During the American Civil War, popular prints were frequently used to depict, define, and celebrate both the Union and Confederate causes. The Union Image explores the graphic arts that portrayed the Northern side -- both in patriotic pictures and newsworthy illustrations published while the war raged and in retrospective images issued years later as major weapons in the postwar battle to shape the national memory.
Created not for connoisseurs but for ordinary Americans, these engravings and lithographs depicted battles, commanders, life in camp and on campaign, the sacrifices of home and hearth, and an election campaign that roiled the North in the midst of the war. This volume reproduces nearly 150 original prints, allowing readers to trace changes in Northern public opinion, from Northerners' early high hopes for success to their appreciation for the ultimate victors, the "real men of war," Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman.
About the Author :
Mark E. Neely Jr. is McCabe-Greer Professor of Civil War History at Pennsylvania State University. Harold Holzer is vice president for communications at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Together, they have coauthored several previous books, including The Confederate Image: Prints of the Lost Cause.
Review :
"Holzer and Neely are the leading scholars of Civil War illustrations. . . . As has always been true of their work, this is a nicely written but serious scholarly study of popular Unionist image making. . . . This is a splendid book that would not only look good on the coffee table, but would serve teachers of Civil War history quite well in the classroom." -- The Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography
"Once again, Neely and Holzer, the 'dynamic duo' of Civil War iconography, have teamed up to create a work sure to please art historians and students of the history and popular culture of the American Civil War." -- CHOICE
"Over the years, the authors have scoured public and private collections to locate the 150 original prints represented here as well as new information on the artists and the printing processes. Their intent to recapture the spirit in which these prints were first published and their importance to American culture is successfully realized. Useful to scholars as well as the casual reader, this book is highly recommended for both academic and public libraries." -- Library Journal, starred review
"This handsome, oversized volume . . . a scholarly but lively text contributes to our understanding of life, politics and public opinion in the North, and is also an important contribution to the history of popular art in America. . . . The Union Image [captures] the spirit of the time and . . . [evokes], at least in part, what it must have been like to live in the North during the war. The magic of this book, which belongs in the library of anyone interested in the Civil War, is that it helps remind one that it was not so long ago, and that the people who lived through it were not so different from us." -- Chicago Tribune
"This over-sized, aesthetically pleasing book uses more than 150 prints to examine changes in public opinion in Northern society during the Civil War era. Excellent reproductions of original prints form the core of chapters that link various facets of artistic imagery to the history of the war and American popular culture." -- Virginia Quarterly Review
"This volume lives up to the high standards established by the authors in their previous books on Civil War art and illustration. The Union Image offers some new perspectives on the Civil War and on American popular art in the nineteenth century. The authors have also uncovered new information on the artists, on the process of making the prints, on their widespread appeal, and on their impact on the Northern people's perception of the war. The book offers a feast for both the mind and the eye." -- James M. McPherson, Princeton University
"Will become a classic. . . . Well written, documented and illustrated. . . . A must read for those who consider themselves to be serious Civil War scholars. Without this text your Civil War education will fall short!" -- Civil War News
