
Anger and frustration were the root emotions that drove Southerners to secede, a visceral response to a collective sense of degradation and disgrace.” It would be difficult to imagine a clearer example of analysis that moved from the inside, or personal dimension, to the outside and its larger picture. Southern whites increasingly felt deeply insulted to the point of disunion and war…. He concluded, for example, that “the lower South separated from the Union out of a sense of almost uncontrollable outrage….

Explaining and putting himself into the angry reactions of Southern leaders, Wyatt-Brown offered explanations for the coming of the war that were grounded in emotional states. His description of their emotional patterns could be revelatory because those patterns have faded from modern society.

In his writings about the culture of honor, Wyatt-Brown demonstrated how the thinking and values of elite Southerners were different from those of our era. His work will not only illuminate emerging research but will also provide inspiration for future research in a field that continues to adapt and change.Īdditional evidence that this approach could be very fruitful came from the work of Bertram Wyatt-Brown. Escott eloquently charts new ways forward for scholars, offering ideas, questions, and challenges. Cooper Jr.'s Writing the Civil War: The Quest to Understand did for a previous generation. Rethinking the Civil War Era is poised to guide young historians in much the way that James M. He also identifies digital tools which have only recently become available and which allow researchers to take advantage of information in ways that were never before possible. He focuses on specific issues where promising work is yet to be done, highlighting subjects such as the deep roots of the war, the role of African Americans, and environmental history, among others. Escott surveys the current state of Civil War studies and explores the latest developments in research and interpretation. In this timely and thoughtful book, Paul D. Despite this breadth of study, new perspectives and tools are opening up fresh avenues of inquiry into this seminal era. Naturally, an event of such significance has attracted much attention from historians, and tens of thousands of books have been published on the subject.


This devastating and formative conflict occupies a permanent place in the nation's psyche and continues to shape race relations, economic development, and regional politics. Arguably, no event since the American Revolution has had a greater impact on US history than the Civil War.
