Not all codes and traditions of the Old South ended abruptly with the Civil War. For many historians, however, there is truth in the thesis that the war marks the division between the Old South and the New South.

To assess what happened to the old order during the tumultuous four years of the Confederacy, the essays in this book examine the South's dealing with the problem of continuity and persistence as a new era emerged. In the crucible of war what happened to the class system, to yeomen and planters, to millions of slaves, and to the common soldier?

Myths and realities of the Old South undergo careful examination in this book of six papers from the