Very good question and finally something I can post on. To answer the question about academia and PC, well that's why we have tenure don't cha know.
I think you left many of us out when you listed only academic and amateur historians. What about us natural born historians, of which there seem to be quite a few here. I received a bachelors degree without ever having to take a history course. I received my necessary credits by challenge at age 17 no less. I see now that all of that was a result of the PC readings. My interests go way beyond the War. Always have been fascinated by the past and often when asked how I am so sure I reply because I lived it and in a sense that is truly what I feel. In my minds eye it all seems so vivid.
As a child I was what you would call a nerd today, always a book in my hand but also an insatiable curiosity about my own ancestors. In that I was very fortunate. Growing up and spending summers with my grandparents in Alabama I got to hear from them their reminisces of the war as passed down from their parents. As you all know, that's one of the things about our Southern Heritage, that before television we would sit on the porch and talk about our families and those who came before. As time goes by the facts tend to either be watered down or exaggerated. I'm guilty of that myself for you see not only do I consider myself a historian but I am also a story teller. Many times I add if that wasn't how it was at least it was the way it should have been.
It was not until I started getting feedback from these boards that I opened my eyes to other than the PC version of history. You can ask GP, if anyone said anything derogatory about Mr Lincoln or anything favorable about Gen Forrest I was all over them. Now I see a much bigger picture and that is what I want our legacy to be.
My thanks to all of you.