Marvin's Bookish Blog

I'm really getting to like these Kindle Singles. I've read about three and they are all brief books that expertly examine their subjects in a no-frills but interesting way. And at 2 to 3 dollars a pop the price is right.

Why They Fought is by Times journalist David von Drehle. He addresses the troubling issue regarding why the American Civil War was fought. It is troubling because of the many revisionist histories that wish to disguise the primary cause: Slavery. This issue is the conservative right's political correct issue to the point that Texas attempted to remove the word slavery from its textbooks and Southern politicians still attempt to defend the Confederate flag, a symbol that is as offensive to some Americans as the swastika. He addresses various myths such as the myth that the war was over state rights (only in the sense that the right the states were fighting for was the right to own slaves), that slavery was not an important part of the economy of the South, and that slave ownership was only a Southern problem. His research is quite amazing for such a small book. This book is the clear thinking tome we need, for as the author states, if we are ever to solve our problesm as a country we need to address them with honesty.