She recounts the clandestine relays of information and news from the troops, the sweeping waves of the injured as they poured into the hospitals, and the chasms formed between families and friends as the wedge of the issue of slavery tore at the fiber of Lexington society.
~Chevy Chaser Magazine
The editors comment perceptively on significant characteristics of the diary and place it in the historiography of the Civil War and of women's history.
~Choice
The enigma of Kentucky—so overlooked in the historiography of the Civil War, possibly because it was only marginally the 'dark and bloody ground' of major battles—is strikingly portrayed in this poignant Unionist diary.
~Civil War Courier
Provides important insights in areas of current concern such as the contours of Southern unionism, women's experience of the Civil War and the culture of the South's planter class with its commitment to Confederate nationalism and Southern conservatism.
~Civil War History
A rare Border State diary which is most informative in describing how a divided urban community handled wartime scarcity, internal divisions, and the impact of black emancipation and freedom.
~Filson History Quarterly
Vividly illustrates how the Civil War in the border states estranged neighbors and broke apart families. Although a young woman with a disability,... [Peter] astutely chronicled military and political events around her home.
~Jane Turner Censer
Provides more than insight into Lexington's role in the Civil War. It provides a rare glimpse of the war from the feminine perspective.
~Journal of Illinois History
Her vivid account of the overlap of loyalty and disloyalty, slavery and freedom, make this an invaluable source for examining the war along the border.
~Journal of Southern History
A reader finds a vivid picture of life in a city where both factions, Union and Confederate, found supporters in the civilian population.
~Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society
A remarkably clear and intelligent account of Civil War events, feelings, and opinions.
~Kentucky Libraries
The only first-hand account written by a Kentucky woman and Union sympathizer.... Provides insight, through lucidly-written prose, into attitudes and relationships of Unionists and Confederates in a divided city and state, as seen through the eyes of a sophisticated, intelligent young woman.
~Marion B. Lucas
A small gem, reflecting the woes, chaos, and concerns of a neighborhood war, where a young woman can literally see from her window the tangle of political and military strife of the Civil War.
~North Carolina Historical Review
Fascinating reading and provides rich ground for historical interpretation.
~Ohio Valley History
A significant resource for understanding the experience of women in the Civil War.... Gives voice to the many other Union women who remain, as yet, unheard or unknown.
~Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
Though rarity in authorship and location are on their own merits highly noteworthy aspects of Peter's writing, A Union Woman in Civil War Kentucky is arguably one of the best civilian Civil War diaries of any kind. Beneath the vitriol lies a completely frank critique of local society, and the Peter diary embodies a highly informative record of Kentucky heartland military events and politics with added local flavor. Its unique depiction of day to day life in a divided city that was a major Kentucky urban center, garrison, and hospital post gives the diary enduring value as an important resource for current and future research. Hopefully, this reissue will grab the attention of those who missed this lesser-known gem the first time around.
~Civil War Books and Authors
