Confederate Sympathies
Same-Sex Romance, Disunion, and Reunion in the Civil War Era
By Andrew Donnelly

296 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 19 halftones, notes, bibl., index, 89,448 words
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-8559-5
Published: April 2025 -
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-8558-8
Published: April 2025
Gender and American Culture
Paperback Available April 2025, but pre-order your copy today!
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Donnelly's sharp analytical eye particularly focuses on the ways Northern white men imagined their relationship with white Southerners through narratives of same-sex affection. Assessing the cultural work of these narratives, Donnelly argues that male homoeroticism enabled proslavery coalition building among antebellum Democrats, fostered sympathy for the national retreat from Reconstruction, and contributed to the victories of Lost Cause ideology. Linking the era's political and cultural history to the history of homosexuality, Donnelly reveals that male homoeroticism was not inherently radical but rather cultivated political sympathy for slavery, the Confederacy, and white supremacy.
About the Author
Andrew Donnelly is assistant professor of English at the University of Memphis.
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Reviews
"From memoirs to dime novels to Henry James's canonical writings, Donnelly excavates compelling evidence of same-sex desire during a period that most historians have rendered silent. Confederate Sympathies is a major contribution to both Civil War history and sexuality studies."– Jim Downs, Gettysburg College
“With wit and striking originality, Confederate Sympathies reveals the tangled connections between same-sex friendship, homoeroticism, white supremacy, and partisan politics during and after the Civil War. Donnelly’s genuinely impressive research reinterprets familiar texts and introduces us to new ones, tracing an alternative history of masculinity in the mid-nineteenth century. The book greatly enriches our understanding of same-sex desire and the racial politics of the Civil War era.”--Sarah E. Chinn, Hunter College, CUNY