of the Lost Cause than professional historians. "More people have formed perceptions about the Civil War from watching Gone with the Wind (GWTW) than from reading all the books written by historians since Selznick’s blockbuster debuted in 1939.”[1] Gallagher stresses that out of all the films which portray the Civil War Gone with the Wind has had the most powerful influence on perceptions of the Civil War. He argues that the film is one of the reasons that the Lost Cause has been allowed to flourish in films with a shift away from this only beginning to take place in the late 1980's. When it comes to the Union Cause, Gallagher asserts that it holds a weak presence in film and art. He doesn't feel that any scene in film or art has been able to capture the devotion to the Union which animated those in the North during the Civil War. He attributes this failure to how popular culture has lost sight of the idea of nationalism as a motivating force. Instead portrayals of Union Cause focus on illustrating comradeship as the factor that bonds Union soldiers together and motivates them to fight. Gallagher argues that films not only suffer to depict this Cause but also have shifted to portraying Union soldiers in a negative ways. He attributes this to Hollywood's choice to cast the United States Army in a post-Vietnam light. While the Lost Cause has captivated Hollywood and popular opinion Gallagher believes that that the Union Cause is “Hollywood’s real lost cause. Lincoln’s vision of a democratic nation devoted to economic opportunity would seem an attractive theme, but it remains largely unexplored in the Civil War genre.”[2] Overall, Gallagher's book provides a concise overview of the history of the Civil War in film and art. Gallagher even manages to highlight how the current reality can and does impact our memory of past events. A point he most clearly illustrates through discussion of the Union Cause.
[1]Gary W. Gallagher, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2008),10.
[2]Gary Gallagher, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten, 114.
[1]Gary W. Gallagher, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2008),10.
[2]Gary Gallagher, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten, 114.
August 15, 2020
Concerning the Civil War, Gallagher identifies four interpretive themes that recur in cinema and artwork. The first tradition is “the lost cause” tradition. Lost Cause narratives cast the South’s experiment in nation building as an admirable struggle against hopeless odds, play down the importance of slavery in bringing secession and war, and describe a Confederate’s constitutional high-mindedness and gallantry on the battlefield. Another tradition is “the Union Cause,” which frames the war as pre-eminently an effort to maintain a viable republic in the face of secessionist actions that threatened both the work of the founders, and by extension, the future of democracy, in a world that had yet to embrace self-rule by a free people. The third tradition is “the emancipation cause” tradition, which interprets the war as a struggle to liberate four million slaves, and remove a cancerous influence on American society and politics. The fourth tradition is “the reconciliation cause” tradition, which is an attempt by white people in both north and south to extol American virtues that both sides manifested during the war, to exalt the restored nation that emerged from the conflict, and to mute the role of African Americans.
Gallagher states in the introduction that this book had been one of his favorite and most enjoyable projects, and indeed, I often found it to be an engaging read. On the other hand, the very concept of the book sometimes poses a barrier to engagement. Gallagher examines themes such as how different movies conform with the four narrative traditions. Thus, for example, “Glory” is very much in the “emancipation cause” tradition, while “Gods and Generals” is a throwback “lost cause” portrayal. It is not exactly necessary to have seen the films in question, but it sure would help. This is especially so, given that Gallagher doesn’t describe any single movie in a cohesive block, but rather tends to talk about all his selected films in a recursive manner, returning to them again and again as he explores different themes. Not that one would expect to be told which movies are worth seeing, but I am left with a foggy understanding of how the different films rank in terms of historical accuracy.
The latter part of the book contains an interesting analysis of advertising for Civil War prints, taken from decades of niche Civil War magazines. The continued (even increasing) popularity of prints of Confederate figures is a testament to the success of the historical revisionism inherent in the Lost Cause narrative. For example, Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson rank first and second in overall popularity of prints; the top ten rankings include Lincoln third, US Grant a paltry ninth, with the rest of the top ten comprised of various Confederate figures. The author does little to expand on the observation that these popularity rankings are cockeyed; his purpose is mainly to describe. It is up to you as the reader to infer significance from the descriptions.
Gallagher states in the introduction that this book had been one of his favorite and most enjoyable projects, and indeed, I often found it to be an engaging read. On the other hand, the very concept of the book sometimes poses a barrier to engagement. Gallagher examines themes such as how different movies conform with the four narrative traditions. Thus, for example, “Glory” is very much in the “emancipation cause” tradition, while “Gods and Generals” is a throwback “lost cause” portrayal. It is not exactly necessary to have seen the films in question, but it sure would help. This is especially so, given that Gallagher doesn’t describe any single movie in a cohesive block, but rather tends to talk about all his selected films in a recursive manner, returning to them again and again as he explores different themes. Not that one would expect to be told which movies are worth seeing, but I am left with a foggy understanding of how the different films rank in terms of historical accuracy.
The latter part of the book contains an interesting analysis of advertising for Civil War prints, taken from decades of niche Civil War magazines. The continued (even increasing) popularity of prints of Confederate figures is a testament to the success of the historical revisionism inherent in the Lost Cause narrative. For example, Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson rank first and second in overall popularity of prints; the top ten rankings include Lincoln third, US Grant a paltry ninth, with the rest of the top ten comprised of various Confederate figures. The author does little to expand on the observation that these popularity rankings are cockeyed; his purpose is mainly to describe. It is up to you as the reader to infer significance from the descriptions.
July 5, 2025
(Audiobook) An interesting look at how the Civil War was and is portrayed in art and the movies. It shows how the respective historical narratives about the Civil War play out in non-academic writings. The Lost Cause is a major influence in some key areas, especially in the movies, as two of the biggest movies of all time (Brith of Nation and Gone with the Wind) are advocates for that narrative about the Confederacy. Yet, as society’s views on the war evolve, so to do the views of the Civil War and how they are portrayed in art. Glory started a new wave that put the Union in a better light and highlighted the issues of slavery and the plight of Black/African-Americans in that conflict. Also, it was interesting to see the perspective on painted artwork. Not really surprised that Confederate artwork would sell well, especially with Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
Overall, an intriguing/fun read about the impact of the Civil War. You will learn a lot about how we in America view the war, and how there are many different perspectives on that war. The rating is the same regardless of format.
Overall, an intriguing/fun read about the impact of the Civil War. You will learn a lot about how we in America view the war, and how there are many different perspectives on that war. The rating is the same regardless of format.
February 24, 2023
Well written and extensively researched, Gary Gallagher offers and enlightening record of how the 4 different causes - The Lost Cause, The Union Cause, The Emancipation Cause and the Reconciliation Cause have fared in books, movies and art. Any student of the conflict (Civil War, War between the States, War of Northern Aggression or whatever one chooses to call it) will recognize that the North won the War but the South has won the war of words, the remembrance of "heroes" and the primary place in movies, books and art. Mr. Gallagher offers not only statistics but offers opinions based on research on why this is so, and why certain historical figures and places resonate more with the public. If you loved the movie Gettysburg - Read this book. If Gone with the Wind was your first introduction to the Civil War - Read this book. The book is a quick read with many illustrations adding to the prose.
June 24, 2021
More than anything else I appreciate the concept behind this book. And by that I mean the fact that so much of Education today has been watered down to practical means that we end up taking away Impressions from pop culture television and movies. To what extent each individual is influenced by this and other cursory examination of Any Given subject it would be difficult to tell but I suspect it is significant.
April 16, 2023
Disappointed with this one. I won't deny Gallagher knows his Civil War history, but he does a poor job of executing his arguments. He tries to claim immunity at the beginning and says he's not a film or art historian, but if you want to effectively write a book about how film and art memorializes the Civil War...maybe you should at least TRY to engage with film and art history?
May 12, 2019
I think Dr. Gallagher is having fun (anyone who hears his lectures can sense he enjoys what he’s doing) here, reviewing films and art with Civil War subjects. What he finds, in this quick and easy read, is while the Union won the war, someone else won the its depiction.
May 1, 2022
interesting read with its own historiographical points while also representing opposing views
January 19, 2015
I really expected to like this little book more, and parts of it are really fun and fascinating. But those are the parts that I had seen the movies he was writing about -- otherwise, (or lots of the other movies he writes about) so I was a bit lost and skimmed through several parts. I've never seen "Birth of a Nation," but if you have, you would probably enjoy this book. It sure made me think about and enjoy Gone with the Wind and Cold Mountain more!
Having said that, since it's written for a general audience, the breakdown of perspectives of the legacy of the Civil War is very interesting: Cultural depictions (as well as people in general) usually subscribe to one of 4 (sometimes overlapping) perspectives: Union, Lost Cause, Emancipation, Reconciliation, and watching movies with that in mind is fascinating.
Having said that, since it's written for a general audience, the breakdown of perspectives of the legacy of the Civil War is very interesting: Cultural depictions (as well as people in general) usually subscribe to one of 4 (sometimes overlapping) perspectives: Union, Lost Cause, Emancipation, Reconciliation, and watching movies with that in mind is fascinating.
January 4, 2015
If you do not already have interest in the movies or the War, there is nothing I could say that would change that. The middle third is where the real film analysis takes place and explores some of the lesser discussed works from both mid-century and today. You may want to spend time in the first section to refresh your War knowledge in order to understand the authors' themes, which include Lost Cause, Preserve the Union, Emancipation, Reconciliation, and the like. The last 2 chapters shift attention to Civil War art, which did not hold my interest.
This is an academic approach of the type you might be assigned in your Short Term class. In fact, I recommend this as a humanities seminar right now, using this film list, which purposely does NOT include GWTW or BOAN.
This is an academic approach of the type you might be assigned in your Short Term class. In fact, I recommend this as a humanities seminar right now, using this film list, which purposely does NOT include GWTW or BOAN.
May 30, 2008
This book presents an even-handed and entertaining account of the way the Civil War appears in Hollywood movies and visual art. Focusing most specifically on the last twenty years, Gallagher identifies four responses to the Civil War (Lost Cause, Unionist, Emancipation, and Reconciliation) and tracks Hollywood's increasingly Emancipationist films in contrast to Lost Cause visual art. He concludes that the most remarkable aspect of the nation's memory of the Civil War is its disregard of the strong Unionist sentiments of the North. Altogether a very enjoyable read.
October 19, 2015
A well-written, interesting, and easily read book about the treatment of the Civil War in popular films and art in the past generation. The author demonstrates how some of the portrayals--particularly the "Lost Cause" tradition, date back to Rebel apologists immediately after Appomattox.
August 8, 2009
It was ok, but more scholarly than I wanted right now, which is what I think my problem was with it. I just wasn't in the mood for this type of book, hence, I didn't finish it.
October 29, 2009
Really interesting book about how movies shape public opinion about the Civil War and even demand for certain Civil War-themed artwork.
July 7, 2010
Quite an interesting book! I may never watch a Civil War movie again without thinking of Gallagher! I'm very excited for him to lead our group's battlefield tour of Gettysburg.
July 27, 2011
Good book. I liked his categorizing of the various pop culture interpretations of the Civil War.
September 22, 2012
Good overview as to how we remember the Civil War in popular culture (popular art and movies).
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