Gone with the Glory: The Civil War in Cinema

by Brian Steel Wills

Overview

From Birth of a Nation to Cold Mountain, hundreds of directors, actors, and screenwriters have used the Civil War to create compelling cinema. However, each generation of moviemakers has resolved the tug of war between entertainment value and historical accuracy differently. Historian Brian Steel Wills takes readers on a journey through the portrayal of the war in film, exploring what Hollywood got right and wrong, how the films influenced each other, and, ultimately, how the movies reflect America's changing understandings of the conflict and of the nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461739579
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/16/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	252
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Brian Steel Wills is director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at Kennesaw State University. He is the author of The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest, The War Hits Home: The Civil War in Southeastern Virginia, and No Ordinary College: A History of the University of Virginia at Wise.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Hollywood's Civil War
Chapter 1: The Birth of Civil War Cinema
Chapter 2: Victory on the Rails
Chapter 3: The Romantic Era of Civil War Cinema
Chapter 4: The House Divided
Chapter 5: The Personal War
Chapter 6: War without Boundaries
Chapter 7: The West's Civil War
Chapter 8: Shiloh's Bloody Harvest
Chapter 9: Confederates Raid Vermont
Chapter 10: The Music Teacher Raids Mississippi
Chapter 11: A Stomach for War
Chapter 12: Enough Glory for All
Chapter 13: The Angels of Gettysburg
Chapter 14: The Plight of the Prisoners of War
Chapter 15: The War and the Waves
Conclusion: Screening the "Real War"
Appendix A: Filmography
Appendix B: Actors Who Wore the Blue
Appendix C: Actors Who Wore the Gray
Appendix D: The Best and Worse of Civil War Cinema
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Generally, books about Hollywood's treatment of history have been written for either academicians or film buffs, but seldom both. Wills has bridged the gap with his latest work.. .. For anyone interested in starting their own Civil War film library, this book is a must-own.

Blue & Gray Magazine

Hollywood has had a long and complex relationship with the American Civil War. From The Birth of a Nation through Glory and Cold Mountain, scores of Civil War-related films have revealed at least as much about the eras in which they were made as about the events and characters they depicted. Brian Wills's excellent treatment, which captures the ebb and flow of cinematic themes and interpretations over the past 90 years, will prove invaluable in helping readers choose which films to watch.

Gary W. Gallagher

Brian S. Wills is a fine scholar and writer.. .. Film and Civil War buffs will enjoy this book as will baby boomers.

America's Civil War Magazine

Brian Wills has approached the American fascination with film entertainment by analyzing the significance of Civil War movies, both old and new. From interpreting historical accuracy to dissecting emotional impact, Wills has probed our obsession with the movies that have shaped our essential views about the past. Here is fine entertainment in itself and also the educational value this superb author intrinsically seeks.

Wiley Sword

This book is a highly enjoyable read. Brian Wills has a knack with a pen (or keyboard). His knowledge of Civil War film is amazing. If the reader is interested in Civil War films, I highly recommend this volume.

Civil War News

Brian Steel Wills, who knows his movies as well as he knows his history—and loves both—steers us, with his usual style and expertise, through Civil War cinema, old and new—from Birth of a Nation to Gone with the Wind to Gods and Generals. In this delightful change-of-pace book, he expertly, for our benefit, connects what really happened with what Hollywood likes to think could have happened in some of the most stirring moments in Civil War history.

John C. Waugh

Brian Steel Wills's Gone with the Glory is a perceptive and engrossing examination of Hollywood's treatment of America's greatest saga on the silver screen. From Birth of a Nation to Gods and Generals, Hollywood has produced scores of films on the epic struggle between North and South. A gifted historian and writer, Wills has given us the finest book on a fascinating subject.

Jeffry D. Wert

Films are not history, though they often make history. Cinema, like literature, has always been used to demonstrate the attitudes of the present toward the past, and Brian Wills's Gone with the Glory offers a penetrating insight into how twentieth-century filmmakers have chosen to see and present the Civil War to Americans across five generations. If there were an Academy Award for film history, Brian Wills would soon be polishing a little golden statuette.

William C. Davis

This book is a must-read for those with a penchant for Civil War movies and will be invaluable to instructors wishing to screen films in class. But beware, after reading this book you will likely find yourself in search of some of these titles—and you will no doubt watch with Wills's commentary running through your head.

Civil War History

A great read.

Post Library

Generally, books about Hollywood's treatment of history have been written for either academicians or film buffs, but seldom both. Wills has bridged the gap with his latest work. . . . For anyone interested in starting their own Civil War film library, this book is a must-own.

Blue and Gray Magazine

This book is a highly enjoyable read. Brian Wills has a knack with a pen (or keyboard). His knowledge of Civil War film is amazing. If the reader is interested in Civil War films, I highly recommend this volume.
— Blake A. Magner

The Civil War News