'Confederate' well worth time to read

MY OLD CONFEDERATE HOME: A Respectable Place for Civil War Veterans. By Rusty Williams. University Press of Kentucky. 313 pages. $34.95.

Although a 1993 book, "Living Monuments: Confederate Soldiers' Homes in the New South," outlined the history of such retreats, Rusty Williams' work on Kentucky's home for Confederate veterans provides the first detailed look into this aspect of the nation's history.

"My Old Confederate Home" will provide readers with an excellent account of efforts made by ex-Confederates who were business and political leaders in the state to provide a place for their comrades who had fallen on hard times. Opened in 1902, the Kentucky Confederate Veterans Home operated until 1934, and several thousand of the Boys of 1861 resided there through the last years of their lives.

Williams weaves together a story of the Confederate home that includes state and local politics, the lives of many of the residents, the economic impact on the local community and the efforts of the United Confederate Veterans, United Daughters of the Confederacy and church communities that maintained and supported it.

With the emergence of sentiment for the Lost Cause, Confederate veteran homes played a significant role in state politics well into the 1930s and beyond. White males represented the largest voting bloc in the state, and thousands who had worn the gray were able to send a clear and direct message to the Kentucky Legislature, which listened and responded to their demands.

"My Old Confederate Home" is well worth the read for its detailed look into this last chapter of the Lost Cause.