This is a fascinating new book from Sally Jenkins (co-author of It's Not About the Bike with Lance Armstrong) and John Stauffer. As a long-time Civil War guy, I was aware of the amazing story of Jones County, Mississippi, but knew I was one of few who did. With this new work, this almost-lost history is memorialized for all.
It's generally well-remembered that there was opposition to the war in the loyal states, most general Civil War books will touch on Copperheads, and the 1863 draft riots. But almost never is it mentioned that the war was also widely unpopular in the South. Nowhere was this opposition stronger than in Jones County, Mississippi. The State of Jones is the story of Newton Knight, poor farmer and Confederate draftee, who deserts the rebel army and leads a violent opposition to Confederate rule from the swamps and thickets of backwoods Mississippi. His story makes for a compelling narrative, from it's realistic, Gone With The Wind-busting coverage of antebellum class tensions, to its frank portrayal of the horrors of war (The phrase "rich man's war, poor man's fight" actually originated in the wartime Confederacy, after the draft was imposed and it exempted wealthy slaveowners.)
But The State of Jones is also a personal story, haunted by a forbidden love whose details are shrouded by the mists of time. What brought Newton Knight and Rachel (a former possession of Knight's extended family) together is unknown; but both this relationship and Newton's stand against secession have echoed through family and Mississippi history, from Reconstruction to the present day.
A few of the niggling details about the war itself and army life are incorrect in this book, but unless you're a dedicated Civil War buff, you'll never notice- and they're so minor, I can't even begin to call them "inaccuracies." Jenkins and Stauffer do a great job of making Newton Knight's story accessible to non-experts, so don't be scared of this book if you're not a Civil War expert.
