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UnCivil Wars
Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War
During the Civil War, cities, houses, forests, and soldiers’ bodies were transformed into “dead heaps of ruins,” novel sights in the southern landscape. How did this happen, and why? And what did Americans―northern and southern, black and white, male and female―make of this proliferation of ruins? Ruin Nation is the first book to bring together environmental and cultural histories to consider the evocative power of ruination as an imagined state, an act of destruction, and a process of change.
Megan Kate Nelson examines the narratives and images that Americans produced as they confronted the war’s destructiveness. Architectural ruins―cities and houses―dominated the stories that soldiers and civilians told about the “savage” behavior of men and the invasions of domestic privacy. The ruins of living things―trees and bodies―also provoked discussion and debate. People who witnessed forests and men being blown apart were plagued by anxieties about the impact of wartime technologies on nature and on individual identities.
The obliteration of cities, houses, trees, and men was a shared experience. Nelson shows that this is one of the ironies of the war’s ruination―in a time of the most extreme national divisiveness people found common ground as they considered the war’s costs. And yet, very few of these ruins still exist, suggesting that the destructive practices that dominated the experiences of Americans during the Civil War have been erased from our national consciousness.
Megan Kate Nelson examines the narratives and images that Americans produced as they confronted the war’s destructiveness. Architectural ruins―cities and houses―dominated the stories that soldiers and civilians told about the “savage” behavior of men and the invasions of domestic privacy. The ruins of living things―trees and bodies―also provoked discussion and debate. People who witnessed forests and men being blown apart were plagued by anxieties about the impact of wartime technologies on nature and on individual identities.
The obliteration of cities, houses, trees, and men was a shared experience. Nelson shows that this is one of the ironies of the war’s ruination―in a time of the most extreme national divisiveness people found common ground as they considered the war’s costs. And yet, very few of these ruins still exist, suggesting that the destructive practices that dominated the experiences of Americans during the Civil War have been erased from our national consciousness.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published May 15, 2012
About the author
Megan Kate Nelson
10 books88 followersMEGAN KATE NELSON is a writer and historian living in Lincoln, Massachusetts. I have written about the Civil War, U.S. western history, and American culture for the New York Times, Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, The Atlantic, and TIME.
I have just published "Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America" (Scribner, 2022) to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park. My previous book, "The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West" (Scribner, 2020) won a 2017 NEH Public Scholar Award and was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History.
I earned my BA in History and Literature from Harvard University and my PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa.
I have just published "Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America" (Scribner, 2022) to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park. My previous book, "The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West" (Scribner, 2020) won a 2017 NEH Public Scholar Award and was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History.
I earned my BA in History and Literature from Harvard University and my PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 15, 2013
In Ruin Nation, Megan Kate Nelson argues that ruins—-of buildings, of the natural environment, and of human bodies and lives—-created by the Civil War were central in Americans’ attempts to evaluate the conflict, and after the war was over the erasure of ruins had the effect of ending or at least changing the complex conversations about the war that the ruination prompted. “Although the echo of the ruin reverberates forward in Civil War sites,” Nelson writes, “these places produce nostalgia rather than a true understanding of the past.”
Ruin Nation is a magnificent and enthralling book. Well-researched, interesting and provocative in its arguments, it is unlike any other book I’ve ever read about the Civil War. As an environmental history of war it’s a fascinating look into a little-appreciated aspect of a very well-known story. This book probably has crossover appeal for non-academics as well.
Ruin Nation is a magnificent and enthralling book. Well-researched, interesting and provocative in its arguments, it is unlike any other book I’ve ever read about the Civil War. As an environmental history of war it’s a fascinating look into a little-appreciated aspect of a very well-known story. This book probably has crossover appeal for non-academics as well.
April 16, 2013
I am not by any means an expert on the civil war, but have had a long desire to learn more about this conflict. This book is very well researched and very well written. It does not detail specific battles or tactics, or the personalities of leading generals and politicians. Instead the author describes and discusses the destruction of cities, the deforestation not just from battles but also from the day to day living needs of the soldiers, and the physical ruin of the men who fought in it. I think this is a must-read for anyone who has even a slight interest in the war.
September 18, 2012
Amazing new insight into the nature of war--I especially loved her chapter on war amputees, the "ruins of men." Important work on destruction and warscapes. Would recommend for almost anyone: undergrad audiences, general Civil War readers, etc.
June 9, 2013
I suspect that my hopes may have been too high for Nelson's "Ruin Nation." Although I appreciated her blend of environmental history, (dis)ability studies, gender studies, and military history, the book felt a little disjointed and shallow for me. As a starting place for thinking about the physical and environmental destruction of the American Civil War it's fine. However, readers already familiar with these themes may find the text too introductory.
Additionally, the book's conclusion raises interesting questions about Americans' tendency to "consume" rather than "confront" history. However, Nelson under-examines this interesting phenomenon. As a result, the book ends on a thought-provoking but incomplete note.
That said, I enjoyed "Ruin Nation." It is beautifully written and well illustrated.
Additionally, the book's conclusion raises interesting questions about Americans' tendency to "consume" rather than "confront" history. However, Nelson under-examines this interesting phenomenon. As a result, the book ends on a thought-provoking but incomplete note.
That said, I enjoyed "Ruin Nation." It is beautifully written and well illustrated.
October 4, 2018
This was a fantastic read for historians, but proves useful for those even outside the realm of history and public history. Nelson's use of material culture to substantiate her claims was both impressive and intriguing, forcing the reader to think about their own landscape and how they interact with them. Her conception of "landscape" is also fascinating in the ways it includes even the bodies of veteran amputees as part of the landscape of the Civil War. Don't go into this book expecting the standard narrative of North vs South. Nelson spins Civil War historiography on its head and instead analyzes the similarities between the destruction caused throughout the war, producing a potentially more useful historical narrative for modern scholars. Especially for those interested in gender, landscape, and memory studies in the context of history, Ruin Nation should be on your list.
June 14, 2013
A good read for understanding the devastation the Civil War wrought on cities, buildings, trees/forests, and men.
April 16, 2014
Unusual look at ruin: human bodies, nature, and architecture.
October 19, 2020
A cultural history of ruination during the Civil War. Examines ruin to cities, homes, forests, and people. I thought the chapter on ruined men was the best in the book. Emphasis was on rebuilding and erasing the ruins of the war. Even the battlefields were restored as close as possible to what they were before the battle. For instance, homes were rebuilt and trees planted. Very well researched!
September 8, 2015
Ms. Nelson's book is a much-needed reminder of the costs of war, in general, and of the huge and tragic effects of the American Civil War. Among its many strengths, the book provides a compelling look at the destruction of Columbia, South Carolina by troops under General William T. Sherman (and thus showed how he lied in disclaiming that he and they were mainly responsible). The author also describes the burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, which was in retaliation for the depredations of Union General David Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley. It could be said that she let General Phil Sheridan off easy, but with so much ruin across the nation, many incidents would have to be omitted due to constraints of space. This is a work for everyone interested in the Civil War, in our country's history, or in the terrible impact of wars on people and places.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews