"For the first time we have in this energetic yet sensitive volume a thorough, comprehensive, and impartial history of the enormous work the women [of both North and South] did when the guns sounded, and the steps they meanwhile took toward the sweeping transformations that followed Appomattox...Miss Massey's book [is] one of the most original contributions we have had to the literature of the Civil War." - Allan Nevins. "This is a serious book, at once charming, scholarly and highly readable...It is probable that themost enduring consequence of the war for women was the changed conception they come to hold of themselves...Massey most skillfully brings out the contribution the press made toward this result." - "New York Times Book Review".The Civil War wrought cataclysmic changes in the lives of American Women on both sides of the conflict. "Women in the Civil War" demonstrates their enterprise, fortitude, and fierceness. In this revealing social history, Massey focuses on many famous women, including nurses Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton, and Mother Bickerdyke; spies Pauline Cushman and Belle Boyd; writers Louisa May Alcott, Julia Ward Howe, and Mary Chestnut; pamphleteer and military strategist Anna Ella Carroll; black abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth; feminists Susan B. Anthony and Jane Grey Swisshelm; and political wives Varina Davis and Mary Todd Lincoln.The anonymous women who maintained farms and plantations are described, as are camp followers, businesswomen, entertainers, activists, and socialites in Charleston and Washington. Mary Elizabeth Massey also wrote Ersatz in the Confederacy: Shortages and Substitutes on the Southern Homefront. Introducing this Bison Books edition is Jean V. Berlin. She is an assistant editor of the correspondence of William T. Sherman.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating and thorough study of a fascinating subject.
31 May 2006
By James Yanni
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This book does a marvellous job of detailing the effects of the Civil War on almost all classes of women: Northern, Southern, rich, poor, those who actively took part as nurses, spies, and actual combatants, and those who were "only" effected as the battles caused major disruptions in their lives, those whose lives were relatively unaffected, those who were forced to work in factories, those who turned to prostitution, and others. Well-written, well-researched, well-organized. Highly recommended.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An outline of amazing research
11 Nov 2008
By Vivian
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I found this book nicely organized..... a good resouce for further research. The thought of one going through thousands of letters and journals is overwhelming to me, but there is no other way to get this overall picture of what it was like to be a woman in this country, during this period. I will keep this book forever and refer to it often. Thank you M.E.M., etc for your gift.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Charming if Dated, Marred by Introduction
5 Dec 2000
By Alexandra Griggs
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Massey's book was a pioneering effort in its time, and we should all be thankful for that. At least it is a welcome point of departure. But the introduction by Jean Berlin is lacking much in the way of insight or understanding. A more experienced scholar might have presented a richer analysis.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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