Through the Heart of Dixie - (Civil War America) by Anne Sarah Rubin (Paperback)

About the Book

Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and American Memory

Book Synopsis

Sherman's March, cutting a path through Georgia and the Carolinas, is among the most symbolically potent events of the Civil War. In Through the Heart of Dixie, Anne Sarah Rubin uncovers and unpacks stories and myths about the March from a wide variety of sources, including African Americans, women, Union soldiers, Confederates, and even Sherman himself. Drawing her evidence from an array of media, including travel accounts, memoirs, literature, films, and newspapers, Rubin uses the competing and contradictory stories as a lens for examining the ways American thinking about the Civil War have changed over time.

Compiling and analyzing the discordant stories around the March, and considering significant cultural artifacts such as George Barnard's 1866 Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, and E. L. Doctorow's The March, Rubin creates a cohesive narrative that unites seemingly incompatible myths and asserts the metaphorical importance of Sherman's March to Americans' memory of the Civil War. The book is enhanced by a digital history project, which can be found at shermansmarch.org.

Review Quotes

"A fascinating consideration of how Americans have remembered [the soldiers on Sherman's March] and the events of 1864-65. . . . [A] compelling analyses of the various participants who fashioned memory of the marches and put it in the context of larger developments in national life." -- Civil War Times

"A valuable contribution to the memory literature." -- Blue & Gray Magazine

"An engrossing exploration of the ways in which the march has been recounted and understood over the years." -- Wall Street Journal

"An excellent addition to the flourishing literature on Civil War memory, and scholars and Civil War enthusiasts will find it interesting." -- H-Net Reviews

"An exceptionally creative and ambitious study, like nothing else that I can think of in the field of Civil War history." -- Civil War Monitor

"Drawing on an impressive range of source material, Rubin considers a wide variety of views and actors, from participants and witnesses to novelists and filmmakers." -- America's Civil War

"Much more than another study of Sherman. . . . Rubin has made a significant contribution to the study of American memory and the history of Sherman's March." -- On Point: The Journal of Army History

"One of the more innovative books which has been published this year on the Civil War and one of the more innovative books on the March to the Sea." -- Gettysburg Chronicle

"Rubin's examination of certain aspects of the Lost Cause myth and her utilization of neglected sources represent a good addition to Sherman historiography."--South Carolina Historical Magazine