The author, over the course of a year plus, travels around the South visiting places related to the Civil War and interviewing people on what the war means today. He visits Shelby Foote, attends the trial of a Black youth charged with killing a White man for flying a Confederate flag. He goes on a seven-day crusade to visit as many Civil War sites as possible with a hardcore re-enactor, wearing period clothing, sleeping outside, eating 1860s’ style, keeping as close to authentic as possible. He visits Andersonville, the notorious P.O.W. camp where the commandant is being recast as a hero. He interviews the last remaining widow of a Civil War soldier. And he travels to Montgomery, where both the Civil War and the Civil Rights movements began.

Throughout, Horwitz manages to remain incredibly neutral about the people and places he visits while still communicating his passion and interest. In the end, he is somewhat disturbed by what he sees as the legacy of the Old South. No longer does one race force segregation on another. Instead, in most areas, Blacks and Whites both intentionally segregate themselves and both teach their children their own brand of history. It was an interesting contrast to the last book I read on Jackie Robinson. Anyone with an interest in travel writing, the Civil War or the modern South, I think, would find this book worth reading. I gave it an 8.