Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut, a well-educated South Carolina woman who was married to a Confederate general, kept extensive journals during the Civil War. Mrs. Chesnut moved in elite circles of Southern society and had a keen interest in politics. Her diary is both an important historical document and, because of her sharp wit and often irreverent attitude, a fascinating window into Southern society of the time. This recording is of the first published edition of the diary, edited by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary and compiled from Mrs. Chesnut's revisions of her original journals.