A Year in the South: 1865 - by Stephen V Ash (Paperback)

About the Book

Using private journals, diaries and letters, Ash has written a true social history and offers a new perspective on the tumultuous year that saw the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction.

From the Back Cover

A slave determined to gain freedom, a widow battling poverty and despair, a man of God grappling with spiritual and worldly troubles, and a former Confederate soldier seeking a new life. They lived in the South during 1865 -- a year that saw war, disunion, and slavery give way to peace, reconstruction, and emancipation.

Between January and December 1865, these four people witnessed, from very different vantage points, the death of the Old South and the birth of the New South. Civil War historian Stephen V. Ash reconstructs their daily lives, their fears and hopes, and their frustrations and triumphs in vivid detail -- telling a dramatic story of real people in a time of great upheaval and offering a fresh perspective on a pivotal moment in history.

Review Quotes

"Reading like a novel....This well-written and -researched exploration will give fresh insight to Civil War enthusiasts and interest new readers of the period....Highly recommended." - Library Journal
"Ash writes history with the vision of a scholar but with the skills of a novelist.....For the Civil War buff, the book is a must." - Knoxville News-Sentinel
"This is a detailed and irresistible work of history, a look into the lives of ordinary people during the Civil War. I truly enjoyed it." - Paulette Jiles, author of Enemy Women
"Stephen V. Ash offers considerable insight into the lives of ordinary people in the South during the pivotal last year of the Civil War." - Dallas News