Today
we conclude our 2012 collaboration with the Vermont Humanities Council's
statewide reading program, Vermont Reads. This morning, we take a look at the
legacy of the Civil War, and the impact of war in general on Vermont and the nation.
"Bull Run" by Paul Fleischman
VPR continues its collaboration with the Vermont Humanities Council to support its one-book state-wide, community reading program: Vermont Reads. For 2012, the Council has selected "Bull Run" by Paul Fleischman, with an alternate choice of Stephen Crane's classic novel, "The Red Badge of Courage."
"Bull Run" takes the reader through the days leading up to the Battle of Bull Run, the first battle of the bloodiest conflict in American history - the Civil War. Fleischman tells the story from the perspective of 16 narrators.
The Legacy of War
As part of VPR's weeklong series, Vermont Reads Bull Run, we look at how war is written about in
literature, and what we can learn about the experience and the truths of war by
reading about it.
This
year, Vermonters are reading two books in recognition of the American Civil War's
Sesquicentennial: Paul Fleischman's Bull Run, written in
1993, and the 1895 classic The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. One of the main themes running through both
books concerns the aftermath of battle, and the consequences for communities as
well as individual soldiers.
Hear a recording of "Tenting On The Old Campground" by Walter Kittredge, a popular song during the American Civil War and a particular favorite of enlisted men in the Union Army. It was recoded by Counterpoint in the VPR Recording Studio.
This
year, Vermonters are reading Paul Fleischman's Bull Run, a novel published in 1993, and The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen
Crane, a classic tale of the Civil War first published in 1895. Both
books offer detailed descriptions of life and leadership in a time of war, based
on an extensive archive of personal narratives written at the time, and still
available in collections today.
Bull Run marked the first major battle of the Civil War, a time before the full
horror of the conflict was understood.
Next
week in Brattleboro, Yale Professor of History David Blight will focus a
spotlight on what he says is an aspect of the fight for modern Civil Rights too
often left in the dark: the connection to the American Civil War.
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