The Politics of Mourning: Death and Honor in Arlington National Cemetery

The Politics of Mourning: Death and Honor in Arlington National Cemetery

Micki McElya

#2590 of 3,809 books · #854 in History

Shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (2017).

The Politics of Mourning won the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize, and Sharon Harris Book Award, and was a finalist for the Jefferson Davis Award of the American Civil War Museum. Arlington National Cemetery is one of America's most sacred shrines, a destination for millions who tour its grounds to honor the men and women of the armed forces who serve and sacrifice. It commemorates their heroism, yet it has always been a place of struggle over the meaning of honor and love of country. Once a showcase plantation, Arlington was transformed by the Civil War, first into a settlement for the once enslaved, and then into a memorial for Union dead. Later wars broadened its significance, as did the creation of its iconic monument to universal military sacrifice: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. As Arlington took its place at the center of the American story, inclusion within its gates became a prerequisite for claims to national belonging. This deeply moving book reminds us that many brave patriots who fought for America abroad struggled to be recognized at home, and that remembering the past and reckoning with it do not always go hand in hand.