A Bold Civil War Times Illustrated

by Kevin Levin on December 15, 2008 · 3 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Historians, Slavery

cwtiNot convinced?  Just check out the cover of the latest issue, which announce that R.E. Lee “favored slavery and fought like hell to keep it.”  Well, serious students have known this to be the case for some time now, but with Dana Shoaf at the editorial helm we can be assured that a much broader audience will be forced to wrestle with some fundamental assumptions about Lee and the war in general.  Dana has done a magnificent job of introducing much more sophisticated essays to the magazine that cover a wider range of subjects compared with just a few short years ago.  This issue also includes a column by Gary Gallagher on the new visitor center at Gettysburg as well as an interview with Joe Glatthaar about his new book on Lee’s army.  Gallagher’s review touches on points I’ve been making over the last few months [scroll down].

Once my subscription runs out with North and South I am going to subscribe to CWTI.  [I would have added a link to their website, but it is still down.]  I’ve been very disappointed with the quality of the magazine of late.  The writing has suffered and the essays themselves have been rather boring.  The latest issue includes a photograph of Keith Poulter on a camel.  Well, I imagine it is fairly difficulty to run a magazine from such a location.


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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

William Richardson December 17, 2008 at 4:11 am 1

I have always enjoyed Civil War Times Magazine. I can’t wait to see the sources that are listed for the Lee article !!! Everything I have read has showed the opposite about Lee and Slavery.

Reply

Kevin Levin December 17, 2008 at 4:34 am 2

I highly recommend Elizabeth Pryor’s new biography of Lee. It is the single best study of Lee and she does a very good job of analyzing his connection to slavery and race.

Reply

Cash December 17, 2008 at 7:52 pm 3

Kevin,

CWTI is rapidly reclaiming its previous status as the premiere popular magazine on the Civil War.

Regards,
Cash

Reply

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