This pioneering study of the much-mythologized Southern belle offers the first serious look at the lives of white women and their harsh and restricted place in the slave society before the Civil War. Drawing on the diaries; letters; and memoirs of hundreds of planter wives and daughters; Clinton sets before us in vivid detail the daily life of the plantation mistress and her ambiguous intermediary position in the hierarchy between slave and master."The Plantation Mistress challenges and reinterprets a host of issues related to the Old South. The result is a book that forces us to rethink some of our basic assumptions about two peculiar institutions -- the slave plantation and the nineteenth-century family. It approaches a familiar subject from a new angle; and as a result; permanently alters our understanding of the Old South and women's place in it.
#1024904 in Books W.W. Norton Co 2000-12-14Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x 1.20 x 6.20l; 2.25 #File Name: 0393974278800 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Grandfather of Modern Civil War HistoriesBy David RaschThis is the 'grandfather' of modern civil war/reconstruction' texts/books. Many authors writing todat refer to this book in their introductions. The writing is fluid and the thoughts and conclusions understandable by the current readers. Sometimes readers do not read the introduction or look at the publication date and are thereby disappointed. This book is done by people one gereration away from surviving civil war (Robert Todd Lincoln died 1926) veterans. It carries an understanding of the war we may miss.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Written as a TextbookBy John N. HanksWhile this is the most complete description and account of Reconstruction that I have read to date; it was written as a textbook and truly follows that purpose. Having already read David Herbert Donald's Lincoln - which was EXCELLENT - I expected this to be written in the same style. However; as it was written as a textbook it was much harder to really sit down and read multiple chapters at one time. Did finish it though.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CAPTWAYNEProvided excellent insights to the issues surrounding so called "reconstruction". What a sad chapter in American history.
