Before going off to fight in the Civil War; many soldiers on both sides of the conflict posed for a carte de visite; or visiting card; to give to their families; friends; or sweethearts. Invented in 1854 by a French photographer; the carte de visite was a small photographic print roughly the size of a modern trading card. The format arrived in America on the eve of the Civil War; which fueled intense demand for the convenient and affordable keepsakes. Considerable numbers of these portrait cards of Civil War soldiers survive today; but the experiences―and often the names―of the individuals portrayed have been lost to time. A passionate collector of Civil War–era photography; Ron Coddington became intrigued by these anonymous faces and began to research the history behind them in military records; pension files; and other public and personal documents.In Faces of the Civil War; Coddington presents 77 cartes de visite of Union soldiers from his collection and tells the stories of their lives during and after the war. The soldiers portrayed were wealthy and poor; educated and unschooled; native-born and immigrant; urban and rural. All were volunteers. Their personal stories reveal a tremendous diversity in their experience of war: many served with distinction; some were captured; some never saw combat while others saw little else. The lives of those who survived the war were even more disparate. While some made successful transitions back to civilian life; others suffered permanent physical and mental disabilities; which too often wrecked their families and careers. In compelling words and haunting pictures; Faces of the Civil War offers a unique perspective on the most dramatic and wrenching period in American history.
#1194422 in Books Johns Hopkins University Press 1995-05-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.85 x .68 x 5.67l; .75 #File Name: 0801851203224 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Amazing; Great Book; Great StoryBy Brian O'MalleyA great history of an ethnic group includes a great general history. In this book; the reader learns about the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal; Jewish life in Brazil and Barbados; the struggle for religious liberty in America; and how Jewish life in America differed from Jewish life in Barbados; Holland and even England. This book is about all of America; and every American should read it.In this book; historian Eli Faber discusses the diverse origins of the earliest Jewish settlers in America. Faber describes the innovative response of Jewish-Americans to the unusual political and social circumstances of colonial America. These first Jewish-Americans; Faber informs us; established community life based on voluntary association; in a free and an open country. More striking than the changes Jewish-Americans made of necessity; however; are the many remarkable adapatations that Jewish-Americans made voluntarily. Faber describes an innovative community of pioneering Jews.Faber is a scholar who has done considerable research. However objectively written; this story is unavoidably compelling. You will love the people and the country described in this book. The optimism of the Americans in this book is contagious.Teachers will; and should; recommend this book to high school and college students. Therefore; I hesitate to divulge too many details. So many stories and so many individuals in this book make the book worth reading. The lives of Jewish-Americans in colonial and revolutionary America; and the lives of the non-Jews who were their compatriots; make a story worth reading and telling.Other books on the origin and establishment of immigrant communities in colonial America include David Hackett Fischer's "Albion's Seed;" a history of four large regional cultures established in colonial British North America; and Richard S. Dunn's "Sugar and Slaves;" about the establishment of planter culture and servant and slave life in the British West Indies. "A New World Gentry;" by Richard Waterhouse; and a chapter in "The Quest for Power: The Lower Houses of Assembly in the Southern Royal Colonies;" by Jack P. Greene; tell the story of the merchant-planter class in South South Carolina; while "Rice and Slaves;" by Daniel C. Littlefield; tells of the origin of many of their slaves.
