This is one of the best books around in the growing fields of both women's history and the history of the American South. DeCredico, a professor at the United States Naval Academy who is one of today's most respected Civil War historians, paints a fascinating picture of one Southern woman's life before, during, and after the Civil War. A must read for scholars and interested lay readers alike!

If you want to know what Lincoln and his family were really like, read this amazing book. Ms. Taft wrote this book in 1931. She played with the Lincoln boys in the White House as a 16 year-old. Her descriptions of the everyday life of the Lincoln's, the White House and the times they lived make you feel as if you ARE there. It's an amazing step back into a time that has been written about by many others, but not from such a perspective. Truly wonderful, simple and illuminating.