The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song That Marches On - Hardcover

Stauffer, John; Soskis, Benjamin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199837430 ISBN 13: 9780199837434

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

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 "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

In this sweeping study, John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis show how this Civil War tune has become an anthem for cause after radically different cause. 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. Using intense apocalyptic and millenarian imagery, she captured the popular enthusiasm of the time, the sense of a climactic battle between good and evil; 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 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.

"The 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. And 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, The Battle Hymn of the Republic illuminates the fractures and contradictions that underlie the story of our nation.

About this title

About the Author

John Stauffer is professor of English and American Literature and African-American Studies chair of the History of American Civilization program at Harvard. His books include Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln and The Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the Transformation of Race.

Benjamin Soskis 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. His writing has appeared in The New Republic, The New York Times, and Slate.com.

Review

"...vivid biography of the song that marches on...engaging...an entertaining tale" --Wall Street Journal

"Stauffer and Soskis bring subtlety and depth to their treatment of the Battle Hymn in the years after the Civil War and into the next century....The ambiguity and multiple meanings in the song resonate throughout the complex story that Stauffer and Soskis tell so well." --Washington Post

"the first comprehensive look at the history of the tune and titular verse" --Library Journal

"Stauffer and Soskis's study breathes new life into Civil War scholarship...The Battle Hymn of the Republic is beautifully rendered history. Full of surprising twists and turns, it should be on the shelf of everyone who has sung the song." --The Christian Century

"...there was a moment when the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" nearly did become our national anthem. This discovery is one of hundreds of insights gleaned from John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis's book, The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song That Marches On." --Christianity Today

"John Stauffer and Ben Soskis's The Battle Hymn of the Republic is not only a brilliant and magisterial book but is the best and most impressive work in American history I have read in recent years. It uses popular songs to give a profound reimagining of America history from the Civil War to the present. Few works since the writings of Perry Miller have shown such a subtle grasp of the centrality of religion in American culture. Few if any collective biographies have insightfully dealt with such a range of figures as John Brown, Julia Ward Howe, Teddy Roosevelt, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, and Martin Luther King Jr." --David Brion Davis, Sterling Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University

"The sheer ubiquity of the 'Battle Hymn' makes it almost common cultural coin in America. This marvelous, textured book brilliantly illuminates the origins and ever-evolving history of how an old Methodist camp melody became the most famous marching song and then the warlike anthem sung all across the political spectrum and at all manner of public events. Through the story of a song, surprised readers will learn a great deal about what binds as well as divides Americans." --David W. Blight, Yale University, and author of American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era

"Stauffer and Soskis interestingly show the song's evolution and how it parallels large portions of our nation's history. The song truly captures those events that have shaped the nation. It provides clear examples of what unites and divides us as individuals and collectively as a nation....The book is extremely well organized and well written. Those who love music and the "story behind the music" will really enjoy this work. It receives my strongest recommendation and will be stored among my favorites." --Civil War News

"...[T]he work as a whole is remarkable in its poignancy and thoughtfulness. Those interested in all things political, religious, patriotic, and even musical will find excellent material and useful insight in Stauffer and Soskis's work." --The Journal of Southern Religion

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199837430
• ISBN 13: 9780199837434
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 392