As the Union forces approach their gracious Georgia mansion, a group of southern gentlewomen nervously await the appearance of General Sherman himself - sure that he is a barbarian who will allow their estate to be pillaged and looted. When Sherman arrives he proves to be gruff enough but, at the same time, a complex and feeling man whose intellect is at odds with his responsibilities. One of the ladies, several months pregnant, pleads for the release of her husband, a minister who has been taken captive by the northerners; while another, young and impressionable, falls under the spell of the Yankee mercenary whose job is to provision the troops. Out of the fascinating confrontations which ensue come understanding - and even romance - and, in the end, an illumination both of the awful accommodations which must be made between unwilling enemies, and of the disturbing uncertainties which still lie ahead for all.

ISBN: 0-8222-0935-7