Documenting the period between 1861 and 1865, Mary Chesnut’s Diary is widely considered to be one of the most compelling personal narratives of the Civil War. As the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner and the wife of an aide to the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, Chesnut was well acquainted with the Confederacy’s prominent players and – from the very first shots in South Carolina – diligently recorded her impressions of the conflict’s most significant moments. Written with urgency and surprising nuance, Mary Chesnut’s Diary is an epic story rich with commentary on race, status and power within a nation divided.