Humor and the Civil War

Humor and the Civil War

by Petroleum V. NasbyJosh Billings Mark Twain and others
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date: 06/03/2013

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President Abraham Lincoln said he wouldn't have been able to survive the Civil War without his jokes and amusing stories. That war was by far the greatest struggle the United States has ever faced. More Americans died in the Civil War than in all of the other wars combined. Americans--both North and South--endured very hard times and suffered terrible tragedies, and yet they maintained their sense of humor. They even printed jokes on the front page of newspapers, mixed in with the top news stories.


Mark Twain is, of course, the most famous humorist of the nineteenth century, but there were others who were famous then that aren't quite as well known now. What they wrote still holds up well today and deserves to be revived. These humorists include Abraham Lincoln's favorites: Artemus Ward, Orpheus C. Kerr, and Petroleum V. Nasby. There's also Josh Billings, Alf Burnett, Bret Harte, and Ambrose Bierce. Even Abraham Lincoln himself was noted for his many funny stories and jokes. And people were still writing humorous stories involving the war at the end of the century, when O. Henry came along. This book includes all of them, along with some rare pieces by Mark Twain.


Here's just one example: "During the war a Southern editor, wishing to compliment Confederate General Pillow, wrote a notice of him, in which the General was called the 'battle-scarred hero,' but the typesetter made the phrase read, the 'battle-scared hero.' On reading the notice, the irate soldier hied himself to the newspaper office, and demanded a correction. This was promised, and the next day's paper spoke of General Pillow as a 'bottle-scarred hero.'"


This book draws together the very best of the Civil War's humor, parodies, burlesques, funny anecdotes, jokes, satire, personal experiences, tall tales, and wit. Retrieved through extensive research from books, newspapers, speeches, letters, and personal diaries, some of this material hasn't been published since the war. (345 pgs., 8 ill.)

ISBN:
9780988790209
9780988790209
Category:
War & combat fiction
Format:
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date:
06-03-2013
Language:
English
Publisher:
Fern Canyon Press
Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain, was born on November 30, 1835, in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri.

Writing grand tales about Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and the mighty Mississippi River, Mark Twain explored the American soul with wit, buoyancy, and a sharp eye for truth. He became nothing less than a national treasure.

Ambrose Bierce

A veteran of the American Civil War who fought at Shiloh and Chickamauga in the Union ranks, Bierce became one of America's best-known writers and journalists, admired for his insolent, entertaining and sometimes courageous columns.

In 1913 he set off for Mexico, then in the throes of revolution, and was never seen again. Ralph Steadman is the author of many illustrated books including Sigmund Freud, I Leonardo, The Big I Am, The Scar-Strangled Banner, Alice and Animal Farm. His most recent publication is the novel, Doodaaa.

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