This volume investigates how the American Civil War fundamentally altered the structure, stability, and social dynamics of families across the Southern states. Catherine Clinton, a noted historian of the American South and gender studies, curates twelve original essays that examine the conflict through the domestic sphere. By shifting the focus from the battlefield to the household, the contributors argue that the war's impact was defined by the erosion of patriarchal authority, the strain of economic survival, and the complex interplay of religious and social identities during a period of total war.

Historians and scholars of the Civil War era frequently cite this collection as a significant contribution to the social history of the conflict. The text is recognized for its ability to synthesize localized case studies into a broader understanding of the domestic toll of the war.