Origins : The hymn and the man -- "His soul is marching on!" : "John Brown's body" and the Civil War -- Julia Ward Howe and the making of the "Battle hymn of the Republic" -- The reconstruction of the "Battle hymn" -- The progressive Battle hymn -- "Solidarity forever" : the worker's Battle hymn -- The evangelical Battle hymn -- The African-American Battle hymn -- Conclusion : the hymn that marches on
Summary
It was sung at Ronald Reagan's funeral, and adopted with new lyrics by labor radicals. John Updike quoted it in the title of one of his novels, and George W. Bush had it performed at the memorial service in the National Cathedral for victims of September 11, 2001. Perhaps no other song has held such a profoundly significant--and contradictory--place in America's history and cultural memory than "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." In this sweeping study, John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis show how this Civil War tune has become an anthem for cause after radically different cause in our nation's history
