This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Paperback edition)

by: Drew Gilpin Faust

Published by: Vintage

Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali

This Republic of Suffering has a singular focus within its study of the Civil War: Death. Death and ancillary activities are explored from various perspectives. The preface states the book’s objective as “Beginning with individuals’ confrontation with death and dying, the book explores how those experiences transformed society, culture, and politics in what became a broader republic of shared suffering [xv].”

Each chapter title is a gerund:
— “Dying” examines the nature of the “Good Death,” and shows how the Civil War shattered this notion as soldiers died far away from friends and family, how those around them tried to improvise, and how their families sought closure.

— “Killing” delves into the tensions between rationalizations and justifications to kill pitted against conscience and religion that inhibited taking a fellow citizen’s life.

— “Burying” looks at the innovative ways of transporting and finally resting our heroes.

— “Naming” exposes that not only the lives this conflict claimed but also the difficulties identifying the dead.

— “Realizing” narrates the impact on non-combatant civilians: the rites, rituals, and dress they adopted to channel their grief.

— “Belief and Doubt” explores the attitudes and animosities that emerged between the North and South and their tragic irony. These attitudes are still prevalent today.

— “Accounting” takes readers beyond 1865 (the end of the Civil War) to see what the nation did to fulfill its responsibility to its dead (by building national cemeteries), providing soldiers with identification tags, notifying next-of-kin and bringing our fallen heroes home.

— “Numbering” explores the importance of quantifying the sacrifice this conflict exacted from us.

The book draws from primary source material (letters, sermons, diaries, newspapers, advertisements, death records, grave stones, etc), and their expressions seep into the narrative with their profound words, grammatical and typographical errors, and heartfelt original expressions. The black and white photographs adorn rather than illustrate the text.

As the subject matter is morbid, I found this a difficult book to read as I teared up at various portions, and needed to rest between chapters or at the end of a section. It provides a multiplicity of viewpoints on a single point of focus and a dearth of supporting material for all its major points, thus giving it the qualities of an academic work.

Armchair Interviews says: A difficult subject well done.