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Greg Downs

グレッグ・ダウンズ

Greg Downs

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1971-11-22 （San Francisco, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
San Francisco (birth) → Elizabethtown, Kentucky → Hyden, Kentucky → Nashville, Tennessee → Kapaa, Kauai County, Hawaii

Career

Occupations
author, historian, professor
Active Years
2000-
Affiliations
University of California, Davis (Associate Professor)

Education

Yale University
History
Degree: B.A.
Country: United States
Advisor was Melvin Patrick Ely.
Iowa Writers' Workshop
Creative Writing
Country: United States
Awarded a James Michener/Copernicus Society of America fellowship.
University of Pennsylvania
History (Ph.D. program)
Degree: Ph.D.
Country: United States
Received a Ph.D.

Awards

Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
2006
Work: Spit Baths (short story collection)
Organization: University of Georgia Press (Flannery O'Connor Award)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Spit Baths

2006 Short story collection (fiction)

A short story collection that weaves historical perspective into fiction, exploring family ties and community tensions; received positive critical reviews.

familycommunityhistorical memory

Declarations of Dependence: The Long Reconstruction of Popular Politics in the South, 1861-1908

2011 History (Southern history; Reconstruction studies)

Presents a long view of popular politics and dependency in the South, reexamining social and political changes from emancipation through the early twentieth century.

Reconstructiondependency and rightsSouthern politics

After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War

2015 History (military occupation; war studies)

Analyzes the role of military occupation in the postwar South and the processes by which war ended, discussing violence and power relations during Reconstruction.

military occupationends of warracial violence

The Second American Revolution: The Civil War-Era Struggle Over Cuba and the Rebirth of the American Republic

2019 History (international history; civil rights context)

Examines Civil War–era struggles over Cuba and their influence on the rebirth of the American republic.

American Civil Wardiplomacy and territorial strugglesreconstitution of the republic

Bibliography

  • Spit Baths. University of Georgia Press, 2006.
  • Declarations of Dependence: The Long Reconstruction of Popular Politics in the South, 1861-1908. University of North Carolina Press, 2011.
  • After Slavery (contributor). University Press of Florida, 2013.
  • The World the Civil War Made (editor with Kate Masur). University of North Carolina Press, 2015.
  • After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War. Harvard University Press, 2015.
  • The Second American Revolution: The Civil War-Era Struggle Over Cuba and the Rebirth of the American Republic. University of North Carolina Press, 2019.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Interweaving historical perspective into narrativeScholarly, detailed analytical prose (in historical writing)Realist short fiction focusing on community and personal tensions
Recurring Motifs
Reconstruction eraboundaries between dependency and rightsrace and violencefamily and community

Legacy

Recognized both as a scholar and fiction writer. Influential in Civil War and Reconstruction studies and active in public-facing history through contributions to mainstream publications.

Quotes

  • A strong sense of style and unfaltering command of his material allow Downs to take the kinds of risks in tone and subject that make his debut a love-it-or-hate-it proposition.
    Source: Publishers Weekly (review of Spit Baths) (2006)
  • Perhaps the most ambitious and compelling story here is 'Ain’t I a King, Too?,' and called Downs 'a writer to watch'.
    Source: Kirkus Reviews (review of Spit Baths) (2006)

Trivia

  • He is the grandson of virologist and naturalist Wilbur G. Downs.
  • In 2015 he released the Mapping Occupation project with Scott Nesbit.