{"product_id":"the-battle-hymn-of-the-republic-a-biography-of-the-song-that-marches-on-9780199837434","title":"The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song That Marches on","description":"It was sung at Ronald Reagan's funeral and adopted with new lyrics by labor radicals. John Updike quoted it in the title of one of his novels, and George W. Bush had it performed at the memorial service in the National Cathedral for victims of September 11, 2001. Perhaps no other song has held such a profoundly significant--and contradictory--place in America's history and cultural memory than The Battle Hymn of the Republic.\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this sweeping study, John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis show how this Civil War tune has become an anthem for cause after radically different causes. The song originated in antebellum revivalism, with the melody of the camp-meeting favorite, Say Brothers, Will You Meet Us. Union soldiers in the Civil War then turned it into John Brown's Body. Julia Ward Howe, uncomfortable with Brown's violence and militancy, wrote the words we know today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing intense apocalyptic and millenarian imagery, she captured the popular enthusiasm of the time, the sense of a climactic battle between good and\u003cbr\u003eevil; yet she made no reference to a particular time or place, allowing it to be exported or adapted to new conflicts, including Reconstruction, sectional reconciliation, imperialism, progressive reform, labor radicalism, civil rights movements, and social conservatism. And yet the memory of the song's original role in the bloody and divisive Civil War scuttled an attempt to make it the national anthem. The Daughters of the Confederacy held a contest for new lyrics but admitted that none of the entries measured up to the power of the original.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Battle Hymn has long helped to express what we mean when we talk about sacrifice, about the importance of fighting--in battles both real and allegorical--for the values America represents. It conjures up and confirms some of our most profound conceptions of national identity and purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd yet, as Stauffer and Soskis note, the popularity of the song has not relieved it of the tensions present at its birth--tensions between unity and discord, and between the glories and the perils of righteous enthusiasm. If anything, those tensions became more profound. By following this thread through the tapestry of American history, \u003cem\u003eThe Battle Hymn of the Republic\u003c\/em\u003e illuminates the fractures and contradictions that underlie the story of our nation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Stauffer, Benjamin Soskis\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/06\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 392\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199837434\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2013 pg. 89\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristianity Today\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2013 pg. 83\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristian Century\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/16\/2013 pg. 41\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Stauffer\u003c\/strong\u003e is a professor of English and American Literature and African-American Studies chair of the History of American Civilization program at Harvard. His books include \u003cem\u003eGiants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003ethe Transformation of Race.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBenjamin Soskis\u003c\/strong\u003e is a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, and Policy at George Mason University. He has taught at George Washington University and the University of California, Washington Center. \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":40008395358323,"sku":"9.7802E+12","price":29.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_8562190a-7f38-47de-83c3-12f6611c56d9.jpg?v=1650385233","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/the-battle-hymn-of-the-republic-a-biography-of-the-song-that-marches-on-9780199837434","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}