End of an Era

This memoir constitutes one of the best first-person narratives of the Civil War experience. It is written with power, candour, objectivity and elegance. The story that John Sergeant Wise recounts is a colourful, almost novelistic account of a young Confederate soldier’s life and views. END OF AN ERA is a valuable archive of sociological and anthropological information about a bygone era. Wise affectionately recounts the cultural and economic diversity of his social landscape. He describes many of the small towns, villages, and territories of early Virginia, recalling the demographic, economic, religious, and political aspects that made them notable. In the book’s detailed prose, the various strands that made up the fabric of antebellum Southern culture are captured beautifully. He also describes the privations and horrors of war, and the failings of Southern leaders, with unflinching honesty. He does not glorify the Southern army or its government, nor does he try to justify his occasionally ungentlemanly conduct and speech. The full range of his emotions is exhibited in this memoir, reactions he had to the complex changes that occurred within his own circle, as well as in larger Southern society.