Look Away!: A History of the Confederate States of America

Look Away! is the culmination of decades of work by the highly acclaimed historian William C. Davis. Davis, who has written extensively on various aspects of the Civil War, challenges the simplistic view that the South seceded from the Union rather than surrender to Northern influence, especially over the highly charged issue of slavery. Instead, he demonstrates that the leaders of the Confederacy felt strongly that they were correcting the course of government and applying the principles of American democracy in a logical and thoughtful manner. In their eyes, the establishment of the Confederacy was a noble and necessary experiment — one which many were willing to die for.

Davis recounts the stories of soldiers, civilians, farmers, slaves, and freemen to create an in-depth portrait of a diverse society that came together during a difficult, dangerous time. Neither screed nor apology, Look Away! brilliantly illuminates the principles that motivated the South and the goals that it hoped to achieve. It is destined to become a classic work in Civil War history.

William C. Davis, "one of the best and most prolific historians of the American Civil War" (James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom), offers a definitive portrait of the Confederacy unlike any other.

Drawing on decades of writing and research among an unprecedented number of archives, ranging from the 800-odd newspapers in operation during the war to the personal writings of more than 100 leaders and common citizens, Davis reveals the Confederacy through the words of the Confederates themselves. Look Away! recounts all the epic sagas — as well as those little-known and long-forgotten — about a desperate government that socialized the salt industry, rangers and marauders who preyed on their fellow Confederates, and the systematic breakdown of law and order in some states. A dramatic, definitive account of one of our nation's most searing episodes, Look Away! shows us a South divided against itself, unable to stand.

Contents

Preface

The Foretelling

Dixie's Land

1. Guiding the Whirlwind

2. Shadowy Words, Shadowy Meanings

3. Visions of Breakers Ahead

4. The Struggle for a Confederate Democracy

   The Opening Guns

5. Men but Not Brothers

6. Law and Disorder

   The Season of Lee

7. "Proving Our Loyalty by Starvation"

8. "We Are Done Gone Up the Spout"

   The Year of Decision

9. The Enemy Within

10. Cotton Communism, Whiskey Welfare, and Salt Socialism

    The Struggle to Hold On

11. The States in Their Sovereignty

12. The Power and the Ignominy in Richmond

13. "Growlers and Traitors"

    An End to Valor

14. The End?

Abbreviations Used in the Source Citations

Notes

Bibliography

Index