Slate: I recently heard Yale Professor David Blight say that there have been more books published on the Civil War than there have been days since the Civil War ended—more than 70,000 of them. Why does the world need another one?
Goodheart: Another figure is that there have been more Civil War books published than there were soldiers at the battle of Bull Run. But I feel like the Civil War is one of those great stories that can just keep being visited and revisited. It's famously been compared to the Iliad and the Odyssey, in that there's a new way to narrate it in each generation.I should note that the bolding of the text was my addition, because holy cow who would've thunk it? I think some people would call it overkill, which is what the interviewer was clearly insinuating, but I have to agree with Goodheart. It says something about our natural curiosity that we continue to explore such an important event for so long and from so many different angles. I'm sure that each book has something different about it, something that makes it a worthwhile investigation into one of the most devastating periods in our nation's history. The magnitude of the study of the Civil War shows not we want to learn not only about history, but more importantly from history; we are smart enough to try and learn from mistakes--not only our own, but those made by generations before us. We should celebrate the relentless pursuit of understanding, especially when it's of something that ripped people apart and changed the course of (at least American) history.
Go ahead and call me a sap for believing in the thirst for knowledge rather than the thirst for author fees, but I'm happy in my idealistic camp. Maybe I'll pick up 1861 after finishing Bossypants. After all, I've already read April 1865; I should try and collect one for every year.
I couldn’t agree more with your point here. I think that, as absurd as that book total sounds at first, there truly is never an end to any sort of pursuit of knowledge regarding any issue, especially one that might be considered the most significant moment in the young history of the most important nation in the world. I have always been a big proponent of studying history, and I consider myself something of a history buff, and it's a topic I always find myself having to defend. When confronted with the argument that something hundreds of years ago is useless or, even worse, boring, I respond much the same way you do in your post, history is the only great lesson we have to use that can help inform our future so that we do not make them again. Just like those who question the necessity of fiction, stories whose details exist in a world separate from the confines of current events teach us in a way that has more depth and insight than simply looking around at what is going on presently.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, not only do we possess research tools, such as the internet and other technologies, which make connecting with the past so much simpler, we also have the benefit each additional year can add to hindsight, which is a much needed and improved sense of hindsight. With both of these invaluable tools expanding in rapid time, it would be a disservice to the honest pursuit of knowledge to simply stop covering any sort of event from history.