When one thinks of the American Civil War and the South, the last thing that comes to mind is hilarity, merriment, and levity. Yet, the Confederate soldier had a finely tuned sense of the ridiculous, evident at times even in the heat of battle, as award-winning author-historian Lochlainn Seabrook amply demonstrates in his entertaining lighthearted book, Support Your Local Confederate: Wit and Humor in the Southern Confederacy.
Derived from original Nineteenth- and early Twentieth-Century sources, Seabrook's collection of some 400 old-timey entries covers a wide spectrum of authentic Confederate humor, from jokes about the everyday life of a soldier, to funny anecdotal stories concerning food, clothing, the weather, women, marching, weaponry, and combat; from witty Confederate sayings, to sagacious Confederate views and advice on money, success, marriage, and happiness. The whimsical, sarcastic, and often sharp-tongued Confederate soldier spared no one: his waggish playfulness, droll erudition, devilish prank-playing, and witty repartee found an overabundance of unsuspecting victims among his army buddies, his highfalutin superiors, and even his Yankee foes - a group with whom he often shared coffee, traded clothing, and engaged in comical banter.
Along with an introduction, endnotes, and bibliography, Col. Seabrook's work is generously illustrated with old Confederate images from the Victorian Era, and also includes several of his own jocose contributions. This delightful and hilarious romp through the archives of Confederate wisdom, tomfoolery, and horseplay will make you think, smile, and laugh out loud. Destined to become a classic in Southern literature. Support Your Local Confederate is available in paperback and hardcover. (All text copyright © Sea Raven Press)
Award-winning historian Lochlainn Seabrook is the author and editor of nearly 100 books, including: Abraham Lincoln Was a Liberal, Jefferson Davis Was a Conservative; Lincoln's War: The Real Cause, the Real Winner, the Real Loser; What the Confederate Flag Means to Me; Heroes of the Southern Confederacy: The Illustrated Book of Confederate Officials, Soldiers, and Civilians; All We Ask is to Be Let Alone: The Southern Secession Fact Book; The Unholy Crusade: Lincoln's Legacy of Destruction in the American South; The Great Yankee Coverup: What the North Doesn't Want You to Know About Lincoln's War; Confederacy 101: Amazing Facts You Never Knew About America's Oldest Political Tradition; Confederate Flag Facts: What Every American Should Know About Dixie's Southern Cross; The Bittersweet Bond: Race Relations in the Old South as Described by White and Black Southerners; Women in Gray: A Tribute to the Ladies Who Supported the Southern Confederacy; Everything You Were Taught About American Slavery is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!; Honest Jeff and Dishonest Abe: A Southern Children's Guide to the Civil War; The Constitution of the Confederate States of America Explained; A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest; and the international blockbuster Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!
