f you are interested in how the Civil War is presented in film and art then this is definitely a book you should check out. The book examines the evolution of historical memory in film and art and provides a unique way of thinking about historical concepts. Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know About the Civil War examines the four popular traditions of interpreting the Civil War in popular culture (the Lost Cause, the Union Cause, the Emancipation Cause, and the Reconciliation Cause). Gallagher examines how each of these distinctive ideologies has been portrayed in film and art and how this has evolved over time. While each of the four ideologies are examined a large amount of time is spent examining the Lost Cause and the Union Cause. Gallagher argues that film and art have done more to shape the idea of the Lost Cause than professional historians. "More people have formed perceptions about the Civil War from watching Gone with the Wind (GWTW) than from reading all the books written by historians since Selznick’s blockbuster debuted in 1939.”[1] Gallagher stresses that out of all the films which portray the Civil War Gone with the Wind has had the most powerful influence on perceptions of the Civil War. He argues that the film is one of the reasons that the Lost Cause has been allowed to flourish in films with a shift away from this only beginning to take place in the late 1980's. When it comes to the Union Cause, Gallagher asserts that it holds a weak presence in film and art. He doesn't feel that any scene in film or art has been able to capture the devotion to the Union which animated those in the North during the Civil War. He attributes this failure to how popular culture has lost sight of the idea of nationalism as a motivating force. Instead portrayals of Union Cause focus on illustrating comradeship as the factor that bonds Union soldiers together and motivates them to fight. Gallagher argues that films not only suffer to depict this Cause but also have shifted to portraying Union soldiers in a negative ways. He attributes this to Hollywood's choice to cast the United States Army in a post-Vietnam light. While the Lost Cause has captivated Hollywood and popular opinion Gallagher believes that that the Union Cause is “Hollywood’s real lost cause. Lincoln’s vision of a democratic nation devoted to economic opportunity would seem an attractive theme, but it remains largely unexplored in the Civil War genre.”[2] Overall, Gallagher's book provides a concise overview of the history of the Civil War in film and art. Gallagher even manages to highlight how the current reality can and does impact our memory of past events. A point he most clearly illustrates through discussion of the Union Cause.




[1]Gary W. Gallagher, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2008),10.

[2]Gary Gallagher, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten, 114.

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Wanna know how Hollywood messes up your mind? Read this compelling, yet disturbing book, but take your blood pressure pill beforehand.

The problem is the book says it like it is. ( )

The book collects two separate studies of American Civil War films and paintings which served as the basis for a lecture series. Gallagher notes that movies are the main medium for shaping the image of popular history. Movies push books and make or break historical persons (everybody is aware of the 20th Maine and Joshua L. Chamberlain while nobody knows the 137th NY defending the extreme Union right at Gettysburg). Shelby Foote sold only 15,000 sets of his classic three volume history between 1974 and 1990 - and 100,000 in the six months of 1990 after PBS aired the Civil War documentary. Compared to movie audiences and the total US population, these numbers are still shockingly small. No wonder that National Park Service Rangers can assume little residual knowledge about the Civil War among the general visitors.

In the first and larger part (three out of four chapters), Gary W. Gallagher offers an amusing discussion of the major civil war films. The first chapter presents four interpretations (the lost cause, the union, emancipation and reconciliation). It is unfortunate that Gallagher's selection of films is arbitrary (including and excluding films at whim). A little methodical rigor in sampling might have strengthened his observations. As it is, classics such as Buster Keaton's "The General" and many Westerns fail to be included in the discussion, having previously dismissed the popular "North and South" and other TV series (such as the unmentioned "The Blue and the Gray").

The second chapter is devoted to the Confederate, the third to the Federal viewpoint. The Confederate viewpoint is firmly in the hand of the Lost Cause, but on shaky territory, steadily losing ground from the the klan fanpic "The Birth of a Nation" to "Gone with the Wind". From "Shenandoah" on, Confederate soldiers are seldom portrayed in a positive way, the recent Southern cable productions "Gettysburg" and "God and Generals" excepted (with its notorious depiction of slavery) with a strong reconciliation whiff. Gallagher also fails to include other Confederate-friendly cable productions such as "CSS Hunley". Gallagher obviously wants to avoid the political minefield of Republican white suburbia (which he meets again in his final chapter on Confederate art).

On the Union side, Gallagher wonders why so few Civil War movies present the historically correct devotion to the Union cause. Alas, Hollywood's business is money not education. A sharp Union focus automatically casts a large part of the country as unpatriotic villains which is bad for business. The American viewpoint is better served by Hollywood fighting Nazis, brown and yellow people. This reveals another flaw of Gallagher's analysis. The Civil War films can only properly be assessed in the context of all war movie genres (internal vs. external validation), esp. the popular WWII and Vietnam topics. "Glory" is the classic modern emancipation film, while most modern films depict the historically rather well-behaving Union army through a Vietnam lens as marauders. The demand for modern gender and race models further constrains a historically correct depiction. Most films feature at least a reconciliation vignette, thus Gallagher concludes that the Union cause is the true loser in Civil War films.

The final chapter is based on a quantitative analysis of the paintings and sculpture advertised in the major Civil War periodicals. These range from historical depiction in the mood of 19th century realism (Washington crossing the Delaware) to purest kitsch of Christian Confederates. Gallagher's students' analysis reveals an overwhelming demand for Confederate topics (especially Lee and Jackson). On the Union side, only the Irish brigade carries sales potential. The Lost Cause is alive among the small number of Civil War art and stamp collectors. In an interesting connection, Gallagher shows that movies create stars such as Chamberlain and Longstreet. Unfortunately, Gallagher included only aggregated numbers. It would have been interesting to analyze whether the Christian Confederates is a recent phenomenon concurrent with the Evangelical wave or a constant. According to my recollection, I would postulate a significant increase during the Bush years. I can not recall seeing any praying Confederates in the late 80s and early 90s.

Overall, the book offers an entertaining and stimulating discussion of Civil War films and paintings but lacks the rigor to pass as a sociological study of a sub-culture. Interested readers should also explore Confederates in the Attic. ( )