Goodheart

I was struck by Goodheart's declaration that "the rock 'n roll" of 1861 America were the words of poets and authors.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

I am a firm believer in the stirring power of the written word but Goodheart underscores the sobering aspect of such stirring: yes, there was romance in the dream of "gallant young knights riding off to sacrifice their lives" for whom and what they believed in.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

Goodheart's book shows us how limited our schoolbook teachings were -- broad brush portrayals of North versus South, slave state versus free -- by bringing the everyday world of the times back to the forefront of our understanding, its culture and spirit, not just its politics and economies.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

Goodheart brings us into the world of mid-nineteenth century America, as ambiguous and ambitious and fractured as the times we live in now, and he brings to pulsing life the hearts and minds of its American citizens.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

I am a firm believer in the stirring power of the written word but Goodheart underscores the sobering aspect of such stirring: yes, there was romance in the dream of "gallant young knights riding off to sacrifice their lives" for whom and what they believed in.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

But Goodheart's focus is not on the fighting of the war, or how over 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War, or how an entire nation was left scarred and shaken.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

Goodheart brings us into the world of mid-nineteenth century America, as ambiguous and ambitious and fractured as the times we live in now, and he brings to pulsing life the hearts and minds of its American citizens.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

But Goodheart's focus is not on the fighting of the war, or how over 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War, or how an entire nation was left scarred and shaken.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

I was struck by Goodheart's declaration that "the rock 'n roll" of 1861 America were the words of poets and authors.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011

Goodheart's book shows us how limited our schoolbook teachings were -- broad brush portrayals of North versus South, slave state versus free -- by bringing the everyday world of the times back to the forefront of our understanding, its culture and spirit, not just its politics and economies.

Nina Sankovitch: Adam Goodheart on the Hearts and Minds That Made the Civil War Nina Sankovitch 2011