Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering; Death and the American Civil War (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008), 346pp. As this strange summer of staying put winds down, one thing remains truer than ever: Books offer us endless adventure and new horizons to... An illuminating study of the American struggle to comprehend the meaning and practicalities of death in the face of the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War. There are problems I would have never thought of. His Truth Is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. This Republic of Suffering NPR coverage of This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust. She shows, too, how the war victimized civilians through violence that extended beyond battlefields-from disease, displacement, hardships, shortages, emotional wounds, and conflicts connected to the disintegration of slavery. David Blight explores…, Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War, In late 1860 and early 1861, state-appointed commissioners traveled the length and breadth of the slave South carrying a fervent message in pursuit of a clear goal: to persuade the political…. Foregoing the usual discussions of battles and tactics she focuses on personal values and culture taking us into the minds of 1860s Americans. I read about the worst in some people but I saw the best in others. Heartbreaking, informative, and I cried at times for the terrible injustices that transpires. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, A Book Talk and Discussion with the Author Drew Gilpin Faust; Accepting the Unacceptable: Legitimizing and Criticizing Slavery before the Abolitionist Era; A Civil War Christmas: Sunday Symposium at the Long Wharf Theater with David Blight They tore her family apart. . —Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Confederate War “Drew Faust’s brilliant new book, This Republic of Suffering, builds profoundly from the opening discussion of the Christian ideal of the good death to the last harrowing chapters on the exhumation, partial identification, reburial and counting of the Union dead. One frigid night in Pennsylvania, that changed forever. An equivalent proportion of today's population would be six million. Faust examines all aspects of death in the American Civil War in this unique, insightful topical history. This Republic of Suffering made the New York Times Book Review list of "10 Best Books of 2008" as chosen by the paper's editors. About 620,000 soldiers died in the conflict, equivalent to 6 million deaths given today’s population, but this is not a book of statistics. Look to science and to poetry. The beloved cultural and familial traditions were such that when the time came, each soul required family support to die a "good death". The extraordinary story of a Renaissance-era executioner and his world, based on a rare and overlooked journal. Published January 8th 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf. Like Remarque’s The Road Back, Faust’s This Republic of Suffering is a cartography of sorts—mapping how people respond to trauma, defeat, and above all mass death. More than 600,000 soldiers lost their lives in the American Civil War. It covers all aspects of death and how the war either changed trends or magnified thereof. This is a book about death and grief on a massive scale that had a deep and broad impact on society. It's well known that there were huge numbers of casualties during the Civil War. Marisa J. Fuentes creates a portrait of urban Caribbean slavery in this colonial town from the…, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia, Kathleen Brown examines the origins of racism and slavery in British North America from the perspective of gender. It manages to be both informative and profoundly moving, in that that the facts and voices of the time are allowed to speak, without sentimental commentary at the … “Yankee private Henry Struble was not only listed as a casualty after Antietam but assigned a grave … Combine innovation and interpretation. Times and technology have simply changed too much to really connect unless one served or has family who served and fought in battle. It’s a different look at the Civil War through the lens of death. Faust’s originality is grounded in a rudimentary social fact—that during the civil war, a lot of people died (over 620,000) and those who lived had to deal with it. Good book. This Republic of Suffering Quotes Showing 1-4 of 4 “Look to the past to help create the future. 'Republic of Suffering' Author Drew Gilpin Faust Historian Drew Gilpin Faust writes that Civil War deaths — both their number and their manner — transformed America. With much pondering, he concludes that man is allowed to undergo hardships so that he, in turn, can be a healer for others. by Drew Gilpin Faust, Alfred A. Knopf, 346 pp., $27.95. An equivalent proportion of today's population would be six million. well, triple that and replace 'sex' with 'death' and that's me. To see what your friends thought of this book, at the age of twelve, i'm certain woody allen used me as the basis for his character in, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust is an eye-opening, informative, and sober look at life up close and personal. (2009) Find books like This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War from the world’s largest community of readers. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War By Drew Gilpin Faust This article was originally published on Videri.org and is republished here with their permission. This Republic of Suffering explores the impact of this enormous death toll from every angle: material, political, intellectual, and spiritual. The analysis seems sound enough. The author includes statistics about the extent of religiosity practiced by Americans in the Civil-War era. Good book. This book takes you down and dirty on the death and suffering of the dead and dying but those around those men. Their faith in religion and country is challenged and for many reinforced. —Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Confederate War “Drew Faust’s brilliant new book, This Republic of Suffering, builds profoundly from the opening discussion of the Christian ideal of the good death to the last harrowing chapters on the exhumation, partial identification, reburial and counting of the Union dead. An illuminating study of the American struggle to comprehend the meaning and practicalities of death in the face of the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War. Well worth reading if you like war history. But what lies behind the numbers? During the war, approximately 620,000…, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, No historical event has left as deep an imprint on America's collective memory as the Civil War. The book was also a finalist for the National Book Awards (2008) and the Pulitzer Prize. you know that very un-scientific statistic about how the average male thinks about sex once every two minutes? This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust is an eye-opening, informative, and sober look at life up close and personal. The author lays a sensitive and profound foundation of the religious meaning of death before and during the outbreak of the war. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Vintage Civil War Library) Paperback – January 1, 2009 4.6 out of 5 stars 3 ratings See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions Throughout, the voices of soldiers and their families, of statesmen, generals, … The beloved cultural and familial traditions were such that when the time came, each soul required family support to die a "good death". She chronicles the efforts to identify, reclaim, preserve, and bury battlefield dead, the resulting rise of undertaking as a profession, the first widespread use of embalming, the gradual emergence of military graves registration procedures, the development of a federal system of national cemeteries for Union dead, and the creation of private cemeteries in the South that contributed to the cult of the Lost Cause. And no, I'm not talking soley about inner city violence, but mass shootings, terrorist attacks. The writing is readable and sympathetic to the subject. Its an interesting and fresh look at a war that has otherwise been picked over to death. Removing this book will also remove your associated ratings, reviews, and reading sessions. Slavery as an institution is not explored but the treatment of black soldiers in life and death is. During the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers lost their lives. Americans are no strangers to the destruction and horrific bloodletting that defined this nation’s Civil War. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War Drew Gilpin Faust, Author. The eminent historian Drew Gilpin Faust delineates the ways death changed not only individual lives but the life of the nation and its understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. In it he discusses the intense, nation-wide debate on the ratification of…, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, A free woman of color in the 1830s, Margaret Morgan lived a life full of promise. Read 590 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. An equivalent proportion. They put her in chains. While the sub-title of the book indicates the focus on the Civil War, much of what Faust illustates can be applied to how cheaply we seem to hold life these days. During the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers lost their lives. She describes how survivors mourned and how a deeply religious culture struggled to reconcile the slaughter with its belief in a benevolent God, pondered who should die and under what circumstances, and reconceived its understanding of life after death. Faust details the logistical challenges involved when thousands were left dead, many with their identities unknown, on the fields of places like Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg. What were the faces and feelings and experiences behind the numbers? The Civil War meant many things to different people, but to everyone in America at the time it meant death. Both a basic social relationship and a model for other social hierarchies, gender…, The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America, Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief, The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century. You name it. This Republic of Suffering book. During the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers lost their lives. It helps that the quotations are short and to the point. Read 590 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Mass death on an unprecedented and unimaginable scale. An illuminating study of the American struggle to comprehend the meaning and practicalities of death in the face of the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War. The writing is. But…, Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, General John A. Wickham, commander of the famous 101st Airborne Division in the 1970s and subsequently Army Chief of Staff, once visited Antietam battlefield. More By and About This Author. Because, the book is about how society's view to death changed radically during the Civil War. When I thought of the Civil War I had never really thought of all the details of what it would be like other than. The war’s impact ends quickly for soldiers killed in action but lingers for lifetimes for surviving loved ones. Thomas Jefferson led them in…, Startling in its observations and radical in its conclusions, this classic of women's rights literature, this work-by pioneering American feminist CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN (1860-1935)-was a…, Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War, 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. And no, I'm not talking soley about inner city violence, but mass shootings, terrorist attacks. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. That said, it does seem like a time capsule, there aren’t many lessons to draw for today. "This republic of suffering" suffers from the author's lack of familiarity with military and world history. Faust examines all aspects of death in the American Civil War in this unique, insightful topical history. —Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Confederate War “Drew Faust’s brilliant new book, This Republic of Suffering, builds profoundly from the opening discussion of the Christian ideal of the good death to the last harrowing chapters on the exhumation, partial identification, reburial and counting of the Union dead. In the decades after World War II, evangelical Christianity nourished Americas devotion to free markets, free trade, and free enterprise. Catherine Drew Gilpin Faust is an American historian, college administrator, and the president of Harvard University. This book is replete with personal experiences and observations of soldiers and their families. Its a different look at the Civil War through the lens of death. While the sub-title of the book indicates the focus on the Civil War, much of what Faust illustates can be applied to how cheaply we seem to hold life these days. As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of our defining national drama, In the American Revolution, Virginians were the most eloquent spokesmen for freedom and quality. In the war's aftermath, Americans had to embrace and cast off a traumatic past. During the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers lost their lives. They…, To Serve God and Wal-Mart: The Making of Christian Free Enterprise, Dispossessed Lives: Enslaved Women, Violence, and the Archive, In the eighteenth century, Bridgetown, Barbados, was heavily populated by both enslaved and free women. Knopf $27.95 (346p) ISBN 978-0-375-40404-7. please sign up The history of Wal-Mart uncovers a complex network that…. In the end one can only conclude, as the author does, that the meaning of the Civil War lies in death … Foregoing the usual discussions of battles and tactics she focuses on personal values and culture taking us into the minds of 1860s Americans. She thus misinforms her readers, relying on the flawed book On Killing by Dave Grossman which in turn in part is based on false data. In The Wounded Healer, author Henri Nouwen explores this topic into great depth as he contemplates the reason behind suffering. News, author interviews, critics' picks and more. It covers all aspects of death and how the war either changed trends or magnified thereof. Religious practice was popular and widespread, she writes: “Nearly four times as many attended church every Sunday in 1860 as voted in that year’s critical presidential election” (2686-87). This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Knopf, 2008) ISBN 978-0-375-40404-7. In This Republic of Suffering, Drew Gilpin Faust reveals the ways that death on such a scale changed not only individual lives but the life of the nation, describing how the survivors managed on a practical level and how a deeply religious culture struggled to reconcile the unprecedented carnage with its belief in a benevolent God. Drew Gilpin Faust talked about her book [This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War]. George Washington led the Americans in battle against British oppression. When I thought of the Civil War I had never really thought of all the details of what it would be like other than tv shows. The author lays a sensitive and profound foundation of the religious meaning of death before and during the outbreak of the war. This Republic of Suffering book. It’s an interesting and fresh look at a war that has otherwise been picked over to death. Insight and observations like that placed This Republic of Suffering on many "best of" lists for 2008 and made it a finalist for both the National Book Award and the still to be awarded National Book Critics Circle Book Awards. You name it. Every single death represents a life - a son, a husband, a brother. This Republic of Suffering is a tremendous work of historical research, poignant prose and astute observation. In the end one can only conclude, as the author does, that the meaning of the Civil War lies in death … This book is replete with. 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