The ability to craft a compelling narrative about the past relies heavily on the ability to find diverse and engaging sources. The University of Virginia’s “In the Valley of the Shadow” project provides historians with just this kind of robust source material on Americans’ lived experience during the Civil War and its aftermath. First launched in the early 1990s under the leadership of William G. Thomas III and Edward L. Ayers, the digital archive documents two communities—Augusta County, Virginia and Franklin County, Pennsylvania—from the 1850s to 1870. Ayers’s latest work, The Thin Light of Freedom, draws heavily from “In the Valley of the Shadow.” It provides a close reading of the Civil War and Reconstruction in Augusta and Franklin from 1863 to 1902. In many ways this is the unofficial second part to his 2003 book, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, which explores Franklin and Augusta from 1859 to 1863.1 In this latest work he pushes beyond the chronological barrier of the archive, continuing to examine the local experience during Reconstruction through to the codification of Jim Crow in the early 1900s. In this narrative Ayers explores the concept of fluid boundaries in depth, a frequent theme in his body of work.2 Both counties are located within the Great Valley, the area between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains. This area straddled the divide between the United States and the Confederacy and was a location of frequent battles and skirmishes, changing hands many times. While certain elements of the two areas make them distinct, Ayers shows how they are in many ways representative of their respective regions in terms of social opinion, politics, and lived experience. In each chapter he uses personal vignettes to analyze shifting boundaries between North and South, armies and ideologies, and between enslaved and free, white and black, male and female, army and civilian. Each division is explored through the lenses of military strategy, soldiers’ experiences, politics, and civilian life. Franklin County resident Rachel and her Union cavalrymen husband Samuel Cormany; Confederate Brigadier General John Imboden, who was stationed throughout

中文翻译：

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远眺大峡谷

制作关于过去的引人入胜的叙述的能力在很大程度上取决于找到多样化和引人入胜的来源的能力。弗吉尼亚大学的“在阴影之谷”项目为历史学家提供了这种关于美国人在内战及其后果期间生活经历的可靠来源材料。该数字档案于 1990 年代初在 William G. Thomas III 和 Edward L. Ayers 的领导下首次推出，记录了两个社区——弗吉尼亚州奥古斯塔县和宾夕法尼亚州富兰克林县——从 1850 年代到 1870 年。艾尔斯的最新作品《瘦子》自由之光，大量取材于“阴影之谷”。它提供了对奥古斯塔和富兰克林从 1863 年到 1902 年的内战和重建的仔细阅读。在很多方面，这是他 2003 年著作的非正式第二部分，In the Presence of Mine Enemies，从 1859 年到 1863 年探索富兰克林和奥古斯塔。1 在这部最新作品中，他超越了档案的时间顺序障碍，继续研究重建期间的当地经验，直到 1900 年代初期吉姆·克劳的编纂。在这篇叙述中，艾尔斯深入探索了流体边界的概念，这是他作品中的一个常见主题。2 两个县都位于大山谷内，即蓝岭和阿巴拉契亚山脉之间的区域。该地区横跨美国和南部邦联之间的分界线，是经常发生战斗和小规模冲突、多次易手的地方。虽然这两个地区的某些元素使它们与众不同，但艾尔斯展示了它们如何在社会舆论、政治、和生活经历。在每一章中，他都使用个人小插曲来分析北方与南方、军队与意识形态之间、被奴役与自由、白人与黑人、男性与女性、军队与平民之间不断变化的界限。每个部门都通过军事战略、士兵的经历、政治和平民生活的镜头进行探索。富兰克林县居民雷切尔和她的联邦骑兵丈夫塞缪尔科曼尼；邦联准将约翰·伊博登 (John Imboden)，驻扎在各地 富兰克林县居民雷切尔和她的联邦骑兵丈夫塞缪尔科曼尼；邦联准将约翰·伊博登 (John Imboden)，驻扎在各地 富兰克林县居民雷切尔和她的联邦骑兵丈夫塞缪尔科曼尼；邦联准将约翰·伊博登 (John Imboden)，驻扎在各地