The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History

The myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederate States in the Civil War was and is an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of southerners to rationalise the secession and the war itself. This book analyses the Lost Cause, describing its content and identifying its falsity. It is a major contribution to Civil War historiography.

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The myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederate States in the Civil War was and is an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of southerners to rationalise the secession and the war itself. Unfortunately, for historical truth and the national memory, these skilful propagandists, beginning with Jubal Early, have been so successful that the Lost Cause has assumed a life of its own and continues to misrepresent what really happened, distorting the national memory in the process. In this book, nine historians analyse the Lost Cause, describing its content and identifying its falsity. The work is thus a major contribution to Civil War historiography.