This book is an extraordinary day-to-day documentary of the Civil War's most infamous Confederate prison, Camp Sumter, better known as Andersonville. Here thirteen thousand wretched Union prisoners died within barely fourteen months, from starvation, scurvy, and other diseases that spread through the camp. There was little shelter but makeshift tents; little in the way of blankets, warm clothing, or even shoes; and a scarcity of food and fresh water. Often they were forced to sleep on the ...

John Ransom was a young Union soldier when he was captured by Confederate forces and taken to Andersonville, the worst of the brutal Civil War prison camps. Insightful, adventurous, and powerful, his diary preserves a rare portrait of the harsh life of the Confederate prisons. Yet it also sings with the hope of a man who loves life and manages to keep his sense of humor and compassion even as he suffers.