Throughout the Civil War, Mary Boykin Chesnut kept a diary of her life. Her husband, James, had been a U. S. Senator, an aide to President Jefferson Davis, and a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army and Mary associated with Mrs. Davis and many of the Confederate generals. From the shelling of Fort Sumter through the aftermath of General Sherman's destructive march through the South, her writing describes in detail the events and changes in the lives of civilians, the deaths of many of her close friends, and the destruction of their economy when the Confederacy ceased to be. Mary recorded these fascinating, personal descriptions at the time and they are considered some of the best and most reliable from the Southern viewpoint. This modernized version of the original book has been updated in format, giving the reprint a contemporary appearance.