American Relics and the Politics of Public Memory

"In prose that is scholarly, compelling, and an absolute joy to read, Dennis clearly demonstrates how relics function as a special kind of object in American culture. American Relics and the Politics of Public Memory stands to be one of the most important histories of material culture and commemoration in decades."-Sarah J. Purcell, author of Sealed with Blood: War, Sacrifice, and Memory in Revolutionary America

"Dennis deftly draws upon an impressive range of scholarship from museum studies, historic preservation, and public history to explore the many ways that Americans have invested memory and meaning in relics, collected and cherished or abhorred them, and used them to promote desired outcomes from consensus to violence."-Alea Henle, author of Rescued from Oblivion: Historical Cultures in the Early United States