These honored dead: how the story of Gettysburg shaped American memory

"How did the story of Gettysburg evolve? Why did the battle become a legend? And how much truth is behind the myth? For seven score years, Americans have shaped and altered the national memory of the battle, fashioning the story of Gettysburg to reflect our changing culture and national character. Now Thomas A. Desjardin, a prominent Civil War historian and keen cultural observer, demonstrates how flawed our knowledge of this enormous event has become and why that has happened. This is, in effect, a biography of a story - the story of Gettysburg."--Jacket.