People want to know why the South is so interested in the Civil War. I had maybe, it's a rough guess, about fifty fistfights in my life. Out of those fifty fistfights, the ones that I had the most vivid memory of were the ones I lost. I think that's one reason why the South remembers the war more than the North does.

Before the war it was always the United States *are*, after the war it was the United States is... it made us an is.

I took five years on the first volume, five years on the second volume, and ten years on the third volume.

Longevity conquers scandal every time.

A fact is not a truth until you love it.

Generally the first week in September brings the hottest weather of the year, and this was no exception. Overhead the fans turned slow, their paddle blades stirring the air up close to the ceiling but nowheres else.

I've never known, at least a modern historical instance, where the truth wasn't superior to distortion in every way.