The American Civil War is considered one of the most defining moments in American history. It is the war that shaped the social, political and economic structure with a broader perspective of unification of states and thus leading to this ideal nation of unified states as it is today. In the book “Confederates in the Attic,” author Tony Horwitz recounts his year-long exploration through the locations where the American Civil War was fought. He took his childhood interest in the Civil War to a new level by traveling the South in search of Civil War memorabilia, battlefields and, most importantly, stories. The title “Confederates in the Attic”: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War has two meanings in Tony Horwitz's thoughtful and entertaining exploration of the role of the American Civil War in the modern world of the South. The first meaning alludes to Horwitz's personal interest in the war. The grandson of a Russian Jew, Horwitz grew up in the North but developed a fascination with Southern myth and history from childhood. He tells readers that as a child he wrote about the war and even built a mural of significant battles in his home's attic its. The second meaning refers to regional memory, the importance or lack thereof still attributed to this epochal national event. As Horwitz visits sites throughout the South, he encounters unreconstructed rebels who still hold outdated beliefs. He also encounters groups of “re-enactors,” devotees who attempt to relive the experience of the soldier's life and death. One of his most daunting yet unsurprising beliefs is that attitudes toward war divide along racial lines. Too many white people shroud the memory in nostalgia, rejecting... middle of paper... the wrongs suffered, even if these tribulations were justified. But above all, forgetting history represents a serious threat to the future. Sometimes we need to know where we've been to know where we're going. However, remembering is also a thorny subject. Debates erupt over which story is correct and which should be remembered. It's also a matter of enthusiasm as much as anything else. Remembering the Civil War as many Northerners and Southerners remember the war, as a war that happened, had certain ramifications, and otherwise does not affect contemporary life, is much easier to justify and address than a zealous attitude toward a "lost cause ". " It's just that great enthusiasm leads to reverence for ancestors who do not necessarily deserve it. However, it is not that each individual can decide for another which ancestors are worth venerating.