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This Republic of Suffering: Death and the…
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This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Vintage Civil War Library) (original 2008; edition 2009)

by Drew Gilpin Faust

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1,858488,997 (3.98)70
An illuminating study of the American struggle to comprehend the meaning and practicalities of death in the face of the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War. During the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers lost their lives. An equivalent proportion of today's population would be six million. This book explores the impact of this enormous death toll from every angle: material, political, intellectual, and spiritual. Historian Faust delineates the ways death changed not only individual lives but the life of the nation and its understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. She describes how survivors mourned and how a deeply religious culture struggled to reconcile the slaughter with its belief in a benevolent God, and reconceived its understanding of life after death.--From publisher description.… (more)
Member:btenney
Title:This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Vintage Civil War Library)
Authors:Drew Gilpin Faust
Info:Vintage (2009), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 368 pages
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This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Vintage Civil War Library) by Drew Gilpin Faust (2008)

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Showing 1-5 of 49 (next | show all)
A discussion of the quarter million soldier deaths and countless civilian losses during our Civil war. The book was divided into chapters entitled "Dying", "Killing", Burying", Naming", "Realizing (Civilians and the Work of Mourning)", Believing and Doubting (the effects on Religious Convictions), "Accounting", "Numbering", and "Surviving". VERY SOBERING. ( )
  jemisonreads | Jan 22, 2024 |
An excellent and compelling piece of non-fiction, and a must-read for anyone working in death care in America. ( )
  scarylullabies | Feb 7, 2022 |
Excellent scholarship -- and an interesting lens to take a look at how the experience of the Civil War shaped the America that emerged from all that death and destruction, and the attitudes of Americans who were yet unborn. ( )
  maura853 | Jul 11, 2021 |
By focusing on the shared experience of death and loss Gilpin Faust frames the Civil War as a national experience rather than one of just North vs South. The author shows how the unprecedented carnage of modern warfare necessitated a shift in American understanding of death and dying that has pervaded the culture since. I can't help but read this account of crisis shaping culture in light of the current pandemic, especially the numbing effect of numbers.

Quote: "Americans had not just lost the dead; they had lost their own lives as they had understood them before the war." ( )
1 vote ImperfectCJ | Nov 29, 2020 |
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust is an eye-opening, informative, and sober look at life up close and personal. When I thought of the Civil War I had never really thought of all the details of what it would be like other than tv shows. This book takes you down and dirty on the death and suffering of the dead and dying but those around those men. There are problems I would have never thought of. Heartbreaking, informative, and I cried at times for the terrible injustices that transpires. I read about the worst in some people but I saw the best in others.
In some ways the feelings are a lot like today. ( )
  MontzaleeW | Aug 29, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 49 (next | show all)
A moving work of social history, detailing how the Civil War changed perceptions and behaviors about death.
added by Richardrobert | editKirkus Reviews (Oct 15, 2007)
 
Battle is the dramatic centerpiece of Civil War history; this penetrating study looks instead at the somber aftermath. Historian Faust (Mothers of Invention ) notes that the Civil War introduced America to death on an unprecedented scale and of an unnatural kind—grisly, random and often ending in an unmarked grave far from home.
added by Richardrobert | editPublishers Weekly (Oct 8, 2007)
 

» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Faust, Drew Gilpinprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Booher, JasonCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
O'Sullivan, Timothy H.Cover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Raver, LornaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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In Memory
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McGhee Tyson Gilpin
1919-2000

Captain, U.S. Army
Commanding Officer
Military Intelligence Interpreter Team #436
6th Armored Division

Wounded August 6, 1944
Plouviens, France

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Mortality defines the human condition.
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An illuminating study of the American struggle to comprehend the meaning and practicalities of death in the face of the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War. During the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers lost their lives. An equivalent proportion of today's population would be six million. This book explores the impact of this enormous death toll from every angle: material, political, intellectual, and spiritual. Historian Faust delineates the ways death changed not only individual lives but the life of the nation and its understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. She describes how survivors mourned and how a deeply religious culture struggled to reconcile the slaughter with its belief in a benevolent God, and reconceived its understanding of life after death.--From publisher description.

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