Stephen Cushman

Cushman never fully demonstrates his argument that Civil War memoirs led to the emphasis on individual actors, rather than the collective people, as the touchstones of Americans’ reflections on their “self” thereafter. Regardless, this deep analysis of the process of creating and selling the memoir’s persona and form adds new insight to the subject of the Civil War memoir. A fascinating tour de force of scholarship.

Helpful spin-offs from an acclaimed "mother" volume.