War and American Popular Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia

(Hardback)

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Description

Spanning more than 400 years of America's past, this book brings together, for the first time, entries on the ways Americans have mythologized both the many wars the nation has fought and the men and women connected with those conflicts. Focusing on significant representations in popular culture, it provides information on fiction, drama, poems, songs, film and television, art, memorials, photographs, documentaries, and cartoons. From the colonial wars before 1775 to our 1997 peacekeeper role in Bosnia, the work briefly explores the historical background of each war period, enabling the reader to place the almost 500 entries into their proper context. The book includes particularly large sections dealing with the popular culture of the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Indian Wars West of the Mississippi, World War II, and Vietnam. It has been designed to be a useful reference tool for anyone interested in America's many wars, to provide answers, to teach, to inspire, and most of all, to be enjoyed.

Reviews

"This book covers an eclectic mass of material....The articles are clear, easy to read, and resplendent with tidbits of trivia....[T]he many articles on folk and pop songs, novels, and films are of immense interest and make this a valuable resource."-School Library Journal
[H]e accomplishes his goal of offering a practical readable, basic reference tool.-Choice
A unique perspective which will have interest for many student researchers.-Pennsylvania School Librarian's Association
The study of popular culture is growing. Besides the advantages of its browsability and nostalgic subject matter, this book will serve as an important starting point for those who wish to begin exploration of this interdisciplinary field....Recommended.-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
This book covers an eclectic mass of material....The articles are clear, easy to read, and resplendent with tidbits of trivia....[T]he many articles on folk and pop songs, novels, and films are of immense interest and make this a valuable resource.-School Library Journal
War and American Popular Culture is a practical reference tool that conveniently identifies and describes a broad range of resources that reflect how American culture has viewed and portrayed our history replete with wars. In addition to serving as a resource guide for instructors who seek popular culture material, the book could be simply read or browsed through by those interested in American history or some aspect of popular culture such as war movies or Civil War songs.-American Reference Books Annual
"He accomplishes his goal of offering a practical readable, basic reference tool."-Choice
"[H]e accomplishes his goal of offering a practical readable, basic reference tool."-Choice
"A unique perspective which will have interest for many student researchers."-Pennsylvania School Librarian's Association
"The study of popular culture is growing. Besides the advantages of its browsability and nostalgic subject matter, this book will serve as an important starting point for those who wish to begin exploration of this interdisciplinary field....Recommended."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
"War and American Popular Culture is a practical reference tool that conveniently identifies and describes a broad range of resources that reflect how American culture has viewed and portrayed our history replete with wars. In addition to serving as a resource guide for instructors who seek popular culture material, the book could be simply read or browsed through by those interested in American history or some aspect of popular culture such as war movies or Civil War songs."-American Reference Books Annual

Author Bio

M. PAUL HOLSINGER is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is also the founder of the World War II area of the Popular Culture Association and organizes annual sessions about that war and its cultural representations. He has authored and edited a number of works about America's wars and popular culture, including Visions of War: World War II in Popular Literature and Culture (1992) and The Ways of War: The Era of World War II in Children's and Young Adult Fiction (1995).