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Death at the Edges of Empire

In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln committed the American people to a new kind of remembrance, one that obligated the living to remember the war dead "that that nation might live." Americans did not shirk from this duty and set out to create new symbolism, monuments, and rituals befitting a new national commemoration tradition. Could the invention of these new traditions last over time especially as the United States pursued an imperialistic policy in the Plains and in the Philiipines? Would soldiers who fought and died for this empire in the tropics of Cuba, or in French trenches during the First World War, or, more recently in the sands of Iraq, Afghanistan, or Niger receive the same recognition and honor from the living? This is a book about how Americans remember the past, commemorate the war dead, and cover over their imperialistic realities with the symbolism and rituals of Republicanism. In short, it is a study of how we use the war dead to collectively forget and culturally remember.

Review, Wall Street Journal by Randall Fuller, 5/22/2020

Review, Civil War Book Review, by W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Spring 2020

Review, American Historical Review by Thomas J. Brown, June 2021.

Review, Journal of Southern History, by Andre M. Fleche, August 2021

Review, The Journal of the Civil War Era, by Allison S. Finkelstein, December 2021

YouTube Interview, The History Shelf, February 2021

Podcast, New Books Network, hosted by Alex Beckstrand, December 2021

Podcast, The Curious Man Podcast, hosted by Matt Crawford, April 2021

Podcast, The Packaged Tourist, hosted by Matthew DiBiase, February 2021

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