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Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861–1868 (Library of Southern Civilization) Kindle Edition

by Kate Stone (Author), John Q. Anderson (Editor), Drew Gilpin Faust (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 109 ratings
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This journal records the Civil War experiences of a sensitive, well-educated, young southern woman. Kate Stone was twenty when the war began, living with her widowed mother, five brothers, and younger sister at Brokenburn, their plantation home in northeastern Louisiana. When Grant moved against Vicksburg, the family fled before the invading armies, eventually found refuge in Texas, and finally returned to a devastated home. Kate began her journal in May, 1861, and made regular entries up to November, 1865. She included briefer sketches in 1867 and 1868. In chronicling her everyday activities, Kate reveals much about a way of life that is no more: books read, plantation management and crops, maintaining slaves in the antebellum period, the attitude and conduct of slaves during the war, the fate of refugees, and civilian morale. Without pretense and with almost photographic clarity, she portrays the South during its darkest hours.
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  1. Print length
    441 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    LSU Press
  5. Publication date
    May 1, 1995
  6. File size
    1228 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A vivid and realistic picture of the Confederacy in its valor and agony, colorful as a novel but authentic history. ― Book-of-the-Month Club News

The wartime journal of Kate Stone is surpassed by no other book in its picture of daily life in the besieged Confederacy. -- Louis D. Rubin, Jr.

From the Back Cover

This journal records the Civil War experiences of a sensitive, well-educated, young southern woman. Kate Stone was twenty when the war began, living with her widowed mother, five brothers, and younger sister at Brokenburn, their plantation home in northeastern Louisiana. When Grant moved against Vicksburg, the family fled before the invading armies, eventually found refuge in Texas, and finally returned to a devastated home. Kate began her journal in May, 1861, and made regular entries up to November, 1865. She included briefer sketches in 1867 and 1868. In chronicling her everyday activities, Kate reveals much about a way of life that is no more: books read, plantation management and crops, maintaining slaves in the antebellum period, the attitude and conduct of slaves during the war, the fate of refugees, and civilian morale. Without pretense and with almost photographic clarity, she portrays the South during its darkest hours.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008OKBCPK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ LSU Press; 1st edition (May 1, 1995)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 1995
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1228 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 441 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0807120170
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 109 ratings

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Kate Stone

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
109 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Eric A Erickson
5.0 out of 5 stars Mainly of interest to Civil War nerds
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2019
Verified Purchase
But it goes beyond that and is a fascinating look at 1861 -1868 life in the south
amongst the more privileged, ALOT of it is who is visiting who, lunches, dinners, horse rides etc and is too much
however she is a dry and perceptive and very good writer in her early twenties, old beyond her years
there was constant death all around both from natural causes and the CW,
she was very strong and I doubt many of us could keep up.
Not quite Chesnut level but close, she wasn't around the major players, its a diary of what she saw in LA, MS and TX
her descriptions of nature are very vivid and perceptive. I love all of it but I am a CW nerd....
12 people found this helpful
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Rebecca Bowman
5.0 out of 5 stars Civil war
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Great book with a lot of insights
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Prisoner of Planet Moron
4.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile addition to Civil War literature, to be approached with caution (as with all memoirs)
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2023
Verified Purchase
Books like this are a unique resource and should be treasured as such. But as personal memoirs, they must be approached with some degree of caution and skepticism. Read the book, then re-read the "Foreword," "Preface," and "Introduction" (Anderson); "The Introduction: Writing the War" (Faust, 1995); and "In Retrospect" (Stone, 1900).

It is clear that Kate Stone was well-educated for her times, intelligent, self-centered, and resilient. She was also very much a creature of her times, to be understood, evaluated, and judged in the context of her times --- not by later standards and values.

At no time did she attempt to rise above the privileged slaveholding milieu in which she lived. Nor did she give any deep thought to the Nation's greatest struggle --- her views were commonplace, simplistic, and based upon the wealth of misinformation provided by the media of the day.

How accurate is Stone's account? In 1900, some 32 years after it was first written, Stone apparently copied her original notes into 2 large ledger books. The original notes are now lost. Anderson apparently made some modifications to Stone's copy before publishing this book. The ledger books are now lost. Who among us would not be tempted to polish a few rough edges of our persona, consistent with the changed times?

Stone's "In Retrospect" was written some 32 years after her last diary entries. In that recollection, she expresses much more sympathy for slaves than was ever evident in her diary itself. Despite the separation of a negro mother from her children, the diary merely notes that "We are so sorry but cannot help it." Such sorrow and helplessness from a family which owns 150 slaves or so ...

That said, Stone's diary provides useful details of upper-class life and society in the Civil War south. In Kate's case, a life often characterized by frivolous, superficial pursuits and flirtations. There is no Clara Barton in Kate's social circle. Knitting gloves for soldiers is about as good as it gets.

Inexplicably, Anderson fails to include any maps. A graphic of the family tree would also have been helpful, although one can be constructed from the introductory material.
2 people found this helpful
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waycross48
5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Realistic Look at How the Civil War Affected Women Left At Home
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2009
Verified Purchase
Kate Stone was 20yrs old when the war began. She was a very well educated young woman living on a plantation called Brokenburn in NE Louisiana with her widowed mother, younger sister and five brothers. Their fortune lay in 1260 acres of land, a large cotton crop and about 150 slaves. Kate began her journal in May 1861, when many young men were rushing to join the fighting before the war was over and they might "miss all the fightin". In the beginning, Kate's life was little affected by the war. It was not until fabric for her fancy dresses and things like tea, coffee and sugar became scarce that she was personally affected. But, life would become much harder than Kate could ever imagine. Not only were she and her family forced to leave the plantation, they were faced with having almost all of their slaves "running North", but they stole everything they could get their hands on from the old family home. ONE faithful old Negro servant knew where the family silver was buried and he guarded as much as he could and remained with the old homeplace until the end. On the run, Kate and her family went west - passing through Minden, La., my childhood home, and then on to Texas. It was in Texas that the real hardships were endured. Kate's writings are plain, honest and true. She freely expresses her feelings about the war and about slavery. Like many Christians, Kate was forced to taken an honest look at slavery as opposed to what she reads in the Bible - the two just did not mesh. Brokenburn is a great read. I found it difficult to put down and I couldn't wait to get right back to it. Kate is another journaler who should have been a "real" writer. Thankfully, the editors resisted the urge to change Kate's diary. It is presented as close to its original form as possible. I, personally, hate it when editors change grammar, spelling, etc., with the idea of making it easier for the reader. As "the reader" I much prefer the original text whenever possible. A GREAT READ!!!
46 people found this helpful
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Alexa Porter
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Civil War account
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2011
Verified Purchase
This diary is a page turner; it is interesting to hear how people actually lived back then,and their thoughts on the war and slavery. On one page she describes the slaves sitting in the gallery in church in their gaudy finery and laments how the Civil War is going to put an end to such a delightful way of life. Later on she is incredulous at how she could have ever thought such a thing! Her consciousness is finally raised to the point where she realizes how grueling daily life was for the slaves, who weren't there for her entertainment (although in fact, they were) and not at all "delightful" for the slaves. Her mother was a widow who ran the plantation alone into substantial profits; there is an uncle who never worked (these people are quite wealthy) - an interesting peek into people who lived in a real "Gone With the Wind" existence. However the book plunges into panic and "survival mode" as the Union soldiers run them out of their plantations into Texas where they live in relative poverty. Very good book for people interested in how people thought and lived in other times.
6 people found this helpful
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