Americans are often accused of not appreciating history, but this
charge belies the real popular interest in the past. Historical
reenactments draw thousands of spectators; popular histories fill
the bestseller lists; PBS, A&E and The History Channel air a
dizzying array of documentaries and historical dramas; and
Hollywood war movies become blockbusters.
Though historians worry that these popular representations
sacrifice authenticity for broad appeal, Michael C.C. Adams argues
that living history -- even if it is an incomplete depiction of the
past -- plays a vital role in stimulating the historical
imagination. In Echoes of War, he examines how one of the most
popular fields of history is portrayed, embraced, and shaped by
mainstream culture.
Adams argues that symbols of war are of intrinsic military
significance and help people to articulate ideas and values. We
still return to the knight as a symbol of noble striving; the
bowman appeals as a rebel against unjust privilege. Though Custer
may not have been the Army's most accomplished fighter, he achieved
the status of cultural icon. The public memory of the redcoated
British regular soldier shaped American attitudes toward
governments and gun laws. The 1863 attack on Fort Wagner by the
black Fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment was lost to public view
until racial equality became important in the late twentieth
century.
Echoes of War is a unique look at how a thousand years of
military history are remembered in popular culture, through images
ranging from the medieval knight to the horror of U.S. involvement
in the My Lai massacre.
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