Tag: Civil War

John Brown: Then and Now

"Tragic Prelude" (1938-40) by John Steuart Curry Mural of John Brown holding a gun and a Bible in the Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, Kansas.Note:This post is cross-posted from Bibliology, the blog of Biblio.com where Book Patrol will be contributing by  featuring and highlighting material from their vast database of quality books. Why Biblio? They are the closest thing we have to an old-school bookshop online and I am honored and delighted to join their team. Book Patrol will also be curating the Bibliology e-mail newsletter which will focus on new arrivals and other book goodness. You can click here to join the fun!With Black History Month around...

Continue Reading →

The Sex Lives of Civil War Soldiers

Johnny Reb and Billy Yank had a secret life, one that they and their families tried to hide from posterity and Ken Burns.They largely succeeded. Most men left no record of their sexual activities, or if they did, their survivors expurgated or expunged the record through destruction; the reality was a bit too seamy for pure sensibilities, legacies needed to be protected. Reports of wild times and venereal disease were not likely to be appreciated by descendants.Thus the Civil, our most holy, War, ennobled at the time and forevermore as a moral cause by both sides, has been stripped of...

Continue Reading →