Carolina, to the spy Belle Boyd ofrnVirginia, arrested first at 19, to CelinernFremaux of Louisiana, who was only tenrnwhen the war began. There are manyrnwonderful stories here, some very moving.rnSeveral of these women were, likernMarv Chestnut, from wealthy families;rnall were ruined by the war. By 1864, CelinernFremaux was so poor that her familyrnmade their own shoes—using cartridgernboxes and belts for the soles, and velvetrnfrom an old hunting suit for the uppers.rnSewn together with copper wire, thesernshoes would last for seven or eight wearingsrn—enough for a month or two ofrnchurch.rnIn that same year in Georgia, in thernwake of Sherman’s Army, Mary AnnrnHarris Gay traveled unescorted from Decaturrnto Social Circle—a dangerous triprnat the time. In her first two days travelingrnshe saw no living animal, not even arnbird, other than a dog guarding the ruinsrnof a house burnt to the ground. Whenrnshe returned to Decatur, she was met byrnwomen and children who ran after herrnand begged for something to eat.rnOther women besides Mrs. Gayrnshowed great courage. After Richmondrnfell in 1865, Phoebe Yates Pember continuedrnto nurse her soldiers under occupation.rnFrustrated one day to find herrnstores of food had been commandeeredrnby the Union soldiers, she went to therncommissary and, to the guards’ astonishment,rnsimply pushed aside their bayonetsrnand unlocked the door. She thenrnfilled her basket, “with an explanation tornthem that I could be arrested wheneverrnwanted at my quarters.” (She was allowedrnto nurse and feed her patients untilrnthere were none left.)rnSome of these women write very well,rnand most of the rest write simply andrnclearly—only the lady spies are guilty ofrnpenny-dreadful prose, and their storiesrnare still entertaining, if not always credible.rnSullivan has helped his authors (andrnreaders) bv silently editing out politicalrncommentary and family details he foundrnless interesting. He has also quoted selectionsrnthat are generally longer thanrnthose found in similar anthologies, andrnquoted several women two or threerntimes, so that you get a real feeling forrntheir characters and circumstances. Thisrnis the case with Phoebe Pember, andrnwith Mary Jones and her daughter, MaryrnMallard, whose twin diaries tell one ofrnthe most powerful stories in the book.rnIn late 1864, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Mallardrnwere living with a friend, Kate King,rnand five children on one of the Jones’ estatesrnnear Savannah. The diaries coverrnthe month Sherman’s Army camernthrough, December 1864 to Januaryrn1865. During this time the women werernrobbed of their food and possessions (asrnwere their slaves), had their house frequentlyrninvaded, were cursed and insulted,rnand sometimes threatened withrndeath or fire. One soldier took their wellrnchain, telling the women they had nornright even to water. Mrs. Mallard writesrnthat her male slaves had to stay homernwith their wives to keep them safe fromrnassault, and there was one night whenrnthe white women, too, were told by a servantrnthat they were in danger. Theyrnprayed and then sat sleepless in the dark,rnfinding in the morning that a Union soldierrnhad taken it upon himself to guardrnthem. Mary Mallard, who was pregnant,rnfinally had her daughter on January 4,rnwhile a hundred Union soldiers yelledrnand cursed in the yard.rnIn an entry dated January 7, when thernworst was over, Mary Jones examined herrnconscience and then wrote, “I neverrnfailed to let them know that before HighrnHeaven I believed our cause was just andrnright. The isolated and utterly defense-rnFemle Voices from the Confederate SouthrnEdited by Walter SullivanrnSelections from the journalsrnof Confederate women, 1861-1865rn”It was a splendid notion of WalterrnSullivan’s to assemble a chorus ofrnConfederate women diarists, who, as thisrnbook shows, did a great deal more thanrnmerely stand and wait. They also served,rnand are eloquent in their memories of dioserndays.” -SHELBY FOOTErn$24.95 HardcoverrnJ.S.SANDERS & COMPANYrnP.O. Box 50331 Nashville TN 372051-800-350-1101rnless condition of my poor family compelledrnme often to use entreaties; but afterrnthe day was over I frequently inquiredrnof Kate and Daughter; Tell me, girls, didrnI act like a coward?'”rnMrs. Jones’ emotion makes the warrnfeel very real, and very recent. This is thernvirtue of a well-chosen anthology: in itrnwe have a chance to hear the people whornlived through a great event tell their ownrntales, in their own way, with an immediacyrnthat even the best third-party historyrncannot have.rnKatherine Dalton is a writer and editor inrnLouisville, Kentucky.rnBrief MentionsrnThe Great Betrayal: The Elite’s War onrnMiddle America. By Louis T. Marchrnand Brent Nelson (Raleigh: RepresentativernGovernment Press), 138 pp., $5.95rnA devotion to free trade seems to berncommon among “conservatives.” Butrnfree trade, according to Louis T. Marchrnand Brent Nelson, is a bad idea. “Wernshould defend our markets,” they write,rn”as we should defend our borders.” Thernterm is really a euphemism for letting thernFortune 500 decide what the rules ofrntrade will be—at the expense of Americanrnworkers. In the authors’ view, NAFTArnand other schemes so beloved ofrnBeltway ideologues have two main resultsrnfor blue-collar Americans, as companiesrnrelocate in Mexico or are floodedrnwith cheap labor; belt-tightening andrnlayoffs. According to Ravi Batra’s bookrnThe Myth of Free Trade, “Ford Motors todayrnproduces roughly the same numberrnof cars and trucks as in 1975 with onlyrnabout half the number of employees.”rnCiting an article by Chronicles contributorrnAlfred Eckes in Foreign Affairs (Fallrn1992), March and Nelson point out onernresult of abandoning traditional tariffrnpolicies. Due to tariff cuts, says Eckes,rn”average American wages in 1991 werern20 percent below 1972 levels,” a drop accompaniedrnby huge layoffs. Sadly, it wasrnonly after this fiasco that Republicansrnthrew in the towel on “free trade,” renouncingrnthe protectionism of their forebears.rnToday, generosity to our rivals isrnthe dogma of many “conservatives,”rneven as America rots from within.rn—Michael WashburnrnAUGUST 1996/33rnrnrn