eBook

Heroes and Cowards

Kahn, Matthew E, Costa, Dora L

2010,2008,2015,2009

Overview

When are people willing to sacrifice for the common good? What are the benefits of friendship? How do communities deal with betrayal? And what are the costs and benefits of being in a diverse community? Using the life histories of more than forty thousand Civil War soldiers, Dora Costa and Matthew Kahn answer these questions and uncover the vivid stories, social influences, and crucial networks that influenced soldiers' lives both during and after the war. Drawing information from government documents, soldiers' journals, and one of the most extensive research projects about Union Army soldiers ever undertaken, Heroes and Cowards demonstrates the role that social capital plays in people's decisions. The makeup of various companies--whether soldiers were of the same ethnicity, age, and occupation--influenced whether soldiers remained loyal or whether they deserted. Costa and Kahn discuss how the soldiers benefited from friendships, what social factors allowed some to survive the POW camps while others died, and how punishments meted out for breaking codes of conduct affected men after the war. The book also examines the experience of African-American soldiers and makes important observations about how their comrades shaped their lives. Heroes and Cowards highlights the inherent tensions between the costs and benefits of community diversity, shedding light on how groups and societies behave and providing valuable lessons for the present day.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press,Princeton Univ. Press
• Subject: 19th century / Abolitionism / African American soldiers / African American soldiers -- Biography / African Methodist Episcopal Church / African-Americans / American Civil War / Andersonville Raiders / Arizona Cardinals / Army / Attrition warfare / Battle of Antietam / Battle of Brice's Crossroads / Battle of Cold Harbor / Battle of Shiloh / Biography / Black school / Brevet (military) / Bring the Jubilee / Bushwhacker / Bürgerkrieg / Camp William Penn / Case studies / Charles Russell Lowell / Christian Fleetwood / Civil war / Civil War Period (1850-1877) / Civil War, 1861 - 1865 / Community life / Community life -- United States -- Case studies / Confederate States Army / Confederates in the Attic / Cultural pluralism / Cultural pluralism -- United States -- Case studies / Desertion / Economics / Free Soil Party / French Resistance / Furlough / Gemeinschaft / Grand Army of the Republic / HBW / Heroes / His Family / HISTORY / HISTORY / General / HISTORY / World / JHBC / John S. Mosby / John W. Geary / Joseph E. Johnston / Joshua Chamberlain / Laborer / Mass grave / Medal of Honor / Military / Military life / Military recruitment / Military service / Mortality rate / Multiculturalism / Napoleon / Nathan Bedford Forrest / National Bureau of Economic Research / On War / Ostracism / Pat Tillman / Pension / Pluralism (Social sciences) / Prisoner of war / Probability / Psychological aspects / Public expenditure / Samuel C. Armstrong / Scurvy / Siege of Petersburg / Slavery / Social aspects / Social conditions / Social networks / Social networks -- United States -- Case studies / Social perception / SOCIAL SCIENCE / SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General / Social sciences / Sociology / Soldaten / Soldiers / Soldiers -- United States -- Biography / Soziale Beziehungen / Soziale Gruppe / Soziales Netzwerk / Spanish Civil War / The American Soldier / The Other Hand / The Passing of the Armies / The Wehrmacht (documentary) / Thomas Wentworth Higginson / Thucydides / Time Slave / To 1865 / Total war / Tullahoma Campaign / U.S.A / Unemployment / Union Army / United States / United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Psychological aspects / United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Social aspects / United States -- Social conditions -- To 1865 / United States / Army / United States Colored Troops / United States. Army -- Military life -- History -- 19th century / USA / Warfare / Welfare / White League / William Birney / Works Progress Administration / World War II
• ISBN: 1400829755, 9781400829750, 9780691137049, 0691137048