Dixie After the War

Avary, Myrta Lockett, 1857-1946Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 631K words
Chapters: 64

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Dixie After the War by Myrta Lockett AvaryAuthor: Avary, Myrta Lockett, 1857-1946,Language: English, Class: F206: United States local history: The South. South Atlantic States, Release Date: Dec 29, 2012

Editor's review

This book is a valuable primary text on the history of the American South and the social history of the late Civil War period. From a first-hand perspective, the author records the dramatic changes in postwar Southern political order, social structure, race relations, and daily life, with the delicate observation and period limitations of a nineteenth-century woman writer. For today's readers, its value lies not in offering neutral conclusions but in showing how a particular class understood defeat, reconstruction, and memory. It should be read alongside contemporary historical scholarship, with attention to distinguishing factual accounts from the author's standpoint, so that readers can see both concrete scenes of the postwar South and reflect on historical writing itself. Suitable as supplementary material for American history courses, or for readers interested in the Civil War and Reconstruction who wish to engage with it as a historical source.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students studying the history of the American Civil War and Reconstruction
Readers interested in Southern social history, daily life history, and oral-historical sources
Readers who wish to engage with original English sources and develop source-critical skills
Those interested in nineteenth-century American women's writing and the memoir genre

Not a good fit for

Beginner readers expecting a systematic general history or textbook-style narrative
Readers seeking neutral conclusions within a modern historiographical framework
Readers unaccustomed to nineteenth-century English prose and period bias

Reading tips

First read a general history of the Reconstruction era to establish a framework, then approach this book to avoid being carried away by a single perspective.
Annotate the author's subjective judgments and factual statements as you read, keeping a notebook comparing standpoint and historical evidence.
Read selected chapters on race relations, women's lives, and local governance alongside modern research articles.
After finishing, write a reflection explaining what this book supplements and on which issues other sources are needed for balance.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background in American history?

Not very. The book assumes familiarity with the Civil War and Reconstruction era in its many names, places, and events; without that foundation it is easy to read as scattered anecdotes. It is advisable to read a general history of the Reconstruction era first, then use this as supplementary source material.

Can the accounts in the book be cited directly as historical fact?

With caution. The author has a clear period standpoint and class perspective, and some descriptions carry a defensive tone. It can be used as a source reflecting the memory and attitudes of a particular group, while specific facts need to be cross-checked against official archives and other contemporary accounts.

How difficult is the original English?

It is late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century English prose, with long sentences and some vocabulary that differs from current usage, but overall it is not exceedingly difficult. University-level English reading ability is sufficient; for historical proper names, notes and reference works can help.

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About the author

Avary, Myrta Lockett, 1857-1946 Author · American · 1857–1946

Myrta Lockett Avary (1857–1946) was an American writer and editor known for collecting and writing about memories of the American South during the Civil War and the years that followed. She edited A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, 1861–1865, which presents wartime life in Virginia from a first-person perspective, and her other representative work, Dixie After the War, turns to conditions in the postwar South. Public information about her life is limited; her contribution lies mainly in gathering, arranging, and compiling Southern Civil War memoirs, preserving readable historical material for later readers seeking to understand the experiences of ordinary people in that era.