the author is history professor, stephanie mccurry and the university of pennsylvania. first of all, professor mccurry, what is this painting on the front of your book? >> guest: this is a civil war painting of a battleship going down, the confederate flag going down in flames. it's an allegorical painting.

. >> stephanie mccurry what about the role of the southern white women during the founding of the confederacy and the war itself? >> this is one of the things i have worked on my entire career is this heavyweight history. are we really going on in the 21st century to write history like women don't matter like they don't attempt to shape the present and future? in the confederacy at the time of secession obviously they don't have a vote and that doesn't mean they don't have political opinions. but the interesting thing is that they get made into this symbol of the nation and of patriotism and the people that are for secession and people are against and the unionists say they are without, and in fact they divide along the same lines. there are many women who are pro confederate and become increasingly as the war goes on and there are many women who think that this is a crazy idea and white women, too worried about their sons, sometimes more rational and pragmatic about what the war is going to bring. the step into the making of history in the confederacy has to do with the question you asked me