In 1900 very few historians were exploring the institution of slavery in the South. But in the next half century; the culture of slavery became a dominating theme in Southern historiography. In the 1970s it was the subject of the first Chancellor's Symposium in Southern History held at the University of Mississippi. Since then; scholarly interest in slavery has proliferated ever more widely. In fact; the editor of this retrospective volume states that since the 1970s "the expansion has resulted in a corpus that has a huge number of components-scores; even hundreds; rather than mere dozens." He states that "no such gathering could possibly summarize all the changes of those twenty-five years." Hence; for the Chancellor Porter L. Fortune Symposium in Southern History in the year 2000; instead of providing historiographical summary; the participants were invited to formulate thoughts arising from their own special interests and experiences. Each paper was complemented by a learned; penetrating reaction. "On balance;" the editor avers in his introduction; "reflection about the whole can convey a further sense of the condition of this field of scholarship at the very end of the last century; which was surely an improvement over what prevailed at the beginning." The collection of papers includes the following: "Logic and Experience: Thomas Jefferson's Life in the Law" by Annette Gordon-Reed; with commentary by Peter S. Onuf; "The Peculiar Fate of the Bourgeois Critique of Slavery" by James Oakes; with commentary by Walter Johnson; "Reflections on Law; Culture; and Slavery" by Ariela Gross; with commentary by Laura F. Edwards; "Rape in Black and White: Sexual Violence in the Testimony of Enslaved and Free Americans" by Norrece T. Jones; Jr.; with commentary by Jan Lewis; "The Long History of a Low Place: Slavery on the South Carolina Coast; 1670-1870" by Robert Olwell; with commentary by William Dusinberre; "Paul Robeson and Richard Wright on the Arts and Slave Culture" by Sterling Stuckey; with commentary by Roger D. Abrahams. Winthrop D. Jordan is William F. Winter Professor of History and professor of African American studies at the University of Mississippi. His previous books include White Over Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro; 1550-1812 and The White Man's Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States; and his work has been published in the Atlantic Monthly; Daedalus; and the Journal of Southern History; among other periodicals.
#25455 in Books FaithWords/Hachette Book Group 2010-09-17Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x 1.50 x 5.25l; .95 #File Name: 1599951509512 pagesGreat product!
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Interesting ReadBy JeanA few years ago; on a trip to St. Louis; Missouri and I toured their well-known art museum. I noted a number of paintings on loan by a Jewish family that stated the paintings were returned to the family by the Monument Men. I said to myself I need to read the book. Finally; I just did.From 1939 to the end of World War II; the Nazis Army seized priceless paintings; sculptures; tapestries and other artworks from museum; palaces; cathedrals and private homes. The Nazi plundered everything and carted it off to Germany. The Allied Forces created a group called the MFAA (Monuments; Fine Art and Archives) Division. This group consisted of men and women who were curators; archivists; art historians and artist. Their job was to find and return the art to its owners.The book is well written and researched. Edsel examined family letters and records; museum and church archives and even the Nazi archives. The book got off to a slow start but the ending was much more interesting. Sometimes it read like a detective story. I found the repetitiveness very annoying. I found the story interesting but the way the book was written just did not grab me as I felt it should. It is a hard thing to explain. I am only going to give this book a three rating instead of a four because the author never managed to obtain that something to make the book great. The book was 468 pages. I read the e-book on my Kindle app for my iPad.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Quite interesting look at World War II and the soul-uplifting work of men and women fighting to save cultural heritageBy kbirdlincolnSo I live in a house that has connection to a Monument Man in Minnesota; so I thought it behooved me to read the book that made the Monument Men famous.The book pretty much ensures that a reader will both understand the logistical difficulties (no actual unit; no access to transportation; constantly having to ask other military personnel for help); the danger (booby-trapped caches of loot; dank salt mines filled with art and explosives; German soldier ambush); and the heroic nature of the Monument Men's job (especially those who worked in Germany and had to reconcile risk to life and limb to save cultural heritage sites like Aachen Cathedral after touring devastating places like Dachau).What an incredible job they did. What incredible people who believed so passionately in art that they would endure war conditions to attempt to save what the Nazis looted or destroyed.A pleasant surprise for me was learning about the handful of Monument Men the book focuses on through both biography and letters. I particularly enjoyed learning about Lincoln Kirstein (my name doppelganger) who I thought mostly of as a ballet guy; but who turned out to be more of a Renaissance man in his abilities and proclivities than I had understood. But the others focused on this book (Rorimer; Ettlinger; Posey; Stout; etc) also come alive in their individuality; their specialities; and their connections to Europeans and family back home.Of course; I couldn't help feeling like the author maybe presented the Monuments Men in their best possible light. George Stout is almost saint-like in his expertise; desire to save German monuments; and empathy for the victims of war.And at times; for me (who is not a World War II history buff or veteran) the dwelling on various troop movements and battles was a bit much. I yearned for more descriptions of the actual finding of the artwork; but that could be a bit of a personal preference.Quite interesting look at World War II that's definitely worth a look if you enjoyed the movie. Certainly gives some perspective to some of the movie characters.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Persevered and Preserved the PastBy R. DelPartoThe history of World War II contains many dimensions that continue to be discovered or revisited. Robert M. Edsel writes of the 350 men and women that helped to retrieve and save the most historic pieces of artwork created in art history from Hitler and the Nazis. The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes; Nazi Thieves; and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History is their story and shows from 1943-1951. But their attempts to preserve the past first came about within the actual buildings that housed these works; churches; museums; and other monuments that became prone to damage during the war. And thereafter during the war; it was their responsibility to locate the five million movable works and cultural artifacts that were stolen by the Nazis; which included works by Leonardo Da Vinci; Jan Vermeer; Rembrandt; Michelangelo; and Donatello and the pieces that were the highlight of Edsel’s book; the Ghent Altar pieces; Bayeaux Tapestry; and painting of Mother and Child. For students of art appreciation; to see how history intertwines with art beyond H.W. Janson’s History of Art; Edsel widens the perspective and understanding.Edsel covers much ground in the hunt to uncover the pieces of art that occurred in France; Netherlands; Germany; and Austria. He does a good job to outline each of the important individuals that were a part of the Monuments Men; which ranged from established and distinguishable persons that were experts in their field of museum and historical preservation and they came from all over the world. Deanne Keller and Frederick Hart and George Stout; Rose Valland; and Robert Posey from America; John Bryan Ward-Perkins from England; and the hundreds involved. And their training such as Stout’s focused on understanding raw materials; degradation and cause of deterioration; and preparation to prevent deterioration and damage; which would be beneficial once he delved in the race against time to save the artworks. Stout applied preservation and conservation and scientific principles to paintings and visual art. However; the Monuments were a different unit from the rest of the forces that served in Europe due to their backgrounds and the resources that they were and were not provided; they served as only advisors and could not impose any orders on any official or rank; and they had limited access to vehicles; offices; support staff; and any back up plans. In essence; they were a unique group in the war.After reading the Monuments Men; one may have a better appreciation for this part of history. The format of the book provided a great scope of information and visual presentation; which alternated between stories of the Monuments and the origins and the events related to the Third Reich plans and up to the discovery of the artworks. For the Kindle edition; maps may have been helpful and the photographs may have been dispersed within each chapter rather than at the end of the book.
