Drawing from a wealth of poignant letters, personal diaries, and other accounts, Catherine Clinton provides a vivid social and cultural history of the diverse communities of southern women during the Civil War: the heroic African-American women who escaped their bonds to struggle for freedom, the tireless nurses who faced gruesome duties, the intriguing handful who donned uniforms, and those brave women who spied and died for the Confederacy. Tracing oral traditions and southern literature from Reconstruction through our era, the author demonstrates the deadly mix of sentiment and fabrication that perpetuates tales of idyllic plantations inhabited by benevolent masters and deferential slaves. The book concludes with Clinton's perceptive and often witty discussion of how, over the years, we continue to embrace mythic figures like Scarlett and Mammy in aspect of poplar culture ranging from Hollywood epics to pancake syrup.