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kwn's review
5.0
This book is phenomenal. Even though I study monuments and public art, I learned so much about how monuments come to be taken down, reshuffled, or left in their spot. The chapter on Stone Mountain alone should win awards. I was shocked by what I read!
yolizzy's review
4.0
Super interesting read! Thompson does a great job weaving engaging stories and well thought through analysis.
xanderband's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A really fantastic look at a niche but important topic: how the US wants to portray itself and the power of who, where, and what is memorialized. Importantly, it looks fairly holistically at what to do with monuments a community disagrees with: activist responses and tearing them down, really exploring what "putting it in a museum" actually requires, to the formal processes and the roadblocks that are put in place to halt formal measures.
Some favorite parts: the scam-ridden history of stone mountain, the way "shaft" Confederate monuments were part of the rewriting Civil War and white southern identity, and the way Thompson centers monuments as a projection of image and power </ spoiler>
Some favorite parts:
hammock_and_read's review
5.0
This is must read! We get so much backstory to the start of USA to today, we also get personal stories along the way. So much of it is not taught in schools or even college- you will learn so much about why we are where we are at today. It is also not so academic you get bored or can't follow- its accessible to everyone. It will make you think and question a lot of what you thought you knew and how we need to move forward. Everyone should listen or read this one!
kwnreads's review
5.0
This book is phenomenal. Even though I study monuments and public art, I learned so much about how monuments come to be taken down, reshuffled, or left in their spot. The chapter on Stone Mountain alone should win awards. I was shocked by what I read!