The Fall of the House of Dixie

The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South

By: Bruce Levine

Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez

The J. G. Randall Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Illinois and associate editor of North and South magazine, Bruce Levine presents a gripping chronicle of the cultural and economic upheaval the South experienced during and after the Civil War. Drawing upon a treasure trove of diaries, letters, newspaper articles, and government documents, Levine offers a unique perspective on the old South's demise through the voices of those who lived through the conflict.

©2013 Bruce Levine (P)2013 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"In this splendidly colorful account, the author compares the old South’s disintegration to ‘The Fall of the House of Usher,’ where microscopic cracks in the mansion’s foundation gradually widen until the building implodes.... A sensitive, informed rendering of the wrenching reformation of the South [told] with the ease and authority borne of decades of study." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Enlightening..... a deep, rich, and complex analysis." (Publishers Weekly)

"Masterful.... Levine’s employment of testimonies by slaveholders, slaves, and pro-Union Southerners is effective and often poignant." (Booklist)

The book fills in gaps.

Bruce Levine's narrative fills in gaps to what is routinely told of the events during and after the Civil War. For example, in the majority of Civil War narratives the south is portrayed as a unified force. Levine, however, gives examples through memoirs and diaries of this less than unified view through the thoughts and writings of southerners, some of whom were unionists at the time of secession and remained so throughout the war.

Must Read

I have read at least 15 books on the Civil War, and this is one of the best researched. Meticulous documentation of the thought process of the Confederates.

Great

I really, really liked that this did not focus on the battles of the Civil War but rather the people who were going through it and lived it every day. It has lots of perspectives - from planter men and women, Union and Confederate soldiers, enslaved people. It even has some perspective of the poor white people who were conscripted into the Confederate army and soon resented the planter class for putting them there.

A little short of what was promised

Excellent historical research, especially long on quotations from personal and official diaries & correspondence, refuting much postwar Confederate mythology, but woefully short on Reconstruction details.

Fantastic - Very Well Researched

Great if this is is a period you want to learn more about. Great voice reading it. Very very through