My Story of the War: The Lights and Shadows of Hospital Life

Mary A. Livermore’s My Story of the War: The Lights and Shadows of Hospital Life stands as one of the most powerful firsthand accounts of women’s service, sacrifice, and endurance during the American Civil War.

A noted reformer, lecturer, and leader in the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Livermore records her experiences tending to the wounded, organizing relief efforts, and witnessing the human cost of battle across the divided nation. Her vivid narrative reveals both the heroism and heartbreak of wartime hospitals, where courage met suffering and compassion became a form of resistance. With striking honesty, she portrays the nurses, soldiers, and volunteers whose quiet strength sustained the Union cause.

Part memoir, part historical record, My Story of the War remains a cornerstone of Civil War literature and women’s history, offering a rare perspective from a woman who served not behind the lines, but within them—where mercy and mortality walked hand in hand.

Complete and unabridged edition of Mary A. Livermore’s 1889 classic

Authentic firsthand account of Civil War nursing, relief work, and battlefield experience

A vital resource for students of women’s history, military medicine, and 19th-century reform

Essential reading for collectors of Civil War narratives, humanitarian chronicles, and Americana