Scars To Prove It
By Craig A. Warren
(January 2010 Civil War News)

Index, select bibliography, softcover, 223 pp, 2009. The Kent State University Press, 307 Lowry Hall Kent, OH 44242-0001, $34.95 plus shipping.

One of the most popular genres in literature is historical fiction. A segment of that genre is Civil War fiction. Over the years I have read many novels associated with the war. I have also encountered a bias against Civil War fiction by many fellow students and buffs. I have never quite understood this disdain until now.

Craig A. Warren presents an in-depth study of the purpose of Civil War fiction.  The book is broken down into chapters detailing seven classic novels. We learn how Steven Crane’s Red Badge of Courage changed the style and face of Civil War novels. 

Before this novel, veterans wrote virtually all accounts of the war. They considered themselves to be the only ones qualified to “preach the gospel,” so to speak, on the events of the war.  The veteran authors convinced the reading public that non-serving authors were unable to convey the enormity of the war.

Civil War veteran authors claimed this arena exclusively as their own and convinced the reading public to support only their opinions. Crane successfully penetrated this veil and opened the door for all the others.

We see the advent of writing of   personal glory in Michael Shaara’s excellent novel, The Killer Angels; the use of family and romance in Gone With The Wind and others; suffering and social change in the works of Faulkner; and the effects of the war through the eyes of women novelists.

This is a literate and important work on understanding the importance of fiction in Civil War literature. However, it is very narrow in its scope and will not appeal to the majority of the Civil War reading community.

The book has no maps, pictures, statistics or strategies. It is strictly written for those avid fiction readers who are seeking an explanation of its value in the scheme of history.  It has value in the explanations offered on how the war was seen through the eyes of veterans and authors through the generations after the war.

This is a well-written, concise and a well-paced book. Separating the subject novels into chapters allows the reader to follow the author’s point of view with ease.  

Reviewer:
Joseph A. Truglio

Joseph A. Truglio is president and business agent for a  motion picture film technicians local union and a lifelong student of the Civil War. His memberships include the Lincoln Group of New York and New Jersey Civil War Heritage Assn. He is president of the Phil Kearny Civil War Round Table in Wayne, N.J.