The Civil War Diary of Clara Solomon: Growing Up in New Orleans, 1861-1862

Written by a 16-year-old Jewish girl in the South's largest metropolis during the early years of the Civil War, the diary (which Clara named Philomen) details the struggles of an urban population to maintain daily life in the face of grim news from battlefields, the devaluation of Confederate currency, food shortages, closing schools, and the loss of family members. Clara's entries tell of early Southern Jewish religious and social life, the cosmopolitan milieu of New Orleans, and the activities of the Confederate army and Union occupation of the city. An afterword traces the fate of Clara and her family after 1862. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.