Widely hailed for his realistic portrayals of the common soldier of the Civil War, Bell Irvin Wiley upset carefully cultivated, deeply held southern myths about the Lost Cause with the 1944 publication of The Plain People of the Confederacy. His engaging and timeless look at the Confederate experience of soldiers, African Americans, and women also sparked a debate about the reasons for southern defeat that continues among historians to this day. Republished here with Paul Escott's new introduction and fresh appraisal of the book's influence, this classic work reveals a far more complex, conflicted, and intriguing society than the unified and idealized version created and perpetuated in the wake of surrender. Wiley broke new ground by challenging southern myths about a contented and loyal slave population, a self-sacrificing citizenry united in support of states' rights, and a military unmarred by cowardice and vice. Unearthing a wealth of correspondence, government documents, and other firsthand accounts, Wiley brought to center stage the question of popular morale and insisted on its importance in shaping the fate of the Confederacy. He showed that the Confederacy was racked by dissension and that the heart of the South's problems lay in class resentments and poor governmental policy rather than in military reverses.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
The University of North Carolina Press
ISBN-13
9781570033629
eBay Product ID (ePID)
96298425
Product Key Features
Book Title
The Plain People of the Confederacy
Author
BELL Irvin Wiley
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Social Sciences, History
Publication Year
2000
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
128 Pages
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
BELL Irvin Wiley
Series Title
Southern Classics
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
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