Their Tattered Flags: The Epic of the Confederacy

New York: Harper's Magazine Press, 1970. BW5 - A first edition (stated) hardcover book SIGNED by Frank E. Vandiver on the half-title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has price clipped, some wrinkling, chipping, crease and few tiny tears on the edges and corners, scattered light scratches, rubbing and scuffing, small patch stain on the back lower right side, light tanning and shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners, wrinkling and chipping some patches of wear, tear and open tear on the bottom cover edges, darkened front endpapers and lightly on the next page, light tanning and shelf wear. 9.5"x6.5", 362 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. It is Dr. Frank E. Vandiver's unique achievement in this stirring and incisive chronicle to evoke precisely how it felt to be a Southerner during four of the most turbulent and harrowing years in American history. Dr. Vandiver examines in rich dramatic detail, and with a point of view perfectly attuned to the spirit of the region and the era, every aspect of daily life in the South: the politics, the professions, the literature, the social groups and classes, and of course the military campaigns and the soldiery. The resulting panorama sweeps from the tangled emotional and economic complexities culminating in Fort Sumter to the capture of Jefferson Davis, the proud, austere, and tortured patriot who dominates this saga like the tragic hero of a Greek drama. Dr. Vandiver describes not only the battles and leaders (including the much neglected war west of the Mississippi, waged in large part by a curiously lethargic Kirby Smith), but also shows us the cold-water parties (whiskey was a vanished luxury) held by the gentry in beleaguered Richmond and Charleston, the conditions and attitudes of the slaves, the stormy sessions in the state legislatures as the situation worsened, the diplomatic missions which almost brought France and England into the war, and the struggle for power and the intrigues within the Confederate government and army. Their Tattered Flags is a monumental re-creation and reappraisal of an epoch; and it should promote a greater understanding of the sectional conflicts which are still a part of our national reality.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.