This awesome book gives you all the facts you need to know to do a research paper on the Civil War. I had to do a topic paper for a history class, and I chose Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. This book was the only thing I needed to get all the facts about the Emacipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, and more. I recommend this book to anyone.

My 11 year old daughter is a Civil War buff. She says this book is "cool" because it shows actual battle photographs.

Anyone who has studied the history of slavery in the US must recognize that the issue of sex and race is a critical sub-text. Clinton and Glillespie's collection of essays provides a variety of well-thought-out perspectives on the issue. Scholars will find the work thought-provoking and a valuable addition to readings for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses.

Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War is a collection of essays pertaining to the crisis in gender relations that accompanied the Civil War in America. As a collection, the essays present a narrative that chronicles the various impacts on gender that affected men and women, the North and the South, as well as slaves and non-slaves. What emerges is a cohesive body of text that is informative, illuminating, and instructive. The themes most explored in this volume are those of empowerment through abolitionism. In The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender Relations by Leann Whites, the two groups most perceptive of the gender crisis were Northern feminists and black abolitionists. During the Civil War, the public status of motherhood increased. This leads to another theme that will later be explored in following essays, that of the State as family. In this first essay, Leann Whites argues that the Civil War created circumstances for gender equality, both diminishing white Southern male masculinity and increasing black manhood. Ideas of manhood during the Civil War are further investigated in Part II and in Reid Mitchell's Soldiering, Manhood, and Coming of Age: A Northern Volunteer. The journey from civilian to soldier was mirrored in the transition from boyhood to manhood, and the constitution of manhood evolved as a delicate balance of masculinity and manly restraint. During the Civil War, the body politic as well as the army assumed familial ties to facilitate solidarity. Despite the changes in notions of manhood, for the black male population the "empowerment" was not always beneficial. Jim Cullen's Gender and African-American Men details how conceptions of black manhood changed during the Civil War, with the mastery over one's own body leading to mastery in warfare. Despite being placed on some of the most dangerous fronts, black soldiers endured low pay and high disease in exchange for their mastery over their bodies. In Part III of Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War, the themes move from issues of manhood to those relating to women. In Arranging a Doll's House: Refined Women as Union Nurses author Kristie Ross writes about female volunteers on hospital transports, and she draws from the familial theme by presenting the hospital transport as the rearrangement of a doll's house to appear domestic. Ross also reveals a sense of agency for women volunteers, claiming that many felt "...an eagerness to seize an occasion to escape the routine pattern of their lives and a familiarity with genteel standards of household organization." (101) Lyde Cullen Sizer's Acting Her Part: Narratives of Union Women Spies also deals with the issue of female agency during the Civil War, but Sizer further examines the repercussions women felt depending on whether they were white or black. For white women spies, their efforts were more dramatic than substantial, whereas for black abolitionists like Harriet Tubman the cause and consequences of being a spy were much more realistic. Sizer's essay is also an attempt to place female spy narratives in a literary context from which they have been excluded. Of all the essays in Divided Houses, none is more colorful and titillating than Michael Fellman's Women and Guerrilla Warfare. Through his dramatic prose, Fellman explores how peacetime morality was subverted through guerrilla warfare, with male guerrilla fighters attacking traditional values while physically attacking women. Fellman, doubtless, is presenting a form of psychological history by claiming "there was also an additional element here of bad boys acting out against a nagging, smothering mother." (151) For many Kansas guerrilla regiments during the Civil War, the "freeing" of slaves was an act of defiance rather than a moralistic pursuit. Guerrilla warfare finally reinforced the need for love, security, and family. The fourth part of Divided Houses closely examines dynamics on the Southern homefront. Peter Bardaglio's The Children of Jubilee: African-American Childhood in Wartime explains how prior to the Civil War, slave children were age-segregated but not gender-segregated. With freedom as a concept first emerging for many slaves during the Civil War, play activities among children became more gendered. Martha Hodes's Wartime Dialogues on Illicit Sex: White Women and Black Men further draws on the theme of black male power as a political issue emerging during the Civil War, which consequently led to sexuality itself becoming a political issue. With most yeoman farmers at war, the homefront became a location for "illicit" sex as well as the performative stage for class discord. The Southern states were not the only ones to feel the impact on gender relations that the Civil War created: Part V examines gender issues on the Northern homefront with Patricia R. Hill's Writing Out the War: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Averted Gaze. In Part VI, essays examine how the politics of Reconstruction became gendered, with Northern women beginning to campaign for the vote and new labor opportunities for African-American men and women. In spite of these advances, however, the ruling classes in the South still attempted to exert authority and black women were still subjected to southern white male violence, as evidenced in Catherine Clinton's concluding essay, Reconstructing Freedwomen. Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War is a combination of various historiographical methodologies; cultural, social, psychological, intellectual and political, which simultaneously present a coherent and evocative study of wartime's affect on gender relations. In addition to mapping themes in gender relations during war, narratives of women's undertaking of professional and managerial duties while men were fighting in the Civil War provides a historical anchoring of the themes of female labor that were to arise again during the First, and especially Second, World War.

Excellent material to be used with our churches' youth. Learn how to use positively bands like Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Madonna, Van Halen, Poison, Crash Test Dummies, and others, in order to spread God's message of justice, love, equality and true Christian life with meaning.

I was attracted to this book after I saw the movie, Enslavement, based on the life of Fanny Kemble who lived before, during and after the Civil War. This book uses exerpts from her letters and journals to tell the story of her adult life, but it does not contain all of her written material. She published several journals, letter collectiions, and plays. Fanny was a remarkable woman, obviously much before her time. She was unusually independent and energenic, and her writing includes few of the steriotypes typical of the period. However, we are able to see how the customs of society restricted her ability to act, especilly her efforts to help eliminate slavery and improve the life of her husband's slaves. Because of her popularity as an actress she was able to earn a living after divorcing her husband, but he had control over their children until they reached adulthood. This book gives unusual insight into the lifestyles and concerns of the period. It actually reads like a novel.

I must say, I have never seen insight so dignified on such a subject in all my years of book review. When I read this book, every page enlighten me with an overwhelming sensation of sadness, guilt, freedom and anger. Every one of my emotions were totally stimulated by this master piece of modern society. Regardless of the date in which Fanny published this book, it still leaves a gruesome reminder of the pure agony suffered from the hands of Prejudice and Hate. I have just finished watching the TV movie of Fanny's story, and I am absolutely blown away by the extreme emotional precision used in creating this film. Let this film and this book be a lasting reminder, to the youth of our age. It is important for the younger teenage generations of this new century, understand the facts of what had to be done, to win them the lives they have today. I rate this book 5 plus stars. It was amazing. :-) ~ LiteratureLuver418thCentury... ~

British stage idol Fanny Kemble (1809-93) married a wealthy American slave-owner in 1834. Although the marriage turned out disastrously, it provided a bonanza for historians. No shrinking violet and a prolific writer, Fanny wrote profusely on slavery, America, and women's issues till her death.

The Kembles were England's leading theatrical family. Sarah Siddons was her aunt, but Fanny became equally celebrated. Despite this, her family were chronically in debt, and the American tour was one of innumerable unsuccessful efforts to make money. Soon after arriving she fell in love with Pierce Butler, a Georgia plantation owner, who made her stop working after they married. She quickly regretted her decision, but there was little a woman could do in that era. When Butler moved to his plantation, Fanny encountered slavery first hand and did not like what she saw. She complained bitterly and protested the slaves' treatment. Worse, she outraged her husband and the neighbors by expressing her opinions in print and in the north. Perhaps her most impressive accomplishment was getting a divorce, a nearly impossible feat in the nineteenth century. It took fifteen years. Except for public readings she never acted again, but her personality and writing sustained her celebrity until the end of the century.

Like many nineteenth century figures, Kemble seemed to spend half her day writing. She kept a journal, sent and received a torrent of letters, published a dozen books and scores of articles and essays. Catherine Clinton, Professor of History at Baruch College (The Plantation Mistress, 1982) has obviously read it all and transformed it into an entertaining account of one of the most colorful women of her time.

I checked this book out from the library and read it the week prior to our family's vacation to Charleston, SC. I found it very informative and I enjoyed recognizing the names of families, towns and historical landmarks mentioned in the book, especially St. Simon's Island, which I enjoyed reading about in Eugenia Price's series of books on that particular area. I have a great interest in women's experiences, pre and post-civil war, and would not think twice about adding this book to my ever-growing collection of that era.

A combination of excellent writting and the fascinating subject -Fanny Kemble - make this a book you'll find difficult to put down. After reading this book, I, too, long to know more about this charismatic woman. Regardless of whether or not your interests lie in learning more about women during the Civil War, Fanny Kemble's life and times is a thoroughly compelling story.

I originally saw Catherine Clinton on C-Span Book TV (yes, I admit I do watch it! LOL). Her enthusiasm regarding Fanny Kemble was clearly evident and the book does not disappoint. I do want to point out that I've chosen to read Clinton's book before I've read the journals which she edited.

With respect to Fanny Kemble, I find her to be a study in contrast. On the one hand she craved independence of thought and financial means yet she appears to have despised the very things that would bring her either independence, financial security or both. For example, she clearly was an excellent performer - something which would have allowed her independence of both thought and financial security - yet it appears she in many instances indicates she disliked performing.

After reading Catherine Clinton's book, I can't help but wonder what the literary world lost when she married Pierce Butler. Would we have another Jane Austen if she had remained unmarried or if she had a supportive or better match for a husband? Unfortunately, we're only left to guess.

This is a fine scholarly work, well researched and very informative. Normally, this is not the type of book I read, but I was pleased to have done so. I highly recommend this book to the public in general, and in particular to those fans of American history. It will make an excellent text for college level courses in Women's Studies and Early American History.

Early American women, be they slave or free, had an incredibly hard life, with few civil or property rights. This book recalls some of the bold and brave women that stepped forward, against difficult odds, and demanded something be done. These women started the long and hard struggle to advance the cause of women and better their lives; a battle that is still being fought today. In addition to the burden of having and raising families, American women did much of the backbreaking work of clearing land, planting and harvesting, and filling the sweatshops of early industrial America. These women earned everything they got and then some. We could never have built our great country without their labors.

I have taken for granted many things about women. This book was a real eye-opener and gave me much to ponder. Read the book guys, and learn something.

Ken Smith, USVeterans.com

This is an amazing example of what I've only heard about heretofore: The feminist attribution of motives that probably didn't even enter the minds of the plantation ladies Ms. Clinton has written about. Her research sample is small and perhaps overused, but quite interesting when letters are included in the text, and therefore there is some worth to the work. Often foolish, this book says more about the author's politics than the lives of plantation mistresses.

I browsed through it to get to parts that were the most interesting but overall the book was good. nice read for anyone interested in plantation life.

The Plantation Mistress by Catherine Clinton was an overall good book, and I recommend it for anyone interested in the lives of women in the Old South. I read it for a school project, however it was actually interesting. Some parts were boring, andthe author went into too much detail about some aspects of the life of a southern women, but other parts were really interesting. You will finish the book with a greater appreciation for women's status today, and a better understanding of women's role during the period 1780-1835. AN enjoyable read considering its a history book!!

This story, while interesting from a social historian perspective, really has nothing to do with what the title implies. This story of a family divided really has nothing to do with the American Civil War. The family Clinton writes about is supposedly torn apart by the war, but that is simply not the case. Long before the war started, the family was split because the father and mother were incompatible. Though when the war started, the family was split in half, mother and one daughter living in the north while father and the other daughter lived in the south, the split occurred long before the war, and continued long afterwards. Clinton has fallen, here, into the trap that many new social historians have, that is "losing" the Civil War. It is true that these three stories occurred during the Civil War, but they cannot be rightly called "Civil War Stories". It is analougus to writing a book about the Kitty Genovese murder and calling it a Vietnam story. On top of it, Clinton is not a good writer, and the book is full of grammatical errors and incoherent sentences. Also, her writing style is not very good, and she could stand to take a few more classes in english, and history for that matter, as she gets some facts terribly wrong. I do not reccommend this book for anyone expecting a social history of women in the Civil War because it is not the case. While the story itself may be interesting to some, it does not deserve the title "Civil War Stories" and should not be presented as such.

This book title seems to imply that the book will be about women/children being impacted by the civil war....what it really is, is a book about women's efforts for the South during the Civil war with a few mentions of children being left behind as orphans. When it did mention the children becoming orphans it was as a passing glance or about how one of these women would try to help find their parents or how someone started an orphanage. I was looking for a book that would give me the human side of the orphans life. Someone to tell their side of the story with the uncertaninty and chilling conditions that some of them must have lived.

That being said, this book is rich in the human history of the civil war. It does tell about some very real women who helped during the war, but most of their problems which the books seems to highlight started long before the civil war even started. I did enjoy learning about these women and it did make the civil war more peronsal....but this book is trying to be something it is not.

A fascinating way to look at the Civil War. Very approachable. The book looks at some everyday and extraordinary people whose lives were forever transformed by the impact of war. Two sisters, one a staunch defender of the Union, the other a passionate advocate of the rebel cause, are traumatized by the divide the Civil War imposes.

As a lover and avid reader of history I was VERY disappointed in this book. I found Ms. Clintons opinions and interpretations of the south and southern plantation era one sided, selective, and laced with her own prejudices. Yes, it was a horrible, horrible time for the blacks, whites and our country. Slavery will always be Americas greatest shame, a flaw that most of us struggle to understand and rectify in our human frailty each day, but if Ms. Clinton is to be believed, there was but a handful of humane, caring "white" people residing in the south during this time! Which is Not true! If Ms. Clinton considers herself a true historian (which I do not) and writer of history I feel it is her duty to tell All sides honestly, with equal amounts of pros and cons, and without her own bias slants. To my fellow history buffs I can not reccoment this book and I can honestly say that I will never read another of Ms. Clintons books in the future.

Tara Revisited is an only marginally convincing portrait of the "real" southern woman. Clinton successfully debunks the myth of the Old South, yet fails to put in its place a convincing and thorough discussion of the real lives of these women.

Clinton, in refuting the popular myth of the "southern belle," does put up her own model for the southern lady. But this model depends little on how these women actually lived and what they really though; rather she consistently insists on painting women in an overly noble and (still) idealized way.

If you are looking for a good history and examination of women during the American Civil War, try "Mothers of Invention" by Drew Gilpin Faust. It is immensely more satisfying than Clinton's depiction.

Southerners carry a chip on their shoulder when it comes to the Lost Cause, so any book which attempts to set the record straight is an exercise in masochism, certain to be fired upon by those weened on Plantation Mythology. Clinton investigates the development of the "Tara Mystique", that belief that plantation life consisted of happy slaves working for the love of the masters and mistresses. She both dispels this legend and defends the character of Southern womanhood during the Civil War and afterwards. Those who want their ancestors to be demigods will hate this book. Those who want to demonize Southern forebears will find it too light. Those who are willing to confront history as a record made by human beings will enjoy this book and ask for more.