{"product_id":"the-legend-of-john-wilkes-booth-myth-memory-and-a-mummy-cultureamerica-9780700613526","title":"The Legend of John Wilkes Booth: Myth  Memory  and a Mummy (CultureAmerica)","description":"\u003cp\u003eA deformed thumb  a neck scar from a stage accident  and a broken left leg  the result of a dramatic leap. These were the telltale markings that for decades identified a sideshow attraction as the supposed body of John Wilkes Booth. They persuaded onlookers that Lincolns assassin was not killed in 1865 but survived the assault on Garretts barn to live on as a fugitive for thirty years afterwards. As Wyatt Evans shows  some popular stories  no matter how weird and improbable  simply refuse to die.  Evans recounts how a mummified corpse came to embody the romantic image of the assassin and the legend of his survival. He traces the legends development in the weeks following the assassination to the appearance of the \"Booth Mummy \" the remains of an Oklahoma drifter embalmed in 1903 and displayed in carnival sideshows throughout the West. He assesses the political and ideological motivations in both Southern and Northern cultures that made proliferation of the legend possible as well as profitable. He concludes by examining the legends persistence in present-day America  the mummys ironic fate  and the recent efforts to exhume Booths real remains.  Weaving a \"vernacular intellectual history \" Evans shows how the legend emerged from a tangle of cultural and historical events including white Americans quest for a suitable racial pre-history  collective memories of the Civil War  and even incipient suspicions of conspiracy  since belief in Booths escape automatically implied a government cover-up of Booths capture and death. More than a sop to Confederate diehards for whom Booths escape symbolized Southern vindication  the legend exemplified Americans inability and unwillingness to enact closure over the tragedy of Lincolns death.  The Legend of John Wilkes Booth is a compelling story of how collective memories and popular histories collide with  clash  and sometimes overcome mainstream accounts of the past. It offers an alternate venue for studying the workings of Civil War memory in American culture and demonstrates how (and why) culture produced at the grassroots level can challenge the official version of events. Through his meticulous account  Evans sheds new light on our complex attitudes toward heroes and villains  our need to mythologize tragedies  and our unwillingness to let go of myths  however absurd.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45657792151605,"sku":"ByrdShop_0700613528","price":24.53,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780700613526.jpg?v=1782054241","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-legend-of-john-wilkes-booth-myth-memory-and-a-mummy-cultureamerica-9780700613526","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}