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twistinthetale's review against another edition
3.0
Mary Chestnut came from a prominent Southern family. She was in a unique position to record events, as she saw and heard them, leading up to and during the American Civil War. Her husband was a Southern States senator and became an aide to Jefferson Davis. Mary had the keen sense to know that what was unfolding was going to be of lasting and immense magnitude and she recorded the details in her diary. Mary was part of a large circle of friends and was privy to high level discussions regarding the war. Her diary reveals the complex views at the times and is an invaluable source detailing the relentless losses on the battlefield and in the hospitals. Her account of the lives and careers of her many friends and the untimely loss of so many of them over the span of four years becomes a tragic but lasting record of a terrible period in history.
richardwells's review against another edition
5.0
I'm rating this diary at five stars for its writing, and historical value. That being said, it's a hugely disturbing book.
Mary Boykin Chestnut came from Southern slave-owning aristocracy, and married the same. At their peak, Mary's husband owned five plantations and somewhere near 1,000 slaves. Although Mary Chestnut does not detail her antebellum life, I can imagine that 1000 slaves equaled 10,000,000 horrors. And as for war time life, all we hear about are her "servants" - maids, cooks, butlers, and etc., who were never subjected to anything but loving-kindness and the best the household had to offer. I don't doubt the Chestnut's treated their "servants" well, but the myopia of the diary as concerns 1000 owned humans, and the rot of a slave owning society is astounding.
Mary's husband, James, rose to Brigadier General in the Confederate hierarchy, serving mostly with Jefferson Davis, and it seems not often in harm's way. While James served, Mary entertained the cream of Confederate society. Their tables were groaning boards, and remained that way up until the last year of the war. The family's decline was slower than precipitous, as Mary and her circle were highly privileged. Their circle was of politicians, (including the Davis family) high ranking officers, other plantation (read: slave) owners, and whatever visiting aristocracy washed up on southern shores.
As far as Mary and her coterie were concerned, their cause was just, they had every right to be a nation unto themselves, Lincoln was a tyrant, and if it weren't for unlimited Union manpower, the dashing soldiers of the cause would have trounced the North. Mary has little to say about any political or military errors on the part of the Confederacy, and her view of the hell of war seemed quite limited.
Here's where the real difficulty lies. Mary Chestnut portrays herself as a well rounded, intellectual, religious, and kind person who puts family and cause before anything else. She did hospital work, and cared for Union and Confederate wounded both. She celebrated courtships, and marriages. Her heart suffered as deaths multiplied. And, though she complained about her diminishing estate, it's rare, and she puts her best graces forward - but never does she show remorse for owning human beings, or for the effect of slavery on their lives; never does she doubt her righteousness: and rarely does she show any regret for a war fought to preserve the right to own other people in a selfishly declared nation separated from the United States. She is ultimately as deluded as the worst of southern aristocracy, though she may exhibit qualities of the best. In many respects, surface - the veneer of graciousness - was what counted.
If for one second you have ever wondered why the Civil War has not seemed to have ended, reading Mary Boykin Chestnut's diary will shine a lot of light on the matter. The south's surrender was never a surrender because the cause was just, and the damage inflicted by Sherman, and the war in general was just too much.
Mary Boykin Chestnut came from Southern slave-owning aristocracy, and married the same. At their peak, Mary's husband owned five plantations and somewhere near 1,000 slaves. Although Mary Chestnut does not detail her antebellum life, I can imagine that 1000 slaves equaled 10,000,000 horrors. And as for war time life, all we hear about are her "servants" - maids, cooks, butlers, and etc., who were never subjected to anything but loving-kindness and the best the household had to offer. I don't doubt the Chestnut's treated their "servants" well, but the myopia of the diary as concerns 1000 owned humans, and the rot of a slave owning society is astounding.
Mary's husband, James, rose to Brigadier General in the Confederate hierarchy, serving mostly with Jefferson Davis, and it seems not often in harm's way. While James served, Mary entertained the cream of Confederate society. Their tables were groaning boards, and remained that way up until the last year of the war. The family's decline was slower than precipitous, as Mary and her circle were highly privileged. Their circle was of politicians, (including the Davis family) high ranking officers, other plantation (read: slave) owners, and whatever visiting aristocracy washed up on southern shores.
As far as Mary and her coterie were concerned, their cause was just, they had every right to be a nation unto themselves, Lincoln was a tyrant, and if it weren't for unlimited Union manpower, the dashing soldiers of the cause would have trounced the North. Mary has little to say about any political or military errors on the part of the Confederacy, and her view of the hell of war seemed quite limited.
Here's where the real difficulty lies. Mary Chestnut portrays herself as a well rounded, intellectual, religious, and kind person who puts family and cause before anything else. She did hospital work, and cared for Union and Confederate wounded both. She celebrated courtships, and marriages. Her heart suffered as deaths multiplied. And, though she complained about her diminishing estate, it's rare, and she puts her best graces forward - but never does she show remorse for owning human beings, or for the effect of slavery on their lives; never does she doubt her righteousness: and rarely does she show any regret for a war fought to preserve the right to own other people in a selfishly declared nation separated from the United States. She is ultimately as deluded as the worst of southern aristocracy, though she may exhibit qualities of the best. In many respects, surface - the veneer of graciousness - was what counted.
If for one second you have ever wondered why the Civil War has not seemed to have ended, reading Mary Boykin Chestnut's diary will shine a lot of light on the matter. The south's surrender was never a surrender because the cause was just, and the damage inflicted by Sherman, and the war in general was just too much.
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