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Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut

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A Diary from Dixie Paperback – May 3, 2011

by Mary Boykin Chesnut (Author)

4.1 68 ratings

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Mary Chesnut kept her diary from early in 1861, just before the Civil War began, to shortly after the end of the war, in 1865. Though not a day-by-day account of the conflict, the diary gives an up-close-and-personal view of this critical period in American history. Her commentary on the conversations and events of her day reveals a keen awareness of the oppression to which women--lack or white, slave or free--were subjected during that period. While she would not consider herself a feminist, her diary reveals sensibilities and concerns that place her far ahead of her time. The wife of a Confederate general, Mary Chesnut moved in the elite circles of Southern society and had a keen interest in politics. Her diary is an important historic document and, because of her sharp wit and often irreverent attitude, a fascinating window into Southern society of the time.

Print length

342 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Waking Lion Press
Publication date

May 3, 2011
Dimensions

6 x 0.76 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1434103226
ISBN-13

978-1434103222
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Mary Boykin Chesnut
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Waking Lion Press (May 3, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 342 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1434103226
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1434103222
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.11 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.76 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,734,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #416 in U.S. Civil War Women's History
- #3,154 in American Civil War Biographies (Books)
- #8,389 in Women in History

Customer Reviews:
4.1 68 ratings

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4.1 out of 5

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HMAIII

Raw and Pure Exposure to the American Civil War

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2018

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Mary Chestnut seemed to be everywhere during the Civil War including Charleston S.C. when fort Sumter was fired upon. She was the wife of a former US senator from South Carolina and knew or met most of the significant and influential people in the South including Jefferson Davis and his wife. Times were tough. She would sew gold coins into her dresses to keep them safe. Food was hard to get. Confederate currency became worthless. At the bitter end Southeners were eating their cloths.

3 people found this helpful

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Anna1953

Very good price.

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2017

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A bit more worn than I expected. Very good price.

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2020

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This is a great read to gain perspective on how southern women suffered through the war. It also gives a clear picture on how slave owners had little interest in the daily lives of their slaves. It seemed their horses had more value.

One person found this helpful

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Stephen Siciliano

A highwayscribery Book Report

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2010

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If the Confederacy had survived Lincoln's invasion, Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut might be a household name in the literary world.

And that's pretty good when one considers that her oeuvre was written without the slightest whiff of literary pretension or ambition.

highwayscribery is not sure if a deep interest in the Civil War, from the southern side of things, is necessary for her scribbling prowess to impress. But if it's there, "A Diary from Dixie" is for you.

Chesnut was well-positioned to chronicle Dixie's misery both as a South Carolina lady intimate with Jefferson Davis and his wife, and wife to a Confederate officer whose competence is apparent in his upward trajectory throughout the book's (and war's) course.

The authoress succeeds in engaging the reader without any real structure other than the natural chronology of events as she lives them. The gentle lady moseys from one happening to another, recounting those things she witnesses, and those others have told her about, with nary a transition.

But the recounting is so casual, the prose so clean, the reader is niever tried, taxed or bored. Chesnut was a feeling, seeing person with the literary chops to put what she felt and saw into words, as in this passage describing the family plantation, Mulberry, in Camden, South Carolina:

"It is so lovely here in spring. The giants of the forest -- the primeval oaks, water-oaks, live-oaks, willow-oaks, such as I have not seen since I left here -- with opopanax, violets, roses, and yellow jessamine, the air is laden with perfume. Araby the Blest was never sweeter."

There are fascinating, first-hand insights in "Diary" as to the way slaves and masters interacted, and the ambiguous attitude of negroes in the south when freedom beckoned, but their familiar world crumbled.

Chesnut's tones are not the stark blacks and whites of Harriet Beecher Stowe's south, rather a wide array of grays.

The relations between the furiously independent member states are also depicted, with Virginians, and Kentuckians, and Carolinians both north and south, remarked upon for their peculiar, geographically bound traits.

In these times, as a single electronic culture inexorably engulfs humanity, it is interesting to read about the differences between neighboring communities and see how they celebrated those differences.

The book's tone morphs from light to dark as the northern noose tightens around the Confederacy's neck. Noteworthy is the early opinion, expressed by rebels in high places, that the South had no chance of winning the war.

"Diary" tells us that had clearer heads prevailed, the cataclysm might have been averted.

The dominant portrait is that of a small, agrarian society confronting a behemoth that will leave no stone unturned, no home unburned, and kill-off a generation of fine young men -- not all of them enamored with slavery -- so much as loyal to their homeland.

"Others dropped in after dinner; some without arms, some without legs; von Boreke, who can not speak because of a wound in his throat. Isabella said, 'We have all kinds now, but a blind one.' Poor fellows, they laugh at wounds. 'And they yet can show many a scar.'"

Chesnut is in the rearguard, her lofty status slowly reduced to a state of hunger bourn with ladylike dignity. Hers is the Confederate women's story, a dreadful enumeration of lost sons, sundered families, and mothers literally dying from grief.

"Isabella says that war leads to love-making. She says these soldiers do more courting here in a day than they would do at home, without a war, in ten years."

Perhaps most valuable are those anecdotes Chesnut recorded which give the war between the states, and the Confederacy in particular, a greater depth and richer texture.

Without her we might not have known that President Davis' little boy died at home, nor of the suspicions that a turncoat on staff, or a spy snuck into the house, actually killed him in a cruel effort to demoralize Dixie.

The tragic deaths of innocents stepping out from a cave for some air in Vicksburg during the Union siege might have gone unrecorded. We could not be aware that France's last Count de Choiseul had thrown his lot in with the south and died for it, too.

Without her desperate scribblings, we would have known only the winner's account, and been denied the terrible beauties associated with losing, which is so much a part of life.

19 people found this helpful

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DFarris

Take a Peek in This Diary!

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2015

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One of my all-time favorite books. A personal diary accounting the events of the Civil War from a first person perspective. I discovered this book years ago in Charleston South Carolina and was delighted to see it quoted heavily in Ken Burns "Civil War". When I met Kim Burns years later, we had a wonderful discussion about the depth of this particular book and the invaluable contribution it's made in putting a personal touch on such a major historical period.

One person found this helpful

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luvgoodbks

Absolutely Fascinating!

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2016

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A DIARY FROM DIXIE is absolutely fascinating. As a southern woman, I enjoyed reading of many areas back then that I know in modern times. More interesting, though, are the emotions, observations, and experiences felt by Mrs. Chestnut during such a horrendous time in our history. I highly recommend this book to any history buff, but especially to those who want to know the humanity behind this era's historical data.

3 people found this helpful

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noble

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2016

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a classic best seller and will always be such. understand the mind of the southern confederate and their problems.

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Kindle CustomerYesl

Live version of Gone With the Wind

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2019

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Showed the inside not seen in history books. How the South struggled to keep the war going from the home and family. Very historical. Many very important names mentioned in very personal situations. Interesting comments about the black people who stayed

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Great Read

Reviewed in Australia on March 3, 2020

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This is the second diary i have ever read. The writer takes you on a journey of their lives, thoughts and feelings. when reading you are transformed back to 1838.

Peter Simpson

Not a comment on the Civil War

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

Not what I expected after hearing all the exerts quoted in Ken Burns documentary on the civil war, I have read about 30% of it to date, it is a very hard to read. It has been copied with OCR software which has misread some words also split some in half eg
"con flict" these appear two or three per page it has footnotes scattered through it introducing every new character that is mentioned. These sometimes appear in mid paragraph, sentence or word. This makes it difficult to follow the thread of an entry.
Very disappointing. If it improves later I will amend my comments ,

One person found this helpful

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