Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman [Paperback]

Charles East (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1992

Born into one of the best families of Baton Rouge, Sarah Morgan was not yet twenty when she began her diary in January 1862, nine months after the start of the Civil War. She was soon to experience a coming-of-age filled with the turmoil and upheaval that devastated the wartime South. She set down the Remarkable events of the war in a record that remains one of the most vivid, evocative portrayals in existence of a time and place that today make up a crucial chapter in our national history.

Sarah Morgan herself emerges as one of the most memorable nineteenth-century women in fiction or nonfiction, a young woman of intelligence and fortitude, as well as of high spirits and passion, who questioned the society into which she was born and the meaning of the war for ordinary families like her own and for the divided nation as a whole.

Now published in its entirety for the first time, Sarah Morgan's classic account brings the Civil War and the Old South to life with all the freshness and immediacy of great literature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ken Burns Remarkable...Morgan reminds us that the best history is heartfelt and heart-shared. Sarah Morgan will rightfully take its place next to Mary Chesnut's Diary as a thoroughly authentic voice of the war.

The Greenwood, S.C., Index-Journal Refreshing....A real-life Scarlett O'Hara.

Lexington Herald-Leader Stands virtually alone in bringing the Confederate homefront to life...Irresistible.

Christian Science Monitor Sarah Morgon's diary is not only a valuable historical document. It is also a fascinating story of people, places, and events -- told by a wonderfully talented writer.

Huntsville Times You don't have to be a Civil war buff to enjoy Sarah's story. It's a fascinating tale of life in an extraordinary time and place....By the time the reader reaches the final pages it's tough to leave.

Richmond News Leader Sarah Morgan's diary will henceforth be linked in value with the diary of Mary B. Chesnut....Miss Morgan's personal feelings and intimate thoughts eclipse even [Chesnut's]....Always, throughout this work, are the inner thoughts, dreams, and conflicts with reality that daily consumed a young lady who, in so many respects, was above the intellect of her times....It is deserving of all the praise, and of all the use, that it will receive.

Drew Gilpin Faust Annenberg Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania The diary of Sarah Morgan, at last available in its complete form, is both a delightful read and an invaluable source for southern, women's, and Civil War history.

The Orlando Sentinel A remarkable diary....As she writes of her hopes, fears, and sadness, Sarah Morgan emerges as an extraordinary person forced to grow up fast in the crucible of the Civil War.

Library Journal Morgan's diary should rank alongside Mary Chesnut's famous wartime journal as one of the most important personal records of the Civil War. Highly recommended.

The Charleston Post and Courier Adds immeasurably to an accurate portrait of life on the Confederate homefront....Intelligent, sensitive, and well educated, [Sarah Morgan] could put into words what her eyes saw and her heart felt....An extraordinary account of how one family responded to the war and suffered the consequences of its decision.

About the Author

Charles East is a former editor at the University of Georgia Press and former director of the Louisiana State University Press. He is the author of several books and is the series editor for the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (October 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671785036
• ISBN-13: 978-0671785031
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #460,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intimate, vivid and unforgettable!, October 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman (Paperback)

What an amazing book! To read this book is to take a trip back in
time. Not a politically correct book, but the diaries of a complex
young woman who was haughty and kind, flirtatious and proper,
deferential to men and determined to be an independent spinster. Sarah
Morgan was a rebel in terms of both her Southern heritage and her
pre-feminism beliefs. Her words depict a white world-view that doesn't
recognize its own racism, as well as her personal defiance of
society's expectations of her as a woman. She was a talented writer
with opinions that varied from modern, by today's standards, to
cripplingly in sync with the standards of 1860s Louisiana. As a Civil
War book, as a woman's memoir, and as a journey into one of the United
States' most fascinating and tragic times, this book is truly
outstanding.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Defense of Sarah Morgan's Diary, September 5, 2006

By 

M. R. King - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman (Paperback)

Well, I never thought I'd be writing one of these, but the last two reviews, being grossly unfair, inspired me. I read Sarah Morgan's diary about two years ago, so this is coming from memory. Whatever one may think of Ms. Morgan as a person (and judging her from contemporary standards would surely be a mistake), she was for her age extremely well-educated and articulate. Her prose is, in comparison to most today, exceptional (again, especially for her age). The same can be said of her insight (which, of course, for any person of her age, is by no means beyond reproach). Aside from constituting a valuable guide to the mind of a young southern woman during the Civil War, her story (which is anything but dull) provides historical context and perspective to the union army's ascent up the Mississippi. Without knowing something of this military campaign, I can see how another reader might not enjoy her diary. Lastly, Ms. Morgan was truly a feminist -- a word I do not particularly care for as it seems to overly excite some and unduly offend others. She was, like most women of her time, a product of a male-dominated society. She questions this society in her diary and, if I recall correctly from the preface, led her later years in a way most feminists of today would be proud. Nothing but enjoyable reading here.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, February 20, 2002

By 

D. Faylor "opera fan" (Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman (Paperback)

When reading this superb Civil War diary the reader is immediately struck by two things. One, it is hard to believe that so young a woman could have expressed herself and her feelings so beautifully, and two, it is even more amazing that everything contain in this diary is exactly as Sarah Morgan wrote it originally. That is to say, it was not polished and edited afterwards (as Mary Chestnut intended to do, but was not able). If you want to take a glimpse at what living through four years of war was like for a Southern family and especially a young Southern woman you need look no further.