This collection of primary source material chronicles the Civil War
experiences of North Carolinians from the secession crisis to the
Confederate surrender at Bennett Place. In contrast to other works
on the Civil War, this book focuses not on military events but on
the larger issue of the societal costs of such conflicts. Through
selections from diaries, newspapers, letters, official records, and
other documentary sources, it offers a sober account of the intense
human and economic suffering endured by the state and illustrates
the complicated political realities of wartime North Carolina.