Mary Boykin Chesnut kept a famous diary that captured the struggles people experienced during the American Civil War (1861-65; a war between the northern and southern states). Her journal of the war years gives readers an in-depth view of what life was like for Southerners, especially women, during the war.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Mary Chesnut kept her diary from early in 1861, just before the Civil War began, to shortly after the end of the war, in 1865. Though not a day-by-day account of the conflict, the diary gives an up-close-and-personal view of this critical period in American history. Her commentary on the conversations and events of her day reveals a keen awareness of the oppression to which women--lack or white, slave or free--were subjected during that period. While she would not consider herself a feminist, her diary reveals sensibilities and concerns that place her far ahead of her time. The wife of a Confederate general, Mary Chesnut moved in the elite circles of Southern society and had a keen interest in politics. Her diary is an important historic document and, because of her sharp wit and often irreverent attitude, a fascinating window into Southern society of the time.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

A singular view from a remarkable woman
This is a famous book. Any source work is worthy and accounts of the American Civil War from the female perspective are not so numerous, so all of them should be valued. Nevertheless, there is an inevitable order to everything and Mary Chesnut's diary is of the highest rank. Undoubtedly Mary Chesnut viewed the events of her time from a position of privilege. She was, in many respects, the archetypal southern lady. She was born on a South Carolina plantation, the daughter of a U. S Senator. She was highly educated, spoke several languages and married a U. S. Senator who became a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army. Her family connections meant she knew the principal characters of her time well. They included Jefferson Davis, John Bell Hood, Wade Hampton and many other important figures and their families in Confederate society, government and the military. She was in a position to travel to the field of engagement. Yet despite all these advantages, Mary Chesnut still exceptional and that was entirely due to her character and intellect. She was a strong minded, passionate woman in advance of her time and was disinclined to accept anything at face value-including the basic tenants upon which her new country was founded. She was an able authoress and has left posterity a vibrant, intimate, thoughtful, detailed, personable and entertaining chronicle of her life and times. This is essential Civil War reading and highly recommended.

A singular view from a remarkable woman
This is a famous book. Any source work is worthy and accounts of the American Civil War from the female perspective are not so numerous, so all of them should be valued. Nevertheless, there is an inevitable order to everything and Mary Chesnut's diary is of the highest rank. Undoubtedly Mary Chesnut viewed the events of her time from a position of privilege. She was, in many respects, the archetypal southern lady. She was born on a South Carolina plantation, the daughter of a U. S Senator. She was highly educated, spoke several languages and married a U. S. Senator who became a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army. Her family connections meant she knew the principal characters of her time well. They included Jefferson Davis, John Bell Hood, Wade Hampton and many other important figures and their families in Confederate society, government and the military. She was in a position to travel to the field of engagement. Yet despite all these advantages, Mary Chesnut still exceptional and that was entirely due to her character and intellect. She was a strong minded, passionate woman in advance of her time and was disinclined to accept anything at face value-including the basic tenants upon which her new country was founded. She was an able authoress and has left posterity a vibrant, intimate, thoughtful, detailed, personable and entertaining chronicle of her life and times. This is essential Civil War reading and highly recommended.

As the well-educated and socially skilled wife of a prominent Confederate, Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut (1823-86) was ideally situated -- and intellectually equipped -- to record the narrative of daily life in the Confederacy during the Civil War. Yet while she is widely recognized for the significant contribution of her "diaries, " Mary Chesnut's other works chronicling her experiences in the Civil War South have remained -- until now -- unpublished and virtually unknown.

Intensely autobiographical novels, The Captain and the Colonel and Two Years -- or The Way We Lived Then are Chesnut's fictionalized accounts of the world as women experienced it in the mid-nineteenth-century South. These short, unfinished novels address a wide range of subjects related to women and serve as an extension of the valuable source material found in the diaries, revealing much about southern history and culture, gender roles, slave-mistress relations, childhood, education, the experiences of westward migration, and the impact of the Civil War on private lives and relationships.

With an introduction by Elizabeth Hanson that places Chesnut's novels in their social context, and thoughtfully edited by Elisabeth Muhlenfeld, Mary Chesnut's fiction is a fascinating and long overdue addition to the library of southern history.

One of the most important documents in southern history, this is a day-by-day diary of the Civil War years. It rings with authenticity while evoking the nostalgia, bitterness, and comedy of the Confederacy.