A Diary From Dixie (1905) - Softcover

Mary Boykin Chesnut (nee Miller) was an American diarist and author who is best known for her Civil-War memoir, A Diary from Dixie. Born to a prominent southern family, she was married James Chesnut, a U.S. Senator and later aide to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and it was this association that afforded Chesnut a unique perspective on events leading up to and throughout the American Civil War. In addition to her diary, Chesnut wrote two novels, The Captain and the Colonel, and Two Years of My Life, both of which were published posthumously. Chesnut died in 1886.

It is hardly too much to say that what Samuel Pepys's diary is to the reign of Charles II, Mary Boykin Chesnut's is to the Confederacy. To thousands now and in years to come it will be a fascinating source of information, an invaluable aid to the understanding of a great period, and a lasting delight. (Saturday Review)

Mary Boykin Chesnut steps out alive from the pages of her journal as beautiful, vivacious, flirtatious, warm-hearted, cool-thinking, astonishingly frank and wonderfully articulate...The book is very quotable. (New York Times)

Filled with gossip, stories, laughter and tears, it points up gaieties and tragedies of a nation at war with itself. Entertaining yet constantly reflecting the gravity of these years, this holds much interest for the thoughtful reader and deserves a glance from historians seeking to interpret this tragic era. (Library Journal)