NEW BOOK OFFERS ÒSNAPSHOTSÓ OF CIVIL WAR YEARS
	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 13 -- In slightly more than a
decade Varina Howell Davis went from being a leading socialite and
part of the White House inner circle to being imprisoned with her
husband, Confederate president Jefferson Davis.  Her life is
described in a new book, ÒBest Little Stories from the Civil WarÓ
that includes ÒVarina:  Forgotten first Lady.Ó
	Written by C. Brian Kelly, a lecturer in news writing at the
University of Virginia, with his wife, Ingrid Smyer, the non-fiction
work contains more than 101 vignettes about people who lived during
the era.  The narratives offers insights into all sorts of people:
drummer boys, soldiers, sailors, slaves, politicians and women.
	Although her husband was twice her age, Varina Howell Davis
was deeply in love with him and was a political helpmate during his
years in Washington, D.C., as senator and secretary of war.  Never
forgetting her agony at seeing Davis captured by Yankees, she worked
until her death to vindicate his name.
	The saga of the Robert E. Lee family also unfolds in the
book--from a peaceful life at their Arlington home to the Union
takeover of son ÒRooneyÕsÓ White House plantation on the Pamunkey
River.
	Among the tales of battle are eyewitness accounts of the
shelling of Fort Sumter, the first Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam,
Gettysburg and Petersburg.
	ÒThe narrative snapshots give a different look at the
presumably familiar Civil War landscape,Ó said Kelly, who is also
editor of Military History magazine.
	Expected in print Dec. 15 by Montpelier Publishing here, the
Civil War book is the third in a Òbest little storiesÓ series.
Others include ÒBest Little Stories From World War IIÓ and ÒBest
Little Stories From the White House.Ó
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December 12, 1994
	For more information, contact Kelly at (804) 924-6626 or
(804) 980-3745.