Book

I am excited to announce that my first book, Remembering The Battle of the Crater: War as Murder, will be published in spring 2012 in the New Directions in Southern History series at the University Press of Kentucky.

You can pre-order the book through Amazon.

What is the book about?

The Battle of the Crater is known as one of the Civil War’s bloodiest struggles—a Union loss with combined casualties of 5,000, many of whom were members of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under Union Brigadier General Edward Ferrero. The battle was a violent clash of forces as Confederate soldiers fought for the first time against African American soldiers. After the Union lost the battle, these black soldiers were captured and subject both to extensive abuse and the threat of being returned to slavery in the South. Yet, despite their heroism and sacrifice, these men are often overlooked in public memory of the war.

In Remembering The Battle of the Crater: War is Murder, Kevin M. Levin addresses the shared recollection of a battle that epitomizes the way Americans have chosen to remember, or in many cases forget, the presence of the USCT. The volume analyzes how the racial component of the war’s history was portrayed at various points during the 140 years following its conclusion, illuminating the social changes and challenges experienced by the nation as a whole. Remembering The Battle of the Crater gives the members of the USCT a newfound voice in history.

Reviews

“Levin offers something new and valuable in this book. His approach of unpacking the complex telling and forgetting of the events surrounding one battle allows him a focus and specificity that even many very good treatments of historical memory often lack. Remembering the Battle of the Crater stands to make a real and lasting contribution to the field of Civil War memory studies.”

– Anne Marshall, author of Creating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State

Key Points of Interpretation and Highlights:

  • The Confederate response to black Union soldiers was not simply a function of rage.
  • Confederate heritage commemorations at the Crater were not unified expressions, but often reflected deep divisions within society.
  • African Americans maintained a vibrant memory of the battle and relied on it as a form of racial uplift through the era of Jim Crow.
  • The preservation of the battlefield had little to do with reunion and reconciliation between white northerners and southerners.
  • Brings the story surrounding the Crater and historical memory all the way to the present day.

Catch up on previous blog posts about the book: