About the Author

Born into Southern aristocracy, Mary Chestnut (1823-86) married a rising star of the political scene who ultimately served as an aide to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Chestnut's social prominence assured her of an insider's perspective on many of the war's major events, which she recorded in vivid journal entries. Published 19 years after her death, an annotated edition of her diary won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1982.