This volume investigates how the American Civil War acted as a catalyst for radical transformations in gender roles, sexual mores, and social identity across the United States. Editors Catherine Clinton and Nina Silber compile a collection of essays from established and emerging historians to analyze the intersection of war and identity. The text utilizes a multidisciplinary framework to examine how the conflict reshaped domestic life, nationalistic fervor, and individual trauma from 1861 through the Reconstruction era. By synthesizing diverse scholarly perspectives, the work argues that the war fundamentally altered the social fabric of both the North and the South.

Historians recognize this collection as a significant follow-up to foundational scholarship on gender in the Civil War era. The text is frequently cited for its academic rigor and its ability to synthesize complex social history for both students and researchers in the field.